Theological Status: THERAPEUTIC / COMPLACENT
Biblical Parallel(Archetype): Laodicea
❓ What do these grades mean?
🔍 Biblical Discernment: The 7 Church Parallels
The Cold Orthodox Parallel
Ephesus
Teaching that upholds doctrinal precision yet parallels the loss of the "first love"—the vital, motivating power of the Gospel (Rev 2:4).
The Compromised Parallel
Pergamum
Teaching that parallels churches tolerating the "doctrine of Balaam" through cultural accommodation (Rev 2:14), characterized by weak boundaries, sloppy theology, and worldly compromise.
Why strictly "Mark & Avoid"?
We do not issue this rating to attack the speaker, but to protect the listener. This ministry's overall teaching trend consistently deviates from sound doctrine. As per Romans 16:17, we identify these patterns so believers can guard their hearts.
We do not issue this rating to attack the speaker, but to protect the listener. This ministry's overall teaching trend consistently deviates from sound doctrine. As per Romans 16:17, we identify these patterns so believers can guard their hearts.
🧐 Overview
Theological Verdict & Summary
Sermon Summary: Is the Christian life a straight line to success, or a messy journey of grace? This sermon challenges the cultural obsession with linear progress, offering a comforting vision of God's continuous presence in our ups and downs.
Pastoral Analysis: The sermon offers a compassionate and relatable critique of the 'linear success' model of Christianity, using personal anecdotes and humor to connect with the congregation. However, it fundamentally compromises the Gospel by redefining justification as a cyclical, ongoing process rather than a definitive forensic act. This theological error shifts the burden of assurance from Christ's finished work to the believer's continuous spiritual performance, creating a fragile foundation for faith.
Biblical Parallel (Archetype): Laodicea — The sermon exhibits a therapeutic deism that replaces the definitive, finished work of Christ with a continuous, cyclical process of self-effort and emotional reassurance. By teaching that justification is a recurring experience rather than a forensic declaration, the message undermines the assurance of salvation, leaving the congregation dependent on their own fluctuating spiritual performance rather than the immutable grace of God.
Big Idea: The Christian life is not a linear path to success but a circuitous journey of discipleship marked by God's continuous grace, requiring honest self-assessment and the commitment to take one faithful step at a time. [00:23:00 ▶️ 📄]
🎨 The Visual Metaphor
The wet clay and winding trail symbolize the humble, circuitous path of sanctification where grace is found in the mud of daily obedience rather than the peak of achievement. The resting stone cross represents the heavy burden of discipleship transformed into peaceful rest through God's continuous, sustaining presence.
📖 How they Handle Scripture & Jesus
- Primary Text: Romans 12:1-8
- Usage Classification: Illustrative/Topical
- Text-to-Talk Ratio: Moderate
- Pulpit Decorum: ✅ PASS - The pastor maintains a respectful and engaging tone, using humor and personal stories effectively without resorting to coarse language or inappropriate behavior.
✝️ Christological Focus: Implicit
"Christ is mentioned as the object of faith, but the sermon focuses more on the believer's experience of grace than on the specific work of Christ in justification."
Scripture Saturation: Verses Read: 8 | Referenced: 3 | Alluded: 0
Passages Read Aloud:
-
Romans 12:1-8
[00:12:38 ▶️ 📄]
"I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters on the basis of God's mercy to present your sacrifices as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, prophecy in proportion to faith, ministry in ministering, the teacher in teaching, The encourager in encouragement, the giver in sincerity, the leader in diligence, the compassionate in cheerfulness."
Key References: Psalm 23:4, Isaiah 9:1, Matthew 6:34
🎙️ Sermon Content & Delivery
Word Count: 4,427 words
📌 Key Topics Addressed
-
Grief and Loss
[00:16:19 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor shares a personal story about the stillbirth of his cousin's daughter and the subsequent funeral, using it to introduce themes of fragility and grace. -
Joy and Strength
[00:17:44 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor reflects on the idea that joy is not a temporary state but a source of strength that persists even when difficulties arise. -
Discipleship and Spiritual Foundation
[00:22:42 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor argues that deep prayer, scripture, community, and worship provide the necessary strength to navigate life's challenges. -
The Via Salutis (Way of Salvation)
[00:25:10 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor explains the United Methodist concept of salvation as a non-linear journey involving Provenient, Justifying, and Sanctifying grace. -
The Three Graces (Provenient, Justifying, Sanctifying)
[00:25:45 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor defines the three stages of grace but immediately corrects the cultural assumption that they are linear or one-time events, explaining instead that believers constantly move through them in a cycle. -
Rejection of 'Success' as a Biblical Value
[00:28:14 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor explicitly debunks the idea that spiritual maturity is defined by 'success,' replacing it with 'growth,' 'transformation,' and 'becoming holy' as the true biblical metrics. -
Sober Judgment and Honest Assessment
[00:30:05 ▶️ 📄]
> Citing Paul, the pastor emphasizes the need for clear, unbiased self-assessment ('sober judgment') without shame or judgment, treating one's current spiritual state as 'information' rather than a moral failing. -
Intentional Discipleship and One Step
[00:31:33 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor defines 'intentional' as deliberate and purposeful, urging the congregation to identify their current starting point and commit to a single, small step of growth rather than being overwhelmed by the entire journey. -
Divine Calling and Grace
[00:41:51 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor introduces the theme of God calling individuals to move and asks for the grace to take steps incrementally. -
Prayer for Transformation
[00:42:03 ▶️ 📄]
> A corporate prayer is offered for God to mark lives with grace, remove regret, and provide clarity to take one step forward. -
Generosity and Discipleship
[00:43:46 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor connects the concept of taking 'one step' to the previous year's focus on generosity, citing increased giving as evidence of spiritual growth. -
Kingdom Building through Giving
[00:44:41 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor prays that financial gifts will build up the kingdom and help others take steps on a pathway of discipleship.
🖼️ Illustrations & Stories
-
Sermon Illustration
[00:16:29 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor recounts walking eight-tenths of a mile uphill in wet clay to carry a 250-pound railroad tie cross to bury his cousin's stillborn daughter, Katie Jo. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:18:44 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor references a member, Dorothy Kufler, who shared a reflection on Psalm 23, noting that a shadow only exists because there is light somewhere. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:24:11 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor describes the physical struggle of walking up Gusher Knob in wet, slippery clay, slipping and sliding, as an analogy for the non-linear, difficult nature of the Christian life. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:26:40 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor uses a rhetorical correction of a linear spiritual trajectory: he describes the common misconception that one encounters Jesus once and then simply 'walks along' to heaven, only to ask 'How's that working for you?' to illustrate that this linear model fails to account for the reality of sin, backsliding, and the need for constant grace. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:32:39 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor references the character Phoebe from the TV show Friends, who famously says 'A plan? I don't have a plan. I don't even have a pluh,' to humorously illustrate the feeling of having no spiritual direction, which the pastor then reframes as a valid 'place to start' for honest assessment. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:39:45 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor quotes Lovett Weems, a professor at Wesley Theological Seminary, stating that 'Change is evolution, not revolution,' to support the idea that spiritual growth is a gradual process rather than an overnight transformation. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:42:03 ▶️ 📄]
> In the closing prayer, the pastor uses a humorous, cumulative list of physical movements ('circuitous, uphill, downhill, sitting down, sliding, running, sledding, coasting, skiing, taking a nap') to illustrate the messy, varied, and non-linear nature of the Christian journey. -
Sermon Illustration
[00:43:46 ▶️ 📄]
> The pastor recounts the church's previous year's focus on a 'pathway of generosity,' noting that giving in 2025 was at least 5% higher than in 2024 because the congregation took 'one faithful step.'
🚀 Calls to Action (Application)
-
Pastoral Charge
[00:19:45 ▶️ 📄]
> Contact the pastor to obtain the Bible through the year reading program. -
Pastoral Charge
[00:31:21 ▶️ 📄]
> Retrieve writing materials to participate in the discipleship assessment. -
Pastoral Charge
[00:31:58 ▶️ 📄]
> Reflect silently on the level of intentionality and planning in their current spiritual walk. -
Pastoral Charge
[00:35:56 ▶️ 📄]
> Answer a series of reflective questions regarding past growth, current threats, desired growth areas, and faithfulness in specific spiritual disciplines. -
Pastoral Charge
[00:39:03 ▶️ 📄]
> Identify their current position on the discipleship pathway and commit to taking one next faithful step in the coming weeks. -
Pastoral Charge
[00:40:56 ▶️ 📄]
> Pray for clarity and courage, and intentionally remain open to God's movement for the week. -
Pastoral Charge
[00:45:01 ▶️ 📄]
> Give offerings online or in the plate.
🧭 Biblical Alignment Dashboard
Overall Verdict: Fundamentally in Error
| Category | Status | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Gospel Presentation | ❌ FAIL | The Gospel Engine is broken because the sermon denies the finality of justification. By teaching that believers constantly move 'back again' through justifying grace, it implies that salvation is not secure but must be continually re-acquired or re-experienced, which is a denial of the finished work of Christ. |
| Soteriology | ❌ FAIL | The sermon conflates justification and sanctification, teaching that justification is a recurring, cyclical experience. This violates the biblical distinction between the one-time forensic declaration of righteousness and the ongoing process of holiness. |
| Bibliology | ✅ PASS | The sermon uses scripture appropriately to support the theme of God's presence in darkness, though the theological framework applied to it is flawed. |
| Hermeneutic | ⚠️ WEAK | The hermeneutic prioritizes emotional comfort and cultural critique over doctrinal precision, leading to a reinterpretation of key soteriological terms that contradicts their biblical definitions. |
| Theology Proper | ✅ PASS | The sermon maintains a generally orthodox view of God's love and presence, though the mechanics of how that grace is applied are theologically unsound. |
| Sacramentology | ✅ PASS | No errors detected in the handling of sacraments or ordinances. |
| Confessional Depth | ❌ FAIL | The sermon relies on emotional illustrations and cultural observations rather than deep theological exposition, resulting in a superficial understanding of grace. |
⚙️ The Gospel Engine (Confessional Distinctives)
❌ The Law And Wrath: Not observed in the sermon.
❌ Total Depravity And Inability: Not observed in the sermon.
❌ Active Obedience Of Christ: Not observed in the sermon.
✅ The Cross And Atonement:
"We are growing into what it means to be called, claimed, equipped, and sent by the crucified and resurrected Savior." [00:24:59 ▶️ 📄]
✅ Commendations
Pastoral Sensitivity | Compassionate Critique of Cultural Success
The pastor effectively challenges the cultural idol of 'linear success,' offering a liberating perspective that alleviates shame and guilt for those who feel they have failed in their spiritual journey.
Illustrative Power | Vivid Personal Anecdotes
The use of personal stories, such as the burial of the stillborn daughter and the struggle up Gusher Knob, creates a strong emotional connection and makes abstract theological concepts tangible.
Homiletic Structure | Engaging Rhetorical Devices
The pastor uses humor, rhetorical questions, and pop culture references (Friends) to keep the congregation engaged and to illustrate the reality of spiritual confusion.
⚠️ Theological Concerns
🔴 The Error of Cyclical Justification (Denial of Finished Work)
Root Cause: Semi-Pelagianism (The Error of Human Cooperation in Salvation)
"The truth about the way of salvation is that you don't touch Provenient Grace and Justifying Grace just the one time. You are constantly, me too, we're constantly moving through Provenient Justifying and Sanctifying Grace and then back again." [00:27:01 ▶️ 📄]
Correction: Justification is a one-time legal declaration of righteousness based on Christ's imputed righteousness (Romans 5:1, 8:1). Sanctification is the progressive process of becoming holy in practice. They are distinct but inseparable; one does not cycle back into justification.
🟠 The Conflation of Justification and Sanctification (Blurring of Legal and Transformative Grace)
Root Cause: Roman Catholic Theology (Conflation of Imputed and Imparted Righteousness)
"justifying grace is just the work of God in us to make us holy." [00:26:16 ▶️ 📄]
Correction: Justification is forensic (Romans 4:5), while sanctification is transformative (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Confusing them leads to either legalism (trying to earn salvation) or antinomianism (ignoring holiness).
🟠 The Error of Universal Prevenient Grace (Overestimation of Human Will)
Root Cause: Arminianism (The Error of Conditional Election)
"Provenient Grace just means God's grace is going before us. God's loving us before we even realize that God's at work." [00:25:49 ▶️ 📄]
Correction: Grace is not merely 'going before' but is effectual in regenerating the heart (Ephesians 2:1-5). We do not cooperate with a liberated will; we are made willing by God (Philippians 2:13).
📜 Full Sermon Transcript (Audit)
Use the 📄 icons next to quotes above to automatically jump to their location in this raw transcript.
[00:00:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength
[00:00:42] The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Let it rise up like a river overflowing
[00:01:17] With no limits Overflowing Holy Spirit
[00:02:08] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
If you have joy, you can jump.
[00:02:27] Come on and clap for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
[00:02:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The joy of the Lord is my strength.
[00:02:44] The joy of the Lord is my strength.
[00:02:45] Oh, my soul is blessed.
[00:03:12] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:03:27] Amen.
[00:03:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
We worship together welcome we are so glad you're here welcome to those of you here in person and those of you watching online we're so happy you're worshiping with us this morning if you are new here at Williamson Chapel welcome we are so glad you're worshiping with us today after worship today I hope you'll take just a moment stop by the connection station right outside of these doors I'll be standing there ready to say hello
[00:04:07] I've got a cool little gift for you and I would love to welcome you in person so please join us after worship for that and friends again we are so happy that you're here this morning
[00:04:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Bless His name, all that is in Him is saved.
[00:05:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The joy of the Lord, the joy
[00:05:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Amen!
[00:05:20] Y'all can keep on standing if you're able.
[00:05:23] Just keep standing up.
[00:05:24] I'm going to tell you about our worship theme that is happening.
[00:05:28] Y'all, I wish that you could see this little dancing group of kids over here.
[00:05:31] If you get a chance on our next song, you've got to look over there because they're getting their groove on.
[00:05:34] Some of us grown-ups need to learn a little lesson on the dancing.
[00:05:38] So our series is talking about all year long we're going to be working on how God is moving in our lives.
[00:05:46] What is our next faithful step growing in discipleship?
[00:05:51] It is our job as Christians, as believers, to make that next step, to go to the next place.
[00:05:58] Sometimes we just kind of get settled into where we are.
[00:06:01] We go to church a couple times and we did a Bible study then and there and
[00:06:05] And then, you know, we're not really sure what we're supposed to do next.
[00:06:09] And so then there's that next place to move, but we gotta listen for God.
[00:06:14] We gotta wait for God.
[00:06:15] You should have the track on, Zane, still.
[00:06:18] Wait for God to move us forward.
[00:06:22] So what is your next faithful step is the question that we're asking today and for the next coming weeks.
[00:06:29] Part of that is knowing the scripture, hearing the scripture, allowing God to speak through to us.
[00:06:36] We can't find it unless we're in the word.
[00:06:40] So we're going to sing a song that's going to set us up for hearing the scripture.
[00:06:44] And before we do that, I want you to know you're part of it.
[00:06:47] You can sing all of it if you know it, but it's a new song for us.
[00:06:51] I'm going to teach you the chorus.
[00:06:53] The beginning of it is...
[00:06:54] Your words are wonderful unfolding like the dawn a wellspring and the rock we rest upon we trust your promises that keep our hope alive they steady us throughout life's weary climb and the chorus where else can we go where else can we go you have the words of life you have the words of life so i'm asking you to sing with us on just that little part where else can we go valerie can you just play
[00:07:24] You don't have no track, just play it.
[00:07:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Where else can we go?
[00:07:39] Where else can we go?
[00:07:45] You have the words of life.
[00:07:50] The words of life.
[00:07:52] Now you sing it with us.
[00:07:54] Where else can we go?
[00:07:59] Where else can we go?
[00:08:10] One more time.
[00:08:14] Ask that question.
[00:08:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Let's sing together the whole song.
[00:08:34] Your words are wonderful.
[00:08:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The words are wonderful, unfolding like the dawn, O wellspring and the rock we rest upon.
[00:09:11] We trust your promises that keep our hope alive.
[00:09:19] They steady us throughout life's weary climb Where else can we go?
[00:09:42] Where else can we go?
[00:09:43] You have the words of life The words of life
[00:09:50] Come write your holy truth upon our longing hearts And strengthen us to shine against the dark Lord, guard us from the lies the enemy will speak No guilt remains for those you have redeemed
[00:10:23] Where else can we go?
[00:10:33] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
You have the words of life The words of life Make your glory known
[00:10:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Give us ears to hear and eyes to see Help us in our doubt and unbelief Give us ears to hear and eyes to see Help us in our doubt
[00:11:31] Let us hear to hear and eyes to see Help us in our doubt and our belief Where else can we go?
[00:12:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Hear these words from Romans 12.
[00:12:38] I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters on the basis of God's mercy to present your sacrifices as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.
[00:12:54] Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
[00:13:10] For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
[00:13:25] For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function,
[00:13:32] So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another.
[00:13:39] We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, prophecy in proportion to faith, ministry in ministering, the teacher in teaching,
[00:13:52] The encourager in encouragement, the giver in sincerity, the leader in diligence, the compassionate in cheerfulness.
[00:14:03] The Word of God for us the people of God.
[00:14:06] Thanks be to God.
[00:14:07] You may be seated.
[00:14:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning, church.
[00:14:31] It's good to be with you all today.
[00:14:36] I'm going to need to pray before we start.
[00:14:44] How's that?
[00:14:45] Would that be a good plan?
[00:14:46] Let's do that.
[00:14:48] Let's pray.
[00:14:49] Deep breath in and breathe it out.
[00:14:55] Take another deep breath in.
[00:14:58] And breathe it out.
[00:15:02] One more time.
[00:15:10] Lord, you are our strength in every season and for you we are so very grateful for the gift of worship, for the gift of community of faith, for the gift of your word planted deep within us that is our sustaining grace.
[00:15:25] For all the ways that you are with us, Lord, we are grateful.
[00:15:28] And we pray that you would open our spirits today to receive the word that you have for us.
[00:15:34] That we may, Lord, walk more faithfully with you in the living of our days.
[00:15:39] It's in the name of Jesus that we pray.
[00:15:41] Amen.
[00:15:43] So welcome if you're visiting with us.
[00:15:46] My name is Tony Ruth Smith.
[00:15:47] My husband Wes and I are the senior co-pastors here.
[00:15:51] And it is a delight and a privilege to be in worship with y'all this morning.
[00:15:57] Today this sermon is going to start out...
[00:15:59] Super personal, so you're going to have to go with me on it.
[00:16:05] I want to say thank you to all of you all for how you've been praying for me and for my extended family this week.
[00:16:14] Some of you don't know, this is the Cliff Notes version of a really long story.
[00:16:19] Last Sunday evening I was called to go be with my cousin and his wife as she gave birth to their firstborn daughter, Katie Jo.
[00:16:29] who was stillborn at full term and I've been all week walking that road with them and yesterday we literally walked eight tenths of a mile uphill in wet slippery clay my cousin's carrying in and I'm not joking about this 250 pound cross made out of railroad ties in the rain
[00:16:59] to bury Katie Jo and what I've been reflecting on this week is that life is just a fragile beautiful gift that we should never take for granted and that my calling as pastor is a the only words I can say are a holy terrible beautiful privilege and my witness to you today um
[00:17:25] As I was singing, the joy of the Lord is my strength, I literally, when Wes preached on joy back in December, I remember sitting here thinking, I am so joyful, I really am, Lord, and it's so hard when you're joyful to not wait around for the other shoe to drop.
[00:17:42] Y'all know that feeling?
[00:17:44] And what God said in that moment was, well, you can't do that, you gotta let joy, you gotta let yourself feel joy because joy will be the strength when the other shoe does drop.
[00:17:55] So, my witness is that God is always strength when we're weak, and literally in the middle of the second song, I'm not making it up, Miranda, Katie Jo's mom, texted me thanking me for what we did yesterday.
[00:18:10] God gives us words, I think, when we don't think we can come up with anything, and God is at work, friends, in every season.
[00:18:18] This week I have found myself drawing strength and words of comfort to share from things that we all shared together in the last couple of months.
[00:18:28] So go with me here.
[00:18:30] The last gathering of WWW, there's a little devotion at the beginning of that time.
[00:18:36] And in the last gathering, Dorothy Kufler, who's a member of our congregation, shared some of her witness from her own journey with cancer.
[00:18:44] And she was reflecting on the 23rd Psalm, where it says, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
[00:18:52] And she said, You know, there's only a shadow because there's light somewhere.
[00:18:57] How many times have I read Psalm 23 and that never dawned on me?
[00:19:04] So I woke up in the middle of the night on Sunday in Asheville thinking about that.
[00:19:09] And as any reasonable pastor would do at 4.30 in the morning, I looked up the Hebrew meaning of the shadow of death.
[00:19:14] Isn't that what you all would do?
[00:19:17] Turns out that exact same phrase, not making it up, the exact same phrase in the Hebrew shows up in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 1, which I preached on Christmas Eve.
[00:19:29] The people in darkness have seen a great light on those who lived in the shadow of death.
[00:19:34] A light has dawned.
[00:19:37] I've also been reading.
[00:19:38] I'm doing this every few years.
[00:19:40] I do a Bible through the year reading program.
[00:19:42] We sent that out to you on your e-alert this week.
[00:19:45] If you need it, call me.
[00:19:46] It's five-day reading.
[00:19:48] I really love it.
[00:19:48] It's my favorite way to do it because it's not reading chronologically.
[00:19:51] It's not reading straight through.
[00:19:53] It's reading chronologically.
[00:19:54] So I was in Genesis and thinking about, had been thinking about all week long, just for my personal devotion, about how God dwells in darkness.
[00:20:06] And I heard God telling me in the middle of the night to remind Katie Jo's family to look for God's light even in the darkness of the moment.
[00:20:16] And I wouldn't have heard that if I hadn't been here at Williamson's Chapel listening and growing all year long last year.
[00:20:22] And it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been committed to my own personal devotion time.
[00:20:27] Last Sunday morning, before I got this phone call, we remembered our baptism here and we broke bread together.
[00:20:34] And Wes told us we are called, we are claimed, we are equipped, and we are sent.
[00:20:40] Do you all remember?
[00:20:42] And as I prepared to baptize a little one who was lost before she was even born, I found myself needing to remember the strength of what baptism really is.
[00:20:53] And God said to me in the middle of the night, right after he talked to me about Psalm 23, God said, Tony Ruth, you're not so much baptizing Katie Jo as you are declaring what God already did in the waters of her mother's womb.
[00:21:05] Name her and claim her in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
[00:21:09] A child who never took her first breath but was alive and created in the image of God, knit together beautifully and perfectly.
[00:21:16] She was held by God and belonged to God before she belonged to us.
[00:21:22] Worship taught me that.
[00:21:26] I was helping plan the funeral this week and I was struck by some of the things that the family was contending with that y'all don't ever have to think about at Williamson's Chapel.
[00:21:35] My cousin was working on getting food for a gathering of family and friends at their house and she was calling a caterer and I was sitting there thinking you should not have to be worrying about food.
[00:21:46] And I just commented to Carrie Jones, I was like, man, I just want to say thank you for all the ways that this church just shows up for people when somebody dies and you say, we'll take care of that meal, don't you worry about it.
[00:21:56] You don't have to think about it again.
[00:21:58] And Carrie texted me back and she said, we'll take a meal up there for them.
[00:22:05] And she meant it.
[00:22:08] And I knew she meant it.
[00:22:10] And we didn't end up doing that, but the offer was an extension of grace and a reminder to my family
[00:22:16] God's unmerited favor is real and that grace exists from community to community.
[00:22:20] It reminded me and my family that we don't walk alone but that God sends people to walk with us and be present with us in it all.
[00:22:28] Community is very important for discipleship.
[00:22:33] So why am I telling you all this?
[00:22:35] Am I telling you all this just to sit in my feelings about the journey I've taken this week and that it's been hard?
[00:22:39] That's not why I'm telling you this.
[00:22:42] I'm telling you this because if this week has taught me anything, it has taught me that investing in a solid spiritual foundation as a disciple of Jesus Christ is the most important work that you can do for the ups and downs of your life.
[00:23:00] Things are going to come your way.
[00:23:02] Things are going to come my way that are going to be challenging.
[00:23:05] And only as we know Jesus in deep prayer, only as we know Jesus as we are grounded in His scriptures, as we are surrounded by strong Christian family, as we are in worship and learning in worship through joy and sorrow, only as we have those things do we have the strength to take one faithful step at a time with Jesus.
[00:23:29] Everybody kept coming up to me yesterday and saying your words were perfect only because of Jesus.
[00:23:34] Only because I'm rooted in Jesus.
[00:23:38] Friends, this is how life goes.
[00:23:41] We like to think...
[00:23:44] About our pathway of discipleship and about life as just following on a straight trajectory.
[00:23:51] Jesus says, come follow me and we think we go, okay, and we just walk right along and we're just going to walk on this linear path and there aren't going to be ups and downs and twists and turns, only progress, no backtracking.
[00:24:05] And sometimes, frankly, it is straight and easy, right?
[00:24:09] Sometimes it is.
[00:24:11] and we can both see and feel the progress that we're making in a faithful life but other times it is more like Wes and I walking up Gusher Knob yesterday in the wet clay slipping and sliding doing this and then like sliding back a little bit and then getting into briars
[00:24:35] More often it's like that.
[00:24:37] And you get done and you think, I don't know that I'm getting anywhere and I'm not even sure where I'm going anyhow.
[00:24:43] That's how life actually feels, doesn't it?
[00:24:47] The Christian life is a journey with Jesus, friends, where we are growing into what it means to be called, claimed, equipped, and sent by the crucified and resurrected Savior.
[00:24:59] It is a journey where we're always learning about Him and about ourselves so that we ask for Him to redeem us more and more every day.
[00:25:10] In the United Methodist tradition, we call that the via salutis, the way of salvation.
[00:25:16] And it is marked, we understand it, by God's grace.
[00:25:20] We like to think it's all forward, like we're just moving along forward always on this pathway with Jesus.
[00:25:25] But the truth is that it's back and forth.
[00:25:28] And God is always at work to heal and redeem and forgive and to make us holy.
[00:25:36] Excuse me.
[00:25:37] If you go to the next slide, y'all can't really see this, I'll send it to you later.
[00:25:42] If you've ever done a Bible study with me, you know this.
[00:25:45] Okay, so on this side, it says Provenient Grace.
[00:25:49] So, Provenient Grace just means God's grace is going before us.
[00:25:52] God's loving us before we even realize that God's at work.
[00:25:55] Excuse me.
[00:26:02] And we're just trucking along in our life, right?
[00:26:05] And then we have a moment when we encounter Jesus.
[00:26:09] It might have been when you were young, it might have been when you were older, but you encountered Jesus, and that's when you experience what we call justifying grace.
[00:26:16] And justifying grace is just the work of God in us to make us holy.
[00:26:22] It is the work of God for us to make us holy.
[00:26:26] It's what Jesus does for you.
[00:26:28] And then we think, okay, well I've encountered Jesus, and I'm justified, and now I'm just walking along, and the rest of that time is what you call sanctifying grace, which is the work of God in us to make us holy.
[00:26:40] And we like to think that our life will just be this.
[00:26:45] And then we arrive at heaven's gates, and we're done.
[00:26:49] How's that working for you?
[00:26:54] The truth about the way of salvation is that you don't touch Provenient Grace and Justifying Grace just the one time.
[00:27:01] You are constantly, me too, we're constantly moving through Provenient Justifying and Sanctifying Grace and then back again.
[00:27:10] It is not this, friends, it is this.
[00:27:16] And hopefully the general trajectory is in a forward motion.
[00:27:20] But you're always countering those moments where you're having to go, man, I did it again.
[00:27:26] Or, man, how did I end up here again?
[00:27:31] And God's grace is always available to you.
[00:27:35] That's the way of salvation.
[00:27:37] So it's not just one straight line.
[00:27:38] It's a constant motion.
[00:27:41] A whole lot more like that picture before than like the straight line, right?
[00:27:47] So, excuse me.
[00:27:52] It's not like we begin our life with Christ, exploring, and we just go, well now I'm exploring in my faith, and now I'm growing in my faith, and now I'm deepening in my faith, and now I'm centering in my faith, and now I have succeeded at being a Christian.
[00:28:08] Wes tells us all the time, does he not, that success is not a biblical value?
[00:28:14] Success is not a biblical value.
[00:28:17] Growth is.
[00:28:18] Transformation is.
[00:28:20] Becoming holy is.
[00:28:24] We are always, friends, being saved.
[00:28:30] You are always being saved.
[00:28:33] And God is always at work in us.
[00:28:37] And sometimes you're moving full steam ahead on the pathway.
[00:28:41] And sometimes life and circumstances and sin and challenges just get in the way and we find ourselves moving back to a place that we thought that we had grown out of.
[00:28:49] And here's the truth, there is no judgment in that.
[00:28:52] and there ought to be no shame in that.
[00:28:55] And if you feel either one of those things I am praying that God would divest you of both of them.
[00:29:02] It happens to everybody.
[00:29:05] And talking about it and how we found ourselves there and how we found the courage to get up and move again, that is an important part of our witness.
[00:29:14] That's an important part of your story.
[00:29:16] So when someone tells you, tell me about your story with Jesus, it ought not just be about the one moment that you walked down the aisle to victory in Jesus when you were 16 years old, should it, Wes?
[00:29:27] It should also be about the moment that God met you on the road and the moment that God spoke to you in prayer and the moment that you were in worship that changed your heart and that time that you went across the country and you served and it changed your heart.
[00:29:43] That's all part of your witness to God.
[00:29:48] To move faithfully on the pathway of discipleship, we begin by being honest about our starting point.
[00:29:55] Without shame, without judgment, without should be, or it used to be, or I wish it were, we begin with honesty about where we actually are.
[00:30:05] Paul says, For by the grace given me,
[00:30:09] I say to you that everyone among you ought not to think more highly than you ought to think about yourself, but to think with sober judgment.
[00:30:20] That's what he says, sober judgment.
[00:30:23] And sober judgment just means clear-out assessment.
[00:30:27] It does you, God, and nobody else any good for you to think that you are better or worse than you actually are.
[00:30:37] The place that we begin is just information.
[00:30:41] It's not good or bad, it's just facts.
[00:30:46] It's what you do with it that changes it.
[00:30:50] The place you begin is just information.
[00:30:53] So our goal as your pastors in the next month is to help you assess where you are on a pathway of discipleship.
[00:30:59] And then to ask you to take just one more faithful step in one area of your life so that you can grow in your walk with Jesus.
[00:31:10] As we begin this work of inviting you to an intentional discipleship pathway, and you should have gotten a piece of paper that has that written on it.
[00:31:21] This is a moment for you to get out a piece of paper, get out a pencil if you got one.
[00:31:29] And I want us to think for a second about that word intentional.
[00:31:33] Intentional means done with purpose or design.
[00:31:38] Deliberate, thought out, and considered.
[00:31:43] So I wonder.
[00:31:44] That's where I want us to start.
[00:31:45] And I'm going to give you a minute just to take a moment to pray about your life with Jesus.
[00:31:51] And I just want you to answer this question.
[00:31:53] You can write it down or not.
[00:31:54] It doesn't matter to me.
[00:31:56] That's only for you, that piece of paper.
[00:31:58] How intentional are you in your life with Jesus right now?
[00:32:04] How on purpose is your life with God?
[00:32:09] How deliberate, thought out, or considered
[00:32:13] is the things that you're doing to grow in your faith.
[00:32:17] Do you have a plan or are you just flying along on autopilot?
[00:32:21] Take a minute just to think about that.
[00:32:39] Some of you might feel like Phoebe from Friends when she said, A plan?
[00:32:45] I don't have a plan.
[00:32:46] I don't even have a pluh.
[00:32:50] Okay, so you don't have a plan.
[00:32:53] Guess what that is?
[00:32:54] Sober judgment and a place to start.
[00:32:58] It's just information.
[00:33:01] Sober judgment and a place to start.
[00:33:04] I want you to...
[00:33:06] Look at those steps then.
[00:33:08] Exploring, growing, deepening, centering, and transforming.
[00:33:12] I wonder where you are right now.
[00:33:14] Not in judgment, not thinking specifically, but thinking generally about your life with Jesus.
[00:33:22] And it may be that you're looking at this and you're going, Oh my God, I feel terrible about myself because I can remember when I was really solid in my faith.
[00:33:29] And if you ask me to be honest right now, my sober judgment is I'm exploring everything.
[00:33:34] Maybe you're thinking,
[00:33:36] I used to be at church every Sunday and then COVID happened.
[00:33:42] And I'm here, I don't know, when I think to.
[00:33:46] And you're feeling bad.
[00:33:48] I need you to not feel bad about yourself because God does not need your guilt.
[00:33:55] God does not need your shame.
[00:33:57] God needs your honest assessment and then your willingness to say, I'm willing to take one more step.
[00:34:03] I'm willing to take one more step.
[00:34:05] Okay, so.
[00:34:07] I want us to pray and then I'm going to ask you some questions for you to write down some things.
[00:34:11] So everybody take a deep breath and open your hands in front of you.
[00:34:15] And let's pray.
[00:34:20] You pray after me.
[00:34:21] I'm going to pray slow enough that you can pray it after me, okay?
[00:34:24] Deep breath in.
[00:34:28] Give me honesty and integrity, O Lord.
[00:34:36] that I may carefully probe both my actions and my motivations with a view to reforming those in need of remedy.
[00:34:51] With a view to reforming those that need remedy.
[00:34:57] Help me to put aside self-deception and defensiveness
[00:35:05] and to acknowledge that I am indeed a sinner, yet one who knows the power of grace and covets the joy of transformation.
[00:35:23] Search me, O God, and know my heart.
[00:35:29] Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
[00:35:35] See if there is any unclean way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
[00:35:46] Okay, deep breath in.
[00:35:48] I just want you to think, and I'll send you these questions later, okay?
[00:35:51] I just want you to reflect.
[00:35:53] If you want to write down, you can write down, but you don't have to.
[00:35:56] Where have you grown in your life with God across the years?
[00:36:02] Where have you grown in your life with God across the years?
[00:36:30] What are the biggest threats in your life right now to your intentional discipleship?
[00:36:38] What's getting in the way?
[00:36:39] What are the biggest threats to your intentional discipleship?
[00:37:01] Where do you want to grow in God's grace?
[00:37:05] Where is there this thing in you that just goes, oh, I just want, I want that in my life with God.
[00:37:11] Where are you wanting to grow in God's grace?
[00:37:30] Thinking about
[00:37:32] Your life in the last year.
[00:37:33] How faithful have you been in worship?
[00:37:39] Not just on Sunday mornings, but also in your daily life.
[00:37:43] How faithful have you been in worship?
[00:37:49] How faithful have you been to study God's Word, to study and learn and grow about what it means to be a Christian?
[00:38:07] How faithful have you been in nurturing relationships, Christ-centered relationships?
[00:38:24] How faithful have you been in service to others and for Christ?
[00:38:39] How faithful have you been in generosity and giving of what God has given to you?
[00:38:49] Yes, in your bank account, but also with your time and your skills.
[00:39:03] If you had to put a little X somewhere, where do you think you are right now on that pathway of discipleship?
[00:39:10] No judgment and no shame.
[00:39:12] It's just information.
[00:39:14] And God needs our sober judgment and honesty.
[00:39:27] Don't expect you to arrive at an answer right now, but do you sense, have a sense of it?
[00:39:32] Are you open to God's Spirit?
[00:39:36] In the next several weeks, we're going to be helping you assess where you are and to commit to taking just one next faithful step.
[00:39:45] Lovett Weems, who is a professor at Wesley Theological Seminary, says, Change is evolution, not revolution.
[00:39:55] That is so true of the pathway of discipleship.
[00:39:58] If you feel overwhelmed by your reflection, that is completely okay.
[00:40:03] I want you to take a deep breath and hear me when I say this.
[00:40:06] The journey begins by assessing where you are and then determining one, just one, itty bitty, baby faltering, stumbling step.
[00:40:16] Jesus says he honors every single one.
[00:40:22] What is one step you can take to move from where you are to where God calls you to be?
[00:40:29] This week has reminded me that you start where you are and you can't worry about the end of the story.
[00:40:34] You take one faithful step at a time.
[00:40:37] Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, does he not?
[00:40:39] Do not worry about tomorrow.
[00:40:41] Today's got enough worry for today and he is so right.
[00:40:45] God is holding the end of our journey and God is just asking us to take one faithful step toward Him.
[00:40:53] So what might yours be?
[00:40:56] All you have to do is ask God to make you aware and to give you clarity and courage to follow and to give yourself the intention this week of just being open to where God is moving in your life.
[00:41:10] Just enough today for today and tomorrow for tomorrow and the next day for the next and you have to trust friends that God will honor every single honest faithful step that you take toward Him.
[00:41:27] I've learned this week that if we're not taking steps, we cannot be where God needs us to be when God needs to use us.
[00:41:35] And to be used by God is the most beautiful, holy privilege in the whole world.
[00:41:42] And God doesn't just call me, friends.
[00:41:44] He's calling y'all, every one of you.
[00:41:49] So where is God calling you to move?
[00:41:51] And can you ask Him to give you grace to take one step at a time?
[00:41:55] Let's pray.
[00:41:57] Gracious and faithful God, what would we ever do without you?
[00:42:03] We thank you that in our circuitous, uphill, downhill, sitting down, sliding, running, sledding, coasting, skiing, taking a nap journey,
[00:42:17] you've been with us through it all that your pervenient justifying and sanctifying grace have marked our lives across all of our lives we're grateful for your presence and we ask holy God that you will continue to move within us that you will make us aware of our starting points and Lord where there is any regret within us that you will help us to let those things go
[00:42:44] That we might have the courage to just take one step forward.
[00:42:48] Give us clarity Lord.
[00:42:49] We pray that you would transform our lives one step at a time.
[00:42:54] That you will help us to be more intentional and thoughtful about our life with you.
[00:43:00] that we might do that God so that when you need us to bear witness into a world that is full of pain and suffering and hatred and brokenness that we might have the opportunity to bear witness to your better way and to your light that shines in every darkness that no darkness can ever ever overcome help us Lord Jesus to be transformed into your glory
[00:43:31] To the name of Christ that we pray.
[00:43:34] Amen.
[00:43:37] As we get ready to sing our next song and receive our offering, I want to remind you this intentional pathway business, this is not new to you.
[00:43:46] Y'all saw this last year.
[00:43:47] You saw it last year when we were talking about a pathway of generosity.
[00:43:50] And we invited you to ask about your own generosity.
[00:43:53] Are you exploring, growing?
[00:43:55] Deepening, Transforming, Centering.
[00:43:58] And last year we saw God do amazing things in our church.
[00:44:01] I don't have the final numbers yet.
[00:44:03] I know that giving in 2025 was at least 5% higher than it was in 2024.
[00:44:09] And that's because you all took one faithful step on a pathway.
[00:44:13] So we thank you for that and we hope you continue to keep asking, what is my one next faithful step?
[00:44:19] What one next faithful thing can I do to move forward?
[00:44:21] What one next faithful thing can God do through me if I take one step at a time?
[00:44:27] Thank you for your generosity.
[00:44:29] Thank you for how you've grown.
[00:44:30] If you took a step last year, I hope that one of the things you thought about this morning was how that changed your life.
[00:44:37] and how it might continue to transform you for God's glory.
[00:44:41] We pray that God would bless every gift that we bring today to build up his kingdom to help us to help other people make one step at a time on a pathway of discipleship.
[00:44:50] God is doing a new thing, friends.
[00:44:52] God is gonna bring new wine out of us.
[00:44:55] And so we sing to his glory and we pray for God to bless every gift that is offered in the name of Christ.
[00:45:01] If you can give online or you can give in the offering plate, however you give, thank you, thank you, thank you.
[00:45:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Thanks for joining us for worship this morning.
[00:45:11] We're so glad that you chose to worship with us here at Williamson's Chapel.
[00:45:21] We're in the midst of the beginning part of a really cool worship series we're doing on a discipleship.
[00:45:29] Thanks for joining us for worship this morning.
The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength
[00:00:42] The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Let it rise up like a river overflowing
[00:01:17] With no limits Overflowing Holy Spirit
[00:02:08] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
If you have joy, you can jump.
[00:02:27] Come on and clap for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
[00:02:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The joy of the Lord is my strength.
[00:02:44] The joy of the Lord is my strength.
[00:02:45] Oh, my soul is blessed.
[00:03:12] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:03:27] Amen.
[00:03:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
We worship together welcome we are so glad you're here welcome to those of you here in person and those of you watching online we're so happy you're worshiping with us this morning if you are new here at Williamson Chapel welcome we are so glad you're worshiping with us today after worship today I hope you'll take just a moment stop by the connection station right outside of these doors I'll be standing there ready to say hello
[00:04:07] I've got a cool little gift for you and I would love to welcome you in person so please join us after worship for that and friends again we are so happy that you're here this morning
[00:04:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Bless His name, all that is in Him is saved.
[00:05:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The joy of the Lord, the joy
[00:05:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Amen!
[00:05:20] Y'all can keep on standing if you're able.
[00:05:23] Just keep standing up.
[00:05:24] I'm going to tell you about our worship theme that is happening.
[00:05:28] Y'all, I wish that you could see this little dancing group of kids over here.
[00:05:31] If you get a chance on our next song, you've got to look over there because they're getting their groove on.
[00:05:34] Some of us grown-ups need to learn a little lesson on the dancing.
[00:05:38] So our series is talking about all year long we're going to be working on how God is moving in our lives.
[00:05:46] What is our next faithful step growing in discipleship?
[00:05:51] It is our job as Christians, as believers, to make that next step, to go to the next place.
[00:05:58] Sometimes we just kind of get settled into where we are.
[00:06:01] We go to church a couple times and we did a Bible study then and there and
[00:06:05] And then, you know, we're not really sure what we're supposed to do next.
[00:06:09] And so then there's that next place to move, but we gotta listen for God.
[00:06:14] We gotta wait for God.
[00:06:15] You should have the track on, Zane, still.
[00:06:18] Wait for God to move us forward.
[00:06:22] So what is your next faithful step is the question that we're asking today and for the next coming weeks.
[00:06:29] Part of that is knowing the scripture, hearing the scripture, allowing God to speak through to us.
[00:06:36] We can't find it unless we're in the word.
[00:06:40] So we're going to sing a song that's going to set us up for hearing the scripture.
[00:06:44] And before we do that, I want you to know you're part of it.
[00:06:47] You can sing all of it if you know it, but it's a new song for us.
[00:06:51] I'm going to teach you the chorus.
[00:06:53] The beginning of it is...
[00:06:54] Your words are wonderful unfolding like the dawn a wellspring and the rock we rest upon we trust your promises that keep our hope alive they steady us throughout life's weary climb and the chorus where else can we go where else can we go you have the words of life you have the words of life so i'm asking you to sing with us on just that little part where else can we go valerie can you just play
[00:07:24] You don't have no track, just play it.
[00:07:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Where else can we go?
[00:07:39] Where else can we go?
[00:07:45] You have the words of life.
[00:07:50] The words of life.
[00:07:52] Now you sing it with us.
[00:07:54] Where else can we go?
[00:07:59] Where else can we go?
[00:08:10] One more time.
[00:08:14] Ask that question.
[00:08:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Let's sing together the whole song.
[00:08:34] Your words are wonderful.
[00:08:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The words are wonderful, unfolding like the dawn, O wellspring and the rock we rest upon.
[00:09:11] We trust your promises that keep our hope alive.
[00:09:19] They steady us throughout life's weary climb Where else can we go?
[00:09:42] Where else can we go?
[00:09:43] You have the words of life The words of life
[00:09:50] Come write your holy truth upon our longing hearts And strengthen us to shine against the dark Lord, guard us from the lies the enemy will speak No guilt remains for those you have redeemed
[00:10:23] Where else can we go?
[00:10:33] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
You have the words of life The words of life Make your glory known
[00:10:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Give us ears to hear and eyes to see Help us in our doubt and unbelief Give us ears to hear and eyes to see Help us in our doubt
[00:11:31] Let us hear to hear and eyes to see Help us in our doubt and our belief Where else can we go?
[00:12:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Hear these words from Romans 12.
[00:12:38] I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters on the basis of God's mercy to present your sacrifices as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.
[00:12:54] Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
[00:13:10] For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
[00:13:25] For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function,
[00:13:32] So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another.
[00:13:39] We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, prophecy in proportion to faith, ministry in ministering, the teacher in teaching,
[00:13:52] The encourager in encouragement, the giver in sincerity, the leader in diligence, the compassionate in cheerfulness.
[00:14:03] The Word of God for us the people of God.
[00:14:06] Thanks be to God.
[00:14:07] You may be seated.
[00:14:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning, church.
[00:14:31] It's good to be with you all today.
[00:14:36] I'm going to need to pray before we start.
[00:14:44] How's that?
[00:14:45] Would that be a good plan?
[00:14:46] Let's do that.
[00:14:48] Let's pray.
[00:14:49] Deep breath in and breathe it out.
[00:14:55] Take another deep breath in.
[00:14:58] And breathe it out.
[00:15:02] One more time.
[00:15:10] Lord, you are our strength in every season and for you we are so very grateful for the gift of worship, for the gift of community of faith, for the gift of your word planted deep within us that is our sustaining grace.
[00:15:25] For all the ways that you are with us, Lord, we are grateful.
[00:15:28] And we pray that you would open our spirits today to receive the word that you have for us.
[00:15:34] That we may, Lord, walk more faithfully with you in the living of our days.
[00:15:39] It's in the name of Jesus that we pray.
[00:15:41] Amen.
[00:15:43] So welcome if you're visiting with us.
[00:15:46] My name is Tony Ruth Smith.
[00:15:47] My husband Wes and I are the senior co-pastors here.
[00:15:51] And it is a delight and a privilege to be in worship with y'all this morning.
[00:15:57] Today this sermon is going to start out...
[00:15:59] Super personal, so you're going to have to go with me on it.
[00:16:05] I want to say thank you to all of you all for how you've been praying for me and for my extended family this week.
[00:16:14] Some of you don't know, this is the Cliff Notes version of a really long story.
[00:16:19] Last Sunday evening I was called to go be with my cousin and his wife as she gave birth to their firstborn daughter, Katie Jo.
[00:16:29] who was stillborn at full term and I've been all week walking that road with them and yesterday we literally walked eight tenths of a mile uphill in wet slippery clay my cousin's carrying in and I'm not joking about this 250 pound cross made out of railroad ties in the rain
[00:16:59] to bury Katie Jo and what I've been reflecting on this week is that life is just a fragile beautiful gift that we should never take for granted and that my calling as pastor is a the only words I can say are a holy terrible beautiful privilege and my witness to you today um
[00:17:25] As I was singing, the joy of the Lord is my strength, I literally, when Wes preached on joy back in December, I remember sitting here thinking, I am so joyful, I really am, Lord, and it's so hard when you're joyful to not wait around for the other shoe to drop.
[00:17:42] Y'all know that feeling?
[00:17:44] And what God said in that moment was, well, you can't do that, you gotta let joy, you gotta let yourself feel joy because joy will be the strength when the other shoe does drop.
[00:17:55] So, my witness is that God is always strength when we're weak, and literally in the middle of the second song, I'm not making it up, Miranda, Katie Jo's mom, texted me thanking me for what we did yesterday.
[00:18:10] God gives us words, I think, when we don't think we can come up with anything, and God is at work, friends, in every season.
[00:18:18] This week I have found myself drawing strength and words of comfort to share from things that we all shared together in the last couple of months.
[00:18:28] So go with me here.
[00:18:30] The last gathering of WWW, there's a little devotion at the beginning of that time.
[00:18:36] And in the last gathering, Dorothy Kufler, who's a member of our congregation, shared some of her witness from her own journey with cancer.
[00:18:44] And she was reflecting on the 23rd Psalm, where it says, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
[00:18:52] And she said, You know, there's only a shadow because there's light somewhere.
[00:18:57] How many times have I read Psalm 23 and that never dawned on me?
[00:19:04] So I woke up in the middle of the night on Sunday in Asheville thinking about that.
[00:19:09] And as any reasonable pastor would do at 4.30 in the morning, I looked up the Hebrew meaning of the shadow of death.
[00:19:14] Isn't that what you all would do?
[00:19:17] Turns out that exact same phrase, not making it up, the exact same phrase in the Hebrew shows up in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 1, which I preached on Christmas Eve.
[00:19:29] The people in darkness have seen a great light on those who lived in the shadow of death.
[00:19:34] A light has dawned.
[00:19:37] I've also been reading.
[00:19:38] I'm doing this every few years.
[00:19:40] I do a Bible through the year reading program.
[00:19:42] We sent that out to you on your e-alert this week.
[00:19:45] If you need it, call me.
[00:19:46] It's five-day reading.
[00:19:48] I really love it.
[00:19:48] It's my favorite way to do it because it's not reading chronologically.
[00:19:51] It's not reading straight through.
[00:19:53] It's reading chronologically.
[00:19:54] So I was in Genesis and thinking about, had been thinking about all week long, just for my personal devotion, about how God dwells in darkness.
[00:20:06] And I heard God telling me in the middle of the night to remind Katie Jo's family to look for God's light even in the darkness of the moment.
[00:20:16] And I wouldn't have heard that if I hadn't been here at Williamson's Chapel listening and growing all year long last year.
[00:20:22] And it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been committed to my own personal devotion time.
[00:20:27] Last Sunday morning, before I got this phone call, we remembered our baptism here and we broke bread together.
[00:20:34] And Wes told us we are called, we are claimed, we are equipped, and we are sent.
[00:20:40] Do you all remember?
[00:20:42] And as I prepared to baptize a little one who was lost before she was even born, I found myself needing to remember the strength of what baptism really is.
[00:20:53] And God said to me in the middle of the night, right after he talked to me about Psalm 23, God said, Tony Ruth, you're not so much baptizing Katie Jo as you are declaring what God already did in the waters of her mother's womb.
[00:21:05] Name her and claim her in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
[00:21:09] A child who never took her first breath but was alive and created in the image of God, knit together beautifully and perfectly.
[00:21:16] She was held by God and belonged to God before she belonged to us.
[00:21:22] Worship taught me that.
[00:21:26] I was helping plan the funeral this week and I was struck by some of the things that the family was contending with that y'all don't ever have to think about at Williamson's Chapel.
[00:21:35] My cousin was working on getting food for a gathering of family and friends at their house and she was calling a caterer and I was sitting there thinking you should not have to be worrying about food.
[00:21:46] And I just commented to Carrie Jones, I was like, man, I just want to say thank you for all the ways that this church just shows up for people when somebody dies and you say, we'll take care of that meal, don't you worry about it.
[00:21:56] You don't have to think about it again.
[00:21:58] And Carrie texted me back and she said, we'll take a meal up there for them.
[00:22:05] And she meant it.
[00:22:08] And I knew she meant it.
[00:22:10] And we didn't end up doing that, but the offer was an extension of grace and a reminder to my family
[00:22:16] God's unmerited favor is real and that grace exists from community to community.
[00:22:20] It reminded me and my family that we don't walk alone but that God sends people to walk with us and be present with us in it all.
[00:22:28] Community is very important for discipleship.
[00:22:33] So why am I telling you all this?
[00:22:35] Am I telling you all this just to sit in my feelings about the journey I've taken this week and that it's been hard?
[00:22:39] That's not why I'm telling you this.
[00:22:42] I'm telling you this because if this week has taught me anything, it has taught me that investing in a solid spiritual foundation as a disciple of Jesus Christ is the most important work that you can do for the ups and downs of your life.
[00:23:00] Things are going to come your way.
[00:23:02] Things are going to come my way that are going to be challenging.
[00:23:05] And only as we know Jesus in deep prayer, only as we know Jesus as we are grounded in His scriptures, as we are surrounded by strong Christian family, as we are in worship and learning in worship through joy and sorrow, only as we have those things do we have the strength to take one faithful step at a time with Jesus.
[00:23:29] Everybody kept coming up to me yesterday and saying your words were perfect only because of Jesus.
[00:23:34] Only because I'm rooted in Jesus.
[00:23:38] Friends, this is how life goes.
[00:23:41] We like to think...
[00:23:44] About our pathway of discipleship and about life as just following on a straight trajectory.
[00:23:51] Jesus says, come follow me and we think we go, okay, and we just walk right along and we're just going to walk on this linear path and there aren't going to be ups and downs and twists and turns, only progress, no backtracking.
[00:24:05] And sometimes, frankly, it is straight and easy, right?
[00:24:09] Sometimes it is.
[00:24:11] and we can both see and feel the progress that we're making in a faithful life but other times it is more like Wes and I walking up Gusher Knob yesterday in the wet clay slipping and sliding doing this and then like sliding back a little bit and then getting into briars
[00:24:35] More often it's like that.
[00:24:37] And you get done and you think, I don't know that I'm getting anywhere and I'm not even sure where I'm going anyhow.
[00:24:43] That's how life actually feels, doesn't it?
[00:24:47] The Christian life is a journey with Jesus, friends, where we are growing into what it means to be called, claimed, equipped, and sent by the crucified and resurrected Savior.
[00:24:59] It is a journey where we're always learning about Him and about ourselves so that we ask for Him to redeem us more and more every day.
[00:25:10] In the United Methodist tradition, we call that the via salutis, the way of salvation.
[00:25:16] And it is marked, we understand it, by God's grace.
[00:25:20] We like to think it's all forward, like we're just moving along forward always on this pathway with Jesus.
[00:25:25] But the truth is that it's back and forth.
[00:25:28] And God is always at work to heal and redeem and forgive and to make us holy.
[00:25:36] Excuse me.
[00:25:37] If you go to the next slide, y'all can't really see this, I'll send it to you later.
[00:25:42] If you've ever done a Bible study with me, you know this.
[00:25:45] Okay, so on this side, it says Provenient Grace.
[00:25:49] So, Provenient Grace just means God's grace is going before us.
[00:25:52] God's loving us before we even realize that God's at work.
[00:25:55] Excuse me.
[00:26:02] And we're just trucking along in our life, right?
[00:26:05] And then we have a moment when we encounter Jesus.
[00:26:09] It might have been when you were young, it might have been when you were older, but you encountered Jesus, and that's when you experience what we call justifying grace.
[00:26:16] And justifying grace is just the work of God in us to make us holy.
[00:26:22] It is the work of God for us to make us holy.
[00:26:26] It's what Jesus does for you.
[00:26:28] And then we think, okay, well I've encountered Jesus, and I'm justified, and now I'm just walking along, and the rest of that time is what you call sanctifying grace, which is the work of God in us to make us holy.
[00:26:40] And we like to think that our life will just be this.
[00:26:45] And then we arrive at heaven's gates, and we're done.
[00:26:49] How's that working for you?
[00:26:54] The truth about the way of salvation is that you don't touch Provenient Grace and Justifying Grace just the one time.
[00:27:01] You are constantly, me too, we're constantly moving through Provenient Justifying and Sanctifying Grace and then back again.
[00:27:10] It is not this, friends, it is this.
[00:27:16] And hopefully the general trajectory is in a forward motion.
[00:27:20] But you're always countering those moments where you're having to go, man, I did it again.
[00:27:26] Or, man, how did I end up here again?
[00:27:31] And God's grace is always available to you.
[00:27:35] That's the way of salvation.
[00:27:37] So it's not just one straight line.
[00:27:38] It's a constant motion.
[00:27:41] A whole lot more like that picture before than like the straight line, right?
[00:27:47] So, excuse me.
[00:27:52] It's not like we begin our life with Christ, exploring, and we just go, well now I'm exploring in my faith, and now I'm growing in my faith, and now I'm deepening in my faith, and now I'm centering in my faith, and now I have succeeded at being a Christian.
[00:28:08] Wes tells us all the time, does he not, that success is not a biblical value?
[00:28:14] Success is not a biblical value.
[00:28:17] Growth is.
[00:28:18] Transformation is.
[00:28:20] Becoming holy is.
[00:28:24] We are always, friends, being saved.
[00:28:30] You are always being saved.
[00:28:33] And God is always at work in us.
[00:28:37] And sometimes you're moving full steam ahead on the pathway.
[00:28:41] And sometimes life and circumstances and sin and challenges just get in the way and we find ourselves moving back to a place that we thought that we had grown out of.
[00:28:49] And here's the truth, there is no judgment in that.
[00:28:52] and there ought to be no shame in that.
[00:28:55] And if you feel either one of those things I am praying that God would divest you of both of them.
[00:29:02] It happens to everybody.
[00:29:05] And talking about it and how we found ourselves there and how we found the courage to get up and move again, that is an important part of our witness.
[00:29:14] That's an important part of your story.
[00:29:16] So when someone tells you, tell me about your story with Jesus, it ought not just be about the one moment that you walked down the aisle to victory in Jesus when you were 16 years old, should it, Wes?
[00:29:27] It should also be about the moment that God met you on the road and the moment that God spoke to you in prayer and the moment that you were in worship that changed your heart and that time that you went across the country and you served and it changed your heart.
[00:29:43] That's all part of your witness to God.
[00:29:48] To move faithfully on the pathway of discipleship, we begin by being honest about our starting point.
[00:29:55] Without shame, without judgment, without should be, or it used to be, or I wish it were, we begin with honesty about where we actually are.
[00:30:05] Paul says, For by the grace given me,
[00:30:09] I say to you that everyone among you ought not to think more highly than you ought to think about yourself, but to think with sober judgment.
[00:30:20] That's what he says, sober judgment.
[00:30:23] And sober judgment just means clear-out assessment.
[00:30:27] It does you, God, and nobody else any good for you to think that you are better or worse than you actually are.
[00:30:37] The place that we begin is just information.
[00:30:41] It's not good or bad, it's just facts.
[00:30:46] It's what you do with it that changes it.
[00:30:50] The place you begin is just information.
[00:30:53] So our goal as your pastors in the next month is to help you assess where you are on a pathway of discipleship.
[00:30:59] And then to ask you to take just one more faithful step in one area of your life so that you can grow in your walk with Jesus.
[00:31:10] As we begin this work of inviting you to an intentional discipleship pathway, and you should have gotten a piece of paper that has that written on it.
[00:31:21] This is a moment for you to get out a piece of paper, get out a pencil if you got one.
[00:31:29] And I want us to think for a second about that word intentional.
[00:31:33] Intentional means done with purpose or design.
[00:31:38] Deliberate, thought out, and considered.
[00:31:43] So I wonder.
[00:31:44] That's where I want us to start.
[00:31:45] And I'm going to give you a minute just to take a moment to pray about your life with Jesus.
[00:31:51] And I just want you to answer this question.
[00:31:53] You can write it down or not.
[00:31:54] It doesn't matter to me.
[00:31:56] That's only for you, that piece of paper.
[00:31:58] How intentional are you in your life with Jesus right now?
[00:32:04] How on purpose is your life with God?
[00:32:09] How deliberate, thought out, or considered
[00:32:13] is the things that you're doing to grow in your faith.
[00:32:17] Do you have a plan or are you just flying along on autopilot?
[00:32:21] Take a minute just to think about that.
[00:32:39] Some of you might feel like Phoebe from Friends when she said, A plan?
[00:32:45] I don't have a plan.
[00:32:46] I don't even have a pluh.
[00:32:50] Okay, so you don't have a plan.
[00:32:53] Guess what that is?
[00:32:54] Sober judgment and a place to start.
[00:32:58] It's just information.
[00:33:01] Sober judgment and a place to start.
[00:33:04] I want you to...
[00:33:06] Look at those steps then.
[00:33:08] Exploring, growing, deepening, centering, and transforming.
[00:33:12] I wonder where you are right now.
[00:33:14] Not in judgment, not thinking specifically, but thinking generally about your life with Jesus.
[00:33:22] And it may be that you're looking at this and you're going, Oh my God, I feel terrible about myself because I can remember when I was really solid in my faith.
[00:33:29] And if you ask me to be honest right now, my sober judgment is I'm exploring everything.
[00:33:34] Maybe you're thinking,
[00:33:36] I used to be at church every Sunday and then COVID happened.
[00:33:42] And I'm here, I don't know, when I think to.
[00:33:46] And you're feeling bad.
[00:33:48] I need you to not feel bad about yourself because God does not need your guilt.
[00:33:55] God does not need your shame.
[00:33:57] God needs your honest assessment and then your willingness to say, I'm willing to take one more step.
[00:34:03] I'm willing to take one more step.
[00:34:05] Okay, so.
[00:34:07] I want us to pray and then I'm going to ask you some questions for you to write down some things.
[00:34:11] So everybody take a deep breath and open your hands in front of you.
[00:34:15] And let's pray.
[00:34:20] You pray after me.
[00:34:21] I'm going to pray slow enough that you can pray it after me, okay?
[00:34:24] Deep breath in.
[00:34:28] Give me honesty and integrity, O Lord.
[00:34:36] that I may carefully probe both my actions and my motivations with a view to reforming those in need of remedy.
[00:34:51] With a view to reforming those that need remedy.
[00:34:57] Help me to put aside self-deception and defensiveness
[00:35:05] and to acknowledge that I am indeed a sinner, yet one who knows the power of grace and covets the joy of transformation.
[00:35:23] Search me, O God, and know my heart.
[00:35:29] Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
[00:35:35] See if there is any unclean way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
[00:35:46] Okay, deep breath in.
[00:35:48] I just want you to think, and I'll send you these questions later, okay?
[00:35:51] I just want you to reflect.
[00:35:53] If you want to write down, you can write down, but you don't have to.
[00:35:56] Where have you grown in your life with God across the years?
[00:36:02] Where have you grown in your life with God across the years?
[00:36:30] What are the biggest threats in your life right now to your intentional discipleship?
[00:36:38] What's getting in the way?
[00:36:39] What are the biggest threats to your intentional discipleship?
[00:37:01] Where do you want to grow in God's grace?
[00:37:05] Where is there this thing in you that just goes, oh, I just want, I want that in my life with God.
[00:37:11] Where are you wanting to grow in God's grace?
[00:37:30] Thinking about
[00:37:32] Your life in the last year.
[00:37:33] How faithful have you been in worship?
[00:37:39] Not just on Sunday mornings, but also in your daily life.
[00:37:43] How faithful have you been in worship?
[00:37:49] How faithful have you been to study God's Word, to study and learn and grow about what it means to be a Christian?
[00:38:07] How faithful have you been in nurturing relationships, Christ-centered relationships?
[00:38:24] How faithful have you been in service to others and for Christ?
[00:38:39] How faithful have you been in generosity and giving of what God has given to you?
[00:38:49] Yes, in your bank account, but also with your time and your skills.
[00:39:03] If you had to put a little X somewhere, where do you think you are right now on that pathway of discipleship?
[00:39:10] No judgment and no shame.
[00:39:12] It's just information.
[00:39:14] And God needs our sober judgment and honesty.
[00:39:27] Don't expect you to arrive at an answer right now, but do you sense, have a sense of it?
[00:39:32] Are you open to God's Spirit?
[00:39:36] In the next several weeks, we're going to be helping you assess where you are and to commit to taking just one next faithful step.
[00:39:45] Lovett Weems, who is a professor at Wesley Theological Seminary, says, Change is evolution, not revolution.
[00:39:55] That is so true of the pathway of discipleship.
[00:39:58] If you feel overwhelmed by your reflection, that is completely okay.
[00:40:03] I want you to take a deep breath and hear me when I say this.
[00:40:06] The journey begins by assessing where you are and then determining one, just one, itty bitty, baby faltering, stumbling step.
[00:40:16] Jesus says he honors every single one.
[00:40:22] What is one step you can take to move from where you are to where God calls you to be?
[00:40:29] This week has reminded me that you start where you are and you can't worry about the end of the story.
[00:40:34] You take one faithful step at a time.
[00:40:37] Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, does he not?
[00:40:39] Do not worry about tomorrow.
[00:40:41] Today's got enough worry for today and he is so right.
[00:40:45] God is holding the end of our journey and God is just asking us to take one faithful step toward Him.
[00:40:53] So what might yours be?
[00:40:56] All you have to do is ask God to make you aware and to give you clarity and courage to follow and to give yourself the intention this week of just being open to where God is moving in your life.
[00:41:10] Just enough today for today and tomorrow for tomorrow and the next day for the next and you have to trust friends that God will honor every single honest faithful step that you take toward Him.
[00:41:27] I've learned this week that if we're not taking steps, we cannot be where God needs us to be when God needs to use us.
[00:41:35] And to be used by God is the most beautiful, holy privilege in the whole world.
[00:41:42] And God doesn't just call me, friends.
[00:41:44] He's calling y'all, every one of you.
[00:41:49] So where is God calling you to move?
[00:41:51] And can you ask Him to give you grace to take one step at a time?
[00:41:55] Let's pray.
[00:41:57] Gracious and faithful God, what would we ever do without you?
[00:42:03] We thank you that in our circuitous, uphill, downhill, sitting down, sliding, running, sledding, coasting, skiing, taking a nap journey,
[00:42:17] you've been with us through it all that your pervenient justifying and sanctifying grace have marked our lives across all of our lives we're grateful for your presence and we ask holy God that you will continue to move within us that you will make us aware of our starting points and Lord where there is any regret within us that you will help us to let those things go
[00:42:44] That we might have the courage to just take one step forward.
[00:42:48] Give us clarity Lord.
[00:42:49] We pray that you would transform our lives one step at a time.
[00:42:54] That you will help us to be more intentional and thoughtful about our life with you.
[00:43:00] that we might do that God so that when you need us to bear witness into a world that is full of pain and suffering and hatred and brokenness that we might have the opportunity to bear witness to your better way and to your light that shines in every darkness that no darkness can ever ever overcome help us Lord Jesus to be transformed into your glory
[00:43:31] To the name of Christ that we pray.
[00:43:34] Amen.
[00:43:37] As we get ready to sing our next song and receive our offering, I want to remind you this intentional pathway business, this is not new to you.
[00:43:46] Y'all saw this last year.
[00:43:47] You saw it last year when we were talking about a pathway of generosity.
[00:43:50] And we invited you to ask about your own generosity.
[00:43:53] Are you exploring, growing?
[00:43:55] Deepening, Transforming, Centering.
[00:43:58] And last year we saw God do amazing things in our church.
[00:44:01] I don't have the final numbers yet.
[00:44:03] I know that giving in 2025 was at least 5% higher than it was in 2024.
[00:44:09] And that's because you all took one faithful step on a pathway.
[00:44:13] So we thank you for that and we hope you continue to keep asking, what is my one next faithful step?
[00:44:19] What one next faithful thing can I do to move forward?
[00:44:21] What one next faithful thing can God do through me if I take one step at a time?
[00:44:27] Thank you for your generosity.
[00:44:29] Thank you for how you've grown.
[00:44:30] If you took a step last year, I hope that one of the things you thought about this morning was how that changed your life.
[00:44:37] and how it might continue to transform you for God's glory.
[00:44:41] We pray that God would bless every gift that we bring today to build up his kingdom to help us to help other people make one step at a time on a pathway of discipleship.
[00:44:50] God is doing a new thing, friends.
[00:44:52] God is gonna bring new wine out of us.
[00:44:55] And so we sing to his glory and we pray for God to bless every gift that is offered in the name of Christ.
[00:45:01] If you can give online or you can give in the offering plate, however you give, thank you, thank you, thank you.
[00:45:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Thanks for joining us for worship this morning.
[00:45:11] We're so glad that you chose to worship with us here at Williamson's Chapel.
[00:45:21] We're in the midst of the beginning part of a really cool worship series we're doing on a discipleship.
[00:45:29] Thanks for joining us for worship this morning.
