Sermon Series Helps People Ask Questions About Their Faith

The of The United Methodist Church at Wentzville would like to see his congregation be more fearless when dealing with questions about faith.

So next Sunday, he will start a sermon series called "Fearless" to help church members address concerns and questions.

"The next line is ‘Fearless, the courage to question.’ The idea is that, since we are confident of God’s love for us, there are no questions that are out of bounds," Conley said. "We can ask God, we can ask each other, and not be afraid of where the answer leads us."

Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, an appropriate time to start this series.

"It’s the beginning of the season of Lent, which is supposed to be a time of introspection, thinking through life and about the important things in life," he said. "So instead of trying to give them a set of pat answers and not realize that one set of answers doesn’t work for everybody, I’m going to try and help them ask some questions, mull around some questions, and see if that might help them sort out their relationships with God, each other, ... see if that might be a way to help them deepen their faith during this time."

The series will cover the entire season of Lent, concluding on April 17, which is Palm Sunday.

"I do have the text, and sort of the key questions I’m thinking about," Conley said.

To make it more interactive for the congregation, Conley will post the weekly question on Facebook and send an e-mail to the members of the congregation, and ask people to respond with their thoughts.

"Like, before Ash Wednesday, we will put out the question, ‘If you could ask God for one thing, what would it be?’ Just to get them to start thinking about what it would be like."

The first Sunday of Lent traditionally begins with a story of Christ’s temptation, which was 40 days long, Conley said.

So he said the question will be, "What’s the best way to resist temptation? How do you resist temptation?"

The following Sunday, the story is from John, about Jesus encountering Nicodemus, telling him he must be born again or born from above.

"(Jesus) was pretty hard on him," Conley said, "and the question that bubbles up is why is Jesus so hard on religious people? Why is he so hard on the people who are trying to do the right thing?"

The next sermon topic will address the woman Jesus encountered at the well.

"He knows much about her life, even before she tells him," Conley said. "So thinking about that in relationship to prayer, if God knows everything about us, why do we need to pray? Why do we need to talk to God about that?"

Next in the series is the story of the man born blind, and how Jesus healed him

"So the question becomes, ‘Why do some people get healing and some don’t?’"

The April 10 topic concerns the resuscitation of Lazarus.

"The shortest verse in the Bible is outside of Lazarus’s tomb, where it said, ‘Jesus wept.’ The question I have is ‘What makes Jesus weep today?’ So that’s the idea of what we’ll be doing through Lent," Conley said. "Just trying to get people to think about those things and then look at the text in that way."

The feedback Conley gets from the Facebook postings and e-mails will be incorporated into the sermons.

"That’s the idea," he said. "Not necessarily by name, but just to say, ‘I asked this question, and here’s some of the response I got. Here is how some people are thinking about this. This is the question they posed in response to that.’ I want to try to use that in a way to help make sure the sermon is meeting people where they are, the best that we can."

This type of interaction is actually a regular feature at The United Methodist Church at Wentzville.

"Every month that has five Sundays, the fifth Sunday I call ‘Questions of Faith.’ I invite people, two Sundays before that, to submit any question they want."

The sermon amounts to Conley going down the list of questions and responding to them.

"We’ll have anywhere between eight to 10 to 12 questions usually, and it’s just one after the other, I give them my response to each one of those things," he said.

If this is well-received, Conley might start doing it on a regular basis, sending the congregation-wide e-mail and posting on Facebook each Monday about the upcoming sermon.

"Here’s my thinking about Sunday’s sermon, what’s your response? Get as many brains as possible in the room, if you will," he said. "Get as many people thinking about it, and helping to shape it, as we can."

This approach offers many benefits.

"I’m hoping this will draw people closer to one another and to God," he said. "Also, I think that the underlying teaching in all of this is that there are no questions that are out of bounds. It’s OK to wonder about, and to get angry, from time to time, for example why healing happens in some people’s lives and doesn’t appear to happen in other people’s lives. Things like that let people know that there aren’t any questions out of bounds, and questions like that can draw us into a deeper relationship with God rather than push us away. Even when we question God, or what God is or isn’t doing in the world, from our perspective."

During Lent, Methodists have varying ways of honoring Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. Some give up something.

"Other Methodists try to take on something for Lent," Conley said. "Maybe it’s longer time in prayer each day, or it’s devotion time, or reading the Bible. Certainly, sacrificing something in response to the sacrifice that Christ made for us is appropriate any time of year, and especially during this time."

It’s also a good time, he said, "to try out something different to see if it might help strengthen someone’s faith. Lent happens in the Northern Hemisphere in spring, and spring is kind of the time of growth, and experimentation, and trying new things. So I think those two can fit together pretty well."

Ultimately, the sermon series reflects the church’s goals.

"We try to organize our ministry around the great commandments about loving God and neighbor and self," Conley said. "Hopefully these questions will lead us into a renewed or deeper relationship in each of those areas."

The United Methodist Church at Wentzville is located at 725 North Wall Street. For more information, call the church at 636-327-6377.