READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary | Every year, Wesley Methodist Church gathers to celebrate another anniversary. Counting the years is easy; 141 of them now. But making every year count Is far harder. Today we thank God for His faithfulness through generations. We rejoice that He has given us another year of life and ministry. Yet this gift also carries responsibility. How do we steward another year well? How do we make sure we do not simply add years, but fill them with obedience and purpose? Paul points us to the answer in Romans 12:1.
The Pivot from Belief to Action
Across the first eleven chapters of Romans, Paul explains the foundations of our faith: human sin, God’s righteousness, salvation through grace, and the everlasting love of God that holds everything together. Then he reaches a turning point: “Therefore… present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” We were taught to always ask, “What is the ‘therefore’ there for?” Paul is saying: Because of everything God has done for you, this is how you respond. Paul does not offer gentle suggestion, he urges and implores. Worship is not complete with praise alone; it requires presentation. Celebration is incomplete without consecration. In the Old Testament, sacrifices were placed on the altar and died. Paul gives us a new picture: a living sacrifice. An offering renewed daily. A life that costs us something because it flows from gratitude for God’s mercy.
A commentator once wrote, “The only problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps trying to crawl off the altar.” Yet God calls us to stay on the altar daily, willingly, faithfully and joyfully. This Paul says, is our true act of worship. The question before us is simple: What does a living sacrifice look like in Wesley’s 141st year? There are two areas we can offer to God, both as individuals and as a church.
1. Sacrifice of Time: Prayer That Is Real, Not Routine (Luke 10:2)
When Jesus sent out the 72 disciples, He said: “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest…” Why “plead” instead of simply “pray”? Not because God needs us to beg before He hears. He is gracious, attentive, and near. But Jesus uses the word “plead” to reveal how easily our prays become perfunctory; that is careless, mechanical, without feeling or faith. When life is stable, prayers can become quick and routine. But when the moment crisis hits; like a medical scare, a painful loss, a situation beyond our strength, our prayers become urgent and heartfelt, and everything depends on God. Jesus is saying to pray with that same seriousness even when life is calm. Don’t wait for crisis to pray with sincerity. Real prayer requires time, attention and faith.
Scripture and history show that God moves when His people pray.
• Acts 1:14: After Jesus ascended, the disciples gathered with one mind and prayed because everything depended on God’s promise.
• 31 December 1738: John Wesley and 16 companions prayed and worshipped through the night. At 3am God’s presence fell powerfully. Many historians mark that moment as the spark of the Methodist revival.
• The Moravians (1727): Their 24/7 prayer meeting lasted 100 years. From this came a missionary movement so bold that some even sold themselves into slavery just to share Christ with slaves.
Every revival begins in prayer. Every breakthrough begins with prayer. Therefore, our first sacrifice is the sacrifice of time. Time to pray intentionally, sincerely, without rushing and without distraction. Prayer costs time and that is why it is worship.
2. Sacrifice of Comfort: Going When Jesus Sends (Luke 10:3)
Jesus does not stop at prayer. Right after “plead,” He says: “Go! I am sending you…” The first call is to pray. The second is to obey. Talking about Jesus to others can feel awkward or intimidating. We fear how people might react. We worry about rejection or misunderstanding. Yet Jesus simply says, Go. Do not wait until you feel ready. Not when you feel confident. Go because He sends you.
Mission is not only for those who travel afar. Mission begins wherever you already are. A missionary once said: “Every heart without Christ is a mission field. Every heart with Christ is a missionary.” If Christ lives in your heart, then mission lives there too, in your home, office, school, neighbourhooda and friendships. Sometimes “going” looks like a simple invitation to church, offering to pray for someone, sharing your testimony, or sowing a small seed of kindness. God will use every seed.
Rev. Ng’s Testimonies: Where We Go, God Works
1) A Seed That Seemed Fruitless
When Rev. Ng was in national service, he once tried to share Christ with a brilliant army friend. He wrote cards, made calls, kept in touch but saw no results. They eventually drifted apart. Years later, he received an invitation to the friend’s baptism. The seeds had grown quietly. God had been working all along.
2) “Was I too late?”
Before entering full-time ministry, Rev. Ng met a business associate who once tried attending church but felt judged and unwelcome. The man said, “The day you become a pastor, I will go to church.” After his appointment, Rev. Ng reached out but he received no reply. Weeks later, he learned the man had passed away. With sorrow, he wondered: “Why did he go so soon… or was I the one who went too late?” This is why Jesus says Go. Some doors do not stay open forever.
Conclusion: Here We Are, Lord. Send Us.
Wesley is one of the largest and oldest Methodist churches. Yet God desires more than size or history. He desires obedience, fervent prayer, and wholehearted mission. To make this year truly count, God calls us to two responses:
i) Sacrifice of Time: Pray deeply, dependently, sincerely.
ii) Sacrifice of Comfort: Go boldly, lovingly, obediently.
When we pray like the early disciples and go like the 72, God can use Wesley not only to bless our immediate community but also to impact lives across nations. May our church in this 141st year, be a people who prays with passion, go with courage, and live as a true living sacrifice for the glory of God.
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Sacrifice of Time – Plead (Luke 10:2)
a. How can you as an individual and as a group, make more space in your daily or weekly life to grow in prayer?
b. What is the greatest challenge to denying yourself in this area? - Sacrifice of Comfort – Go (Luke 10:3)
a. Recalling that “each heart with Christ is a missionary”, what may be some fears stopping us from “going”? What does God’s word say to those fears?
b. Recalling that “each heart without Christ is a mission field”, who are the “mission fields” God may be calling you to reach? Commit them to God and commit to being used by God.
