In one of his books former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden wrote: “If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me.”  A popular saying is similar: If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict?

At the heart of each statement is a belief that our faith should motivate and impact our actions.  At the heart of each statement is the notion that not only does our faith need to be lived out, but followers of Christ should act and live differently.

I need to be reminded of this continually, I need to be encouraged to square my actions and my beliefs.  I need to examine how I’m living my life and ask if it really is in keeping with the values I claim to have.  I need to check and see how closely am I following Jesus.

Does your faith make a difference in your life?  If you’d like it to, we’ll be looking at this theme in worship for the month of February.  We’re going to ask ourselves how much evidence is there that we are followers of Jesus and what can we do to provide more.  We’ll do this be examining the three rules for Christian living John Wesley developed.  The three rules are 1) do no harm, 2) do good, and 3) attend to the ordinances of God.

What would it look like for someone to live in the world committed to not doing any more harm than is already here?  What would it look like for someone to live doing good at every opportunity they had?  What would it look like for someone to pray and worship, to seek justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly in their faith?  I think it would look like Jesus.  I hope you’ll join us this month as we seek to discover more ways that our lives can provide evidence that we are following in the footsteps of our Lord, our Savior, Jesus.