Yesterday, Methodism celebrated the anniversary of John Wesley’s heart-warming experience. It occurred on 24 May 1738 and over here celebrated as ‘Wesley Day’. I have to have hope for the people in the Methodist Church if God spoke to our founder through a reading of Luther’s Introduction to the Epistle to the Romans. That’s a boring read. If God can move like that, anything must be possible!
Today at Langho Methodist Church, I read from John Wesley’s journal the passage we Methodists really aught to know by heart if for no other reason that we have heard it so much. Here it is:
In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.
Then we finished the service by singing my favourite Charles Wesley hymn, ‘And Can It Be’.
Good! I’m glad to hear that you celebrated Wesley Day(yesterday) in your service today. Here it was not even mentioned and I doubt if many of our people even know that it is Aldersgate Sunday today. Perhaps this is because our membership is made up of ex-Anglicans, ex-Presbyterians, ex-URC members, etc. I will take the passage from Wesley’s Journal with me tonight and see how mny are aware of the occasion!
By: Olive Morgan on 25 May 2008
at 12:01 pm
I ought to have aded ‘plus a handful of Methodists, like me.
By: Olive Morgan on 25 May 2008
at 12:03 pm
I didn’t mention Aldersgate Sunday, but Wesley did come up…I preached one of his sermons! Slightly modified, of course. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to sing And Can it Be. I’ve given up singing it over here. They just can’t do it justice and listening to them try to sing it is more depressing than not singing it at all.
By: Sarah on 25 May 2008
at 5:02 pm
Olive, you’re probably right: many Methodists don’t know what Aldersgate Day is about, but then again I’m not sure that Wesley knew. What it meant for him seemed to change, but it looks like we can say something happened. So it is worth celebrating.
Sarah: You’re right! Americans can’t pull off ‘And Can It Be’ like the British!
By: Will on 26 May 2008
at 6:33 am