May 24, 2021
Happy Aldersgate Day church family, and friends near and far!
Probably none but the most dedicated church nerd would know what Aldersgate Day is, so lemme explain. First, some background.
John Wesley, Methodism’s grumpy but faithful founder, was raised by an Anglican priest and his wife, and grew up to be an Anglican priest himself. While in university completing his education, and before he was officially ordained, he and his brother Charles (who also eventually became an Anglican priest) started up the “Holy Club” that would become the foundation of a major revitalization of the church. Rather than just leaving one’s Christian faith in church on Sunday, the brothers and those who joined them longed for a real, vital, lifegiving faith that made a real impact on individuals’ lives. They covenanted to pray together, to confess their sins to each other, and to follow Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 25 by visiting the sick and imprisoned, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, and caring in other ways for those in need.
These class meetings became a rapidly growing movement, and after a few years the Wesley brothers went to the colonies to “evangelize the natives” and start their successful movement there. In 1735 they landed in Savanna, Georgia to serve a church there at the invitation of James Oglethorpe, who had founded the colony. It didn’t go well.
Two years later, John was kicked out of Georgia and headed back to England, discouraged and feeling that he had lost his faith. Having encountered on the voyage a group of German Christians known as Moravians, and being very impressed with their faith, he found himself on May 24, 1738 at worship at a Moravian church in Aldersgate Street in London. There, during a sermon on the book of Romans, he writes that he felt assurance of Jesus’ love for him for the very first time.
“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."
Can you imagine? After being raised a Christian, and spending 12 years as an ordained priest, and leading an explosively successful movement that was revitalizing the church in profound ways, he just now truly felt that he was loved and saved by Jesus. And that, beloved, is Aldersgate Day.
Our Christian history is filled with imperfectly faithful people who are loved and used by God. So if you ever question your own faith, your own value, your own belovedness, remember Aldersgate Day. And may your heart be strangely warmed.
Singing our great Redeemer’s praise with far more than a thousand tongues,
Worship Any and Everywhere!
Ordinary People in the Hands of an Extraordinary God
This week, we begin our study of the book of Judges. There are some of the most well-known stories in scripture there, and also some very, very weird stuff. Some violent and hard to understand stuff. Some wild and wonderful characters. It will be good to study, and good to talk about as we look for the wisdom and the grace of God in it. See you there!
After worship, stay for coffee and fellowship! A bunch of wonderful folks have signed up to provide goodies, and set up and clean up so that we can spend time together. As we continue to observe Covid protocols, we will have masked and gloved servers to give you your refreshments, and we encourage everyone to keep friendly distance from those outside your household. The rules are a bit vague right now, so let’s grant each other an extra measure of grace and kindness as we navigate it all.
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