UPPERMILL METHODIST CHURCH

John Wesley Day - May 24th

 

This year Sunday May 24th was a doubly special day for members of the Methodist Church. Firstly it was Pentecost Sunday the day all Christians celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and secondly, for Methodists, May 24th is the day on which they remember John Wesley’s conversion experience.

 

Here is an extract from the comment on daily bible reading on the Methodist website for Monday 25th May written by Janet Morley.

 

‘Today the Methodist Church celebrates Wesley Day (at least, this is normally 24 May, but Pentecost takes precedence). This particular year there is a happy coincidence between rejoicing in the creation of the Church as a whole, and commemorating the 'conversions' of the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, which sparked the beginning of the Methodist movement.

 

On the evening of 24 May 1738, John Wesley went "very unwillingly" to hear someone read 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…" Some days earlier his brother Charles had experienced something similar, and the rest is history.

 

We use the word 'conversion' about what happened to John and Charles, but the event was not quite like the classic Damascus road experience of Paul . The Wesley brothers were not opposed to the Church, or even lukewarm in their Christianity. They were ordained, and had already crossed continents hoping to spread the gospel (good news of Jesus) - even though they felt their efforts had enjoyed small success. There was no dramatic change in the direction of their lives, except that they seem to have opened themselves to incomparably more power and conviction than they had generated on their own. These were conversions of people already steeped in church culture, now fired up by the Spirit of God.

 

And so I think there is hope for many of us who perhaps find churchgoing a bit of a disappointment, or who have become rather routine or desultory about our prayer life, neither of which may have a big impact on the way we lead our lives. Even if we approach the disciplines of our faith 'very unwillingly', there is a chance that the Spirit can touch our stressed and multi-tasking hearts, and finally set them on fire.’

 

May 24th

To access these daily bible readings pin this webpage to the start screen your smart phone or tablet. http://methodist.org.uk/prayer-and-worship/a-word-in-time/2015

There is a link on the page to the relevant bible passage so you don’t even need a bible in your hand to look it up.