John Wesley, Preacher 		March 3
Charles Wesley, Poet
John (born in 1703) and Charles (born in 1707) Wesley were two among nineteen children of a Lincolnshire rector. Their lives were profoundly shaped by their mother, Susanna Wesley. Her thorough education of her children was based on strict discipline and obedience. John in particular never ceased to revere her. Both brothers attended Oxford University, where Charles founded the “Holy Club”, a group committed to a “methodical” discipline of prayer, Bible reading, weekly communion, and helping the poor.
In 1735 a journey to America marked a milestone. On the voyage there, John and Charles, both of whom were by then ordained in the Church of England, met a group of Moravian Brethren, products of the German pietist revival. Their peacefulness during a storm and calm assurance of salvation deeply impressed John Wesley, as did the warmth of their fellowship and their singing. Charles returned to England in 1736. John undertook a missionary tour to Georgia, which was not very successful, and he returned to England in 1737, and then made a visit to the Moravian community at Herrnhut.
John returned to London and himself describes what happened on 24 May 1738:
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.
Often when he spoke about his new assurance in Anglican pulpits, John met with a hostile reception and was told not to return. Encouraged by George Whitefield, another leader of evangelical piety in England, John began to speak in the open air, taking the gospel to the poor of the new industrial towns, with which the Church of England had little contact. For fifty-two years he travelled on horseback, first between London and Bristol, and later to the Midlands, to Scotland and to Ireland.
John was also concerned that conversion should lead to a life of practical holiness. His system of “classes” (groups for moral support and training in discipleship) incorporated Moravian methods. A by-product of this training was that converts learned new skills and bettered their social and economic circumstances. To the end of his life John continued inspiring the social concern that has ever since been a typical feature of Methodism.
Charles had also been strongly influenced by the Moravians and actually experienced conversion three days before John, on Whitsunday 1738. Charles, like his brother, was an open-air preacher for a number of years before settling in London in 1771. His greatest contribution was the poetry of his hymns. He wrote over six thousand. These express personal experiences such as the call of God, repentance, conflict with evil, and a joyful devotion to Jesus. Many of his hymns are still sung, including such favourites as “Hark the herald angels sing”, “Love divine, all loves excelling”, “Author of life divine”, and “Lo, he comes, with clouds descending”. Charles died in 1788.
Both John and Charles Wesley regarded themselves as loyal ministers of the Church of England. John saw the Methodists as forming an energising group within it. However, by the time of his death in 1791, a number of influences had led to the Methodists’ becoming a separate organisation.
For Liturgical Use
John and Charles Wesley were born in the early eighteenth century and were strictly educated by their mother. They carried this strict discipline into the “methodical” religion of the “Holy Club” at Oxford University. In 1738 each discovered the assurance of God’s free grace for sinners. Their message received little welcome in churches, so they began speaking in the open air. Charles’ great contribution was a copious supply of hymns to be sung by their followers. Charles died in 1788 and John in 1791. Mainly for practical reasons and through lack of contact and understanding, Methodism eventually separated from the Church of England.
Sentence
You, O Lord, put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.	Psalm 40:3
Collects
God of love,
you inspired your servants John and Charles Wesley
with zeal for holiness of life
and gave them eloquence in speech and song;
grant that with heartfelt conviction like theirs 
we may find joy in your service;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Jesus Christ, light for everyone who lives,
we praise you for John and Charles,
who prayed and preached and sang
with people whom their church ignored;
like them, may we 
be ministers to all.
Psalms	33:1-8	40:1-13
Readings
Ezekiel 2:1-5		Speak to the people
Romans 3:21-28		Justified by grace through faith
Mark 6:30-34		Compassion for the crowd
Post Communion Sentence
I the Lord have put my words in your mouth, and hidden you in the shadow of my hand.	
				Isaiah 51:16