Aldersgate Experience 1
Connecting Knowing Loving Growing
June 2014
Experience
Do you know why we are called Aldersgate? Aldersgate is the name of the street in London where John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, first felt confirmation of his salvation on May 24, 1738. According to his journal, Wesley found that his enthusiastic gospel message had been rejected by his Anglican brothers. Heavy-hearted, he went to an evening society meeting on Aldersgate Street "very unwillingly." It was there, while someone was reading from Martin Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, that he felt that his heart was "strangely warmed." He describes it as: “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.” You know what I love about this story? That Wesley went to the meeting “very unwillingly.” How many times do we do that? We feel like we don’t really want to go to church, we’ve got so much else to do, or we think it is going to be boring or a hassle, and yet once we get there we find that it was exactly where we should have been. Have you ever felt your heart “strangely warmed”? In reading about Wesley I never got the idea that he was the emotional type. I’ve always envisioned him as someone who appeals to reason. But here he said his heart was strangely warmed. Wesley was moved by the Spirit when he realized that Jesus had died even for him.
I wouldn’t call what happened to Wesley a conversion. He wasn’t converted. He knew Jesus. He had long before accepted Him as his Lord. What he felt was assurance. He became confident in the knowledge that Christ died for him. It was a confirmation of what he knew intellectually to be true. This was not a confirmation or assurance that took place when Wesley was a child. He was 35 when this happened. In fact, he was already an ordained Anglican priest! I wonder where you have felt your heart “strangely warmed.” Was it during a moving worship service? Maybe on a Sunday, or maybe at a special service, like Christmas Eve or Good Friday. Have you felt your heart strangely warmed when watching the children sing, or when meeting someone on a mission trip, or holding hands with someone at the Drive-Thru Prayer? Maybe it was at a wedding or a baptism, even perhaps at a funeral. Maybe it was while watching a magnificent sunset or while holding a baby in your arms. More than just a good feeling, when was the last time you felt the assurance that Christ died for you? Send me a note. I’d love to hear your story. May the Peace of Christ be with you. Pastor Doug