IntroductionJohn Wesley (1703-91) was one of the greatest preachers of all time. In a lifetime that spanned nearly a century, he preached no fewer than forty thousand sermons. His preaching became one of the hallmarks of the revival he spearheaded within the Church of England. His methods of reform were distinctive, and they were also controversial in his day. Instead of waiting for people to come to him to hear his message of God's grace and love, he took the good news of Jesus Christ to them wherever they were. He began his so-called "field preaching" in 1739, and it is probably right to date the beginning of the evangelical revival and the birth of Methodism from the events of that year.During the previous year, however, in 1738, both John and his brother Charles (1707-88) experienced God's presence in their lives in a profoundly transforming way. While both were priests in the Church of England with many years of ministry between them (even a period as missionaries to the infant colony of Georgia), the dynamic, relational quality of living faith was lacking in their lives.

Perhaps it is right to say that they knew a lot about God, but they had never really "met" God in the person of Jesus Christ. They knew that love was at the center -- the heart -- of God. They had committed the entirety of their lives to the church they loved. They were the servants (if not yet the true brothers) of Christ. But they had never felt the unconditional love of God.Like many Christians, even Christians today, the Wesley brothers believed that they first had to make themselves acceptable to God. I don't believe any two seekers after God could have worked harder. But in 1738, both of them, just several days apart, made one of the most important discoveries of their lives.

They realized that God had loved them all along. Like a spiritual sunrise, it dawned on them that God's presence and love had accompanied them each step of their journey. Like St. Paul they knew they needed to do nothing to win God's love; rather God's love was always there, freely offered to them in Jesus Christ. They experienced the deepest meaning of God's grace. The unconditional love of God in Christ freed them and opened up to them a whole new world of joy, peace, and inner healing.