John Wesley—First Methodist—Spreading the Good News in Anyway Possible

To understand the call on John Wesley you have to understand how he first learned about Jesus.  His father was a minister.  Even though his father was a minister his mom played a vital role to his first understanding of Jesus.  At a young age he learned about discipline, dedication and the love of God.

It was when he was five years old when his life was changed forever.  The house that his family lived in caught on fire.  Miraculously he survived even though he was on the second floor.  It was then that he knew that God saved him for something miraculously.

When he grew up his father wanted him to go away for more education.  It was his mother that convinced him to go into the ministry.  John and his brother Charles went on a mission trip to the United States. He had gone to the United States to change the religious views of Native Americans.  It was while he was in the United States that he experienced the second life changing event.  During a meeting he felt the Holy Spirit and realized that he was the one that was changed.

He returned to England and his true missionary work began.  He spent the remainder of his life traveling from one location to the next preaching.  He often had four or five services a day.  He composed many of the sermons as he was riding his house to the next site.

The biggest impact that he had on Christianity was the teaching of grace through faith alone.  He challenged Calvinism which believed in predestination.  Wesley believed that a person would have the opportunity to hear the word.  They then could come to find salvation by putting their faith in Jesus.  He believed that people were sinners who were saved.  Yet, he also believed that a person would come to the time that they would not commit sins and would live a different kind of life.

His theology and sermons have influenced many different religions.  The Methodist church now has millions of followers.  

Susanna Wesley—The Mother of Methodism—Teaching Us All the Values of Teaching Our Children About Christ

We usually think of John Wesley when we think of Methodism.  Yet, there is another person behind the scenes.  Susanna Wesley was the mother of John Wesley.  Her influence to Christianity has spanned all the generations that followed her.  To understand Susanna you have to look at her story and see how she was the Foundation of her Family.

Susanna did not go to school yet she was taught to read, be a homemaker and mother.  She married when she was young to a minister.  She had nineteen children.  Ten of those children would live to be adults.  She was a homemaker and a mother.

She didn’t have the best relationship with her husband because she believed differently about who should be King.  Yet, they stayed together until he passed away.  She then moved to live her son John.  Most have heard of her son, John Wesley.

What makes her special isn’t what she did as far as theological terms.  It wasn’t about anything that she wrote that made her special.  It was the way that she taught her children that has affected Christianity.  Susanna taught all of her children from her home.  She taught them how to read and how to do household chores. 

She most importantly taught them how to pray.  She taught them how to read the scriptures.  She taught them to love God.  The most important thing that she did was to teach her children how to love God from home.  She left a legacy that the home should be where children should start learning about God.

She experienced her second experience with Christ after she went to live with her son.  Yet, we have to remember what makes her important is that she was a mother.  She created a fundamental base for her two sons to impact society.  She was a foundation that taught them to stand up for what they believed.  She is the example of what all parents need to do.  All Christians need to take her lead and begin teaching their children about Jesus.  They need to teach their children how to pray to God.  Most importantly they need to lead by example and be the role models that children need to grow up to be Christians.