Aldersgate SG is organised annually by The Methodist Church in Singapore to commemorate Methodism’s founder John Wesley’s experience of assurance by the Holy Spirit on 24 May 1738 (see below). This annual series of events brings together the Methodist family to celebrate the values of compassion and discipline in our rich Wesleyan heritage, and be inspired anew to serve God through social action, evangelism and discipleship.
John Wesley’s life was given to following Jesus and walking with Him in the world through practical ways of ministry and spiritual growth. Aldersgate SG aims at mobilising the revival and Methodist spirit of our involvement in God's mission by taking a look at the retrospect and prospects of world mission, its key challenges in this generation, and the issues underlining the missing in mission.
Come and be renewed in your relationship with Christ, living it out daily.
Significance
When John Wesley felt his heart “strangely warmed” on 24 May 1738, he was convicted that the Christian life was not just knowing ABOUT Jesus Christ, but actually KNOWING Him.
That evening, Wesley had felt discouraged by his Anglican brothers' rejection of his enthusiastic preaching of the Gospel. Heavy-hearted, he went to a meeting in Aldersgate Street, London. There, he heard Martin Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans being read.
Describing the stirring of his heart, Wesley wrote:
"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."
Fired up by this heart-warming assurance, Wesley began preaching the Gospel to all who would listen with renewed vigour and evangelistic fervour. He later went on to form societies that helped Christians grow in their walk with God and each other, and was deeply involved in social justice issues of his time. The movement he started would later become known as Methodism.