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 On May 24, 1738, John Wesley was converted while listening to a reading of Luther’s Epistle to the Romans.
John Wesley was the fifteenth of nineteen children born to Reverend Samuel and Susannah Wesley. He was trained for the ministry at Oxford and ordained a priest in 1728.
He became the leader of the “Holy Club,” a group of devout Oxford students that included his brother Charles and George Whitefield. The members of this club were derisively nicknamed Methodists because of their methodical Bible study and prayer habits.
The new American colony of Georgia required missionaries, and Wesley was among those who accepted an appointment. En route to Georgia, Wesley's ship sailed into a series of violent Atlantic storms. On board was a company of Moravian Brethren from Herrnhut. John Wesley was deeply awed by this group. When the sea broke over the deck of the vessel during a storm, the Moravians calmly sang their psalms to God. Wesley realized that they were not afraid to die, and that he was frozen in fear. 
Soon after their arrival in Georgia, John met another Moravian, August Spangenberg. Spangenberg asked Wesley, “Do you know Jesus Christ?” to which Wesley answered: “I know He is the Savior of the world.” Spangenberg replied, “True, but do you know He has saved you?”
For three years, Spangenberg's question preyed on John Wesley's mind; he was not sure of the answer. He worked hard in Georgia, but his labors were mostly unsuccessful. Three years later he returned home, utterly disgusted at his failure. After arriving in London, he met another Moravian, Peter Bohler who invited him to attend a Moravian gathering. Wesley recorded the event in his diary:
“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 to me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
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