Recently William Kellon Quick, the chair of the history committee of the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History, wrote of Wesley:

During his 53-year ministry, he traveled 250,000 miles on horseback and by carriage. He preached more than 40,000 sermons, sometimes four a day, and wrote or edited some 400 books and tracts. His concern for the poor led him to open free medical dispensaries and homes for orphans and widows and provide loan funds. He also began a ministry to prisoners and to the military. When Wesley's voice fell silent, when his eyes closed for the last time that March morning, he left behind a movement of 71,463 Methodists in Great Britain and more than 80,000 in the United States. He had launched an evangelical revival that would, in time, girdle the globe and "offer Christ" to the nations. The global Wesleyan community today numbers more than 76 million persons in 138 countries (Interpreter Magazine).

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No human being can accomplish all that Wesley did in his lifetime without an exemplary work ethic. For contemporary preachers Wesley is a constant reminder that hard work is part of any preacher's job description. With God's help and a solid work ethic, Wesley accomplished much toward helping influence the Kingdom of God in his time.

A fourth ingredient that contemporary preachers might learn from Wesley's preaching is that Wesley was a deep thinker who allowed his listeners some room for their own thought. Wesley's own theological background was one reason that Wesley granted his listeners a certain latitude with respect to their understanding of the gospel. Clearly, Wesley always considered himself a son of the Anglican Church. However, Wesley never limited himself in his wide-ranging exploration of the fullness of the Christian witness of faith. Not only did he read deeply in Western theology and classics, but he also immersed himself in Eastern (Orthodox) theological thought as well.

Wesley believed deeply in the articles of faith developed within the womb of the Church of England. He saw the essential doctrines of the Christian faith as vital, but on the non-essentials he allowed debate. Wesley's well known maxim, "We think and let think," sums up this perspective. Wesley's expressed intolerance for any deviance from faith's essentials. Still, Wesley allowed his listeners to function as theologians, interpreting faith in light of their own Christian experience.

That Wesley thought this way in contradistinction from many other preachers in his day resided in one simple assumption. Wesley deeply believed in the human experience of God. For this reason Wesley put much theological stock in the work of the Holy Spirit in the life and experience of the believer. Wesley could afford to have this eclectic approach to doctrinal theology because he always allowed room for the work of the Spirit. Consequently, the doctrines of assurance and perfection became rivets that held his theological program together. This reliance on the Holy Spirit, Wesley deeply believed, operated in the hearts of those who heard him preach. This absolute reliance on the work of the Holy Spirit in the preaching moment might be a source of comfort to modern preachers. When we preach, and taking a cue from Wesley, it is not only us at work — God's Spirit works through us to bring the message to listeners.