Powerpoint Pictures: Lots of handprints; Single handprint

How many children are there in your home?

Are there lots?  Or is it just you?

I want to tell you about someone who lived in a house that was always full of children.  Her name was Susanna and she was number 25 in her family.  That’s right, she had 24 brothers and sisters.

Can you imagine having that many brothers and sisters?  Would you like to live in a house with that many people?

Do you think it would be fun to have lots of other children to play with?  Do you think it would be annoying not being able to find any peace and quiet?

Susanna parents loved Jesus and taught all their children about Him.  Susanna herself loved Jesus too and made sure that she found time to pray and learn about Him from the Bible each day.  She even liked hiding under her father’s desk in his study and listen to him teach his friends about Jesus.  Because he spoke for such a long time, she would often fall asleep.

When she got married to a man called Samuel Wesley she had lots of children of her own.  19 of them – although sadly some of them died when they were very young.

With lots of children, Susanna was very busy.  And it would get busier because she would be their school teacher too.  She taught her children to read and write and count.  But more importantly, she taught them that they needed to trust in Jesus to be saved, and that there were nothing in the world more important than this.

Even in a busy house with lots of children running around, Susanna did not neglect reading the Bible and praying herself.  She found a good way to do this.  She would take her Bible to her favourite chair and then throw her long apron over her head, forming a kind of tent, and in this tent spent time with her Saviour Jesus.

It reminds me of something that happened during Jesus’ life her on earth.

At the end of Luke chapter 10 we read: “While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”  The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

Mary made the right choice listening to Jesus, and Susanna Wesley followed her example.

She reminds us that what is most important in life is knowing Jesus and being saved by him.  It is why she made sure she spent time with him even when life was busy.  It is why she made sure she taught her children about him.

And we know that two of her children, John and Charles, learnt this lesson, because they would tell lots of people about him – but we’ll find out more about them some other time.

So, whether you are very young or very old, let’s learn from the example of Susanna Wesley, that what is most important in life is knowing Jesus and being saved by Him.

This talk was adapted from Everyone a Child Should Know by Clare Heath-Whyte.