Hi Everyone
Here’s this month’s Gone Fishin’ Newsletter.
Every month a team from our fellowship at Calvary Wellington heads out to our regular fishing hole, the Naenae Market and Hillary Court shops. There we share the Gospel to those in our immediate community.
Once a month I publish a simple newsletter that is distributed to the fellowship (or for anyone else who stumbles across this website), as a way of encouragement, and as a tool to equip us to be better evangelists.
Enjoy!
Gone Fishin’ Monthly Newsletter – December 2022
“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief” (1 Tim 1:15).
Hi Everyone
Well, it seems another year has just flown by. I pray you managed to redeem as much time as you could for God’s glory, by telling as many people as possible how to make it to heaven!
It’s been a busy month, but I’ll tell you more about that later.
———–
In the middle of a discourse from the Apostle Paul to Timothy, relating to service and ministry, we find a beautiful Gospel gem. This precious nugget sums up beautifully the hope of the whole scriptures. One verse, but a verse that gives mankind the best news it never thought it needed to hear!
A Simple, Yet Steadfast Statement
“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance…”
This is a perfect way to introduce a concept, calling it both faithful, and worthy. It means that what comes next is going to be comforting. It is going to be noteworthy, something we can put our whole trust in. The Gospel is about to be announced. No other message can man cling to more than the Gospel, for in it is perfect hope. We can’t put our faith in anything in this world, for it is temporal. This false hope won’t last, because the world itself won’t last.
Without the Gospel, we have no hope! We need someone to save us!
A Sovereign, Yet Servile Saviour
“…that Christ Jesus came into the world…”
This is the perfect way for the Immortal God to enter our world – as a vulnerable new-born human. We will be celebrating this next weekend, but what does it all mean, and how does it help us?
Well, we read that He came via impregnation of the Holy Spirit, meaning He didn’t inherit mans’ sin nature from Adam. This is a big deal, because if He came via Adam, He would not be perfect, and would not be a perfect sin sacrifice for us. He was therefore fully God, yet fully man as well.
Being God, He deserved our worship, but at the same time He came to serve us. What a great God He is! But the best is yet to come…
A Sordid, Yet Saved Sinner
“…to save sinners, of whom I am chief”
This is a perfect way to describe mankind. We are sinners. We deserve to be hauled in front of God, the Immortal judge, and have the book thrown at us for what we have done.
And just what are these crimes we are guilty of? Lying, stealing, blasphemy, adultery, and murder of the heart, to name some. Crimes against our fellow man, but ultimately towards our eternal creator. A crime against an eternal creator deserves an eternal punishment – separation from Him in a place of everlasting torture.
But all is not lost! The God-man in our world offered to take our hell punishment for us. He was crushed on a cross by the weight of our crimes, crying “it is finished!”, before giving up His life. Three days later, He walked from the grave that entombed Him, defeating death. Sinners – of whom I am chief – can be reconciled back to God. This not of our own goodness, but from the goodness of a kind God.
This indeed is a faithful saying, worthy of acceptance – that Christ came into the world to save and redeem sinners like me, like you, and like everyone else on earth. So, let that be our motivation to spread the word to everyone!
Schoolies Recap
Schoolies week (19-26 November) on the Gold Coast was an amazing time of outreach and fellowship. Again, many thanks for your prayers during this time. I know God answered them, because he was moving in the hearts of all who boldly proclaimed the good news. We are not obligated to know of the fruit of our labours, but we leave them with the seed of the Gospel and ask God to give the increase, according to His will.
I documented around 81 Gospel conversations I had. These were either face-to-face, or online via the Omegle app. However, these are just the ones I remembered to jot down after finishing. Often, I would quickly move to the next conversation without taking notes, and the details would slip my mind. Also, many conversations included groups of people. I may have documented one conversation, but there may have been up to half a dozen people in the group. So I would estimate that the number of people that I engaged with could be three times more, or around 250 lost souls that heard the Good News. Times that by the 10 other people in the team, and we are talking around 2,500 people reached during the week! God is amazing!
It is hard to pinpoint highlights, as there were so many! From people moved to tears from the Gospel, to people that wanted to move me to tears for daring to share the Gospel with them, and everything in between! I was asked if I had any drugs to sell, or wanted any drugs to buy, in the same conversation. I was hugged, but also verbally abused. People laughed mockingly at hearing the Good News, and laughed joyfully after accepting the Good News.
One online gentleman said that if I was in the same room as him, he would kill me (thankfully he was in the U.S.). Read my Schoolies reports at the link below to find out more!
Operation513 are an awesome team to work with. They are so encouraging, and faithful to the Gospel. I would like to personally thank them for this opportunity, and I look forward to working alongside them again in the future!
Personal Schoolies day reports here https://headcountone.net/category/schoolies/
Operation513 website here https://www.operation513.com/
Operation513 Social Media Hub here https://www.needgod.net/
Operation513 Youtube Omegle chats here https://www.youtube.com/@NeedGodnet
I’ll see you down at the Lower Hutt Riverbank Market from 10am this Saturday for our special Christmas Outreach. Come on, let’s tell the world the Good News!
Blessings,
Craig.
Witnessing Tip: Stop looking for excuses!
We can always find a reason no to share the Gospel with someone.
But we should always look for opportunities to share the best news EVER!
