Hi Everyone

Apologies for the late delay in getting this out, as well as not publishing a monthly newsletter this month. We have been busy moving home. 

Present today: Peck, Marie, June, Pastor Jarryd, Frances & Helen.

We decided to meet down at the shops for prayer today. We had just moved into our new home, and there were more boxes than seats!

The rain had just cleared, but there was quite a cold wind. Not many people about today due to the weather.

I began with the bait of Gospel tracts, attempting to lure someone into a Gospel conversation. Like all good fishing, most ignore, some nibble, but few get hooked in. 

Marissa – this lady was walking past the ATMs when I offered her a tract. She was eager to talk, mainly about lots of personal things going on in her life. The thought of dying one day terrified her, which was an easy segue to ask her where she would go. She said there was a lot going on in her life, but now that a lot of it is being sorted out, she was confident that the life changes she was making would get her to heaven. I transitioned to the law, and afterwards she was shocked that no matter what she did in her own strength, she would still be accountable for breaking God’s standards. She said she had no idea how to get to heaven. I said I did, and was able to share the beautiful grace Christ offers only to those who place their faith in Him. She was very appreciative of hearing this, accepted a few tracts, and said she would read her Bible. The truth is, I’m not sure how much of her judgement was clouded by her dependencies – but I’m sure that if God wants to save her, He can do it regardless!

Tony – this guy was busking with his guitar and amp, and he was pretty good. During  a break between sets I approached him and thanked him for the cool tunes. I said I was asking about the afterlife, did he have any thoughts about what happened? He said he loved talking to people about these things, as there were lots of ways to heaven. I asked him if he deserved to go to heaven, and he said it depended on which religion he followed. Then he gave a summary of a few of the false ones – and they were all dependant on good works, and a merciful being who overlooked all the bad things they had done. So I went down the path of justice, whether he believed in it. He said he did. I went through the law with him, and asked what the creator should do to him for breaking His commandments. He said they were not things that would prevent him from going to his version of heaven. I challenged his stance on justice, saying where was it when it mattered – if a judge lets you off crimes without a punishment, then he would be corrupt. At this stage he started picking tunes on his guitar, and said that there’s no way of proving anything I was saying. I went through the building/builder analogy to prove an intelligent designer, but by this stage his self-righteousness had kicked in. He pulled out a tract from his pocket, and said I wasn’t the first person today to ask him these things, meaning that one of the others in the team had already spoken to him. I made a point of saying that God was trying to get his attention. By this stage he had lost interest, and focused on his playing. I wished him a nice day, and also wished him well on Judgement Day. 

Alexi – this was my last conversation of the day. I was walking past the vendors, when he zoomed past on his bike. I asked if I could ask him a question, and he circled back to stop. He was surprised about the afterlife question, but thought he would make it to heaven because he was putting things right with his family. He had caused a lot of trouble, but that was all in the past. He believed in God, so I asked if He will judge him. He said yes, but like his family and friends, will give him another chance. Unfortunately, justice doesn’t work that way, and I was able to use analogies to support this. All his lying, swearing, blaspheming and adultery was storing up wrath for him, that God was going to pour out on him on Judgement Day, because He is a perfect judge. He saw the reality of this, and was trying to think up another way to get around this. I short-cutted this strategy, telling him that the only way to avoid his hell punishment was if someone took it for him. He listened silently as I gave him the Gospel of grace, saying that there was nothing he could do but place his faith in Christ, who did all the work for him. He was quiet for a long time, then said that it made perfect sense. I asked him that since he didn’t know when he was going to die, when should be the best time to trust in Christ? He said right now! So I implored him to do just that. I gave him a Gospel of John and another couple of tracts. I pray he follows through with the conviction!

So even though it wasn’t busy, it turned out to be an awesome outreach! I shouldn’t be surprised, though – when we pray for God to go before us, we should expect lots of good things to happen!

Blessings

Craig.