“Doesn’t Everyone Go to Heaven?” – Manchester Evangelism
Today was our first day on the streets for The Open-Air Mission Manchester team event. So much took place, with team members handing out many tracts, several brothers preaching the gospel, and numerous conversations occurring. As I surveyed all that was happening, I quickly realised I cannot tell everyone’s stories, so I will only share a few of the things I was directly involved in.
I was the fourth preacher of the day. My message was on “The Three S’s of Salvation.” This talk is simple, but I hope clear. I want people to see sin, substitution, and salvation. As I preached, a couple of people paused to listen, including three who received copies of John’s Gospel. One of those listeners then had a long conversation with a team member.
Next to preach was Joe. As he proclaimed the good news, a young man listened. When that man began to walk away, I offered him a tract and engaged him in conversation. He told me he agreed with the message, but then asked, “Doesn’t everyone go to Heaven?” I asked him if Hitler would be in Heaven, to which he quickly replied, “No!” Straightaway we could see that not everyone would be saved, so I asked him what he believed someone must do to get to Heaven. The young man replied that only bad people went to Hell, while good people went to Heaven — and he, of course, was a good person.
Using the Ten Commandments, we considered God’s standard of goodness, and soon the man saw that he wasn’t good at all. He listened carefully as I shared the good news. At the end of our conversation, he gave me a fist bump and took a more in-depth gospel tract.
Throughout the day, as the preaching continued, I handed out tracts and attempted to engage people in conversation. Quite a number accepted them, but I struggled to get into meaningful discussions. This changed when Natalie pointed me to a group who had been listening to the preaching. I walked up to them, offered them a tract, and it was clear they were eager to talk.
This group was diverse: there was a non-religious man, a former Christian, and two Hindus. All of them indicated they were more in the agnostic camp. As I spoke with them, they all expressed interest in discovering God, but admitted they didn’t know where to begin. Using John 1:18, I explained that Jesus tells us to look at Him if we want to understand God. Each of them took copies of John’s Gospel, saying they would consider the claims of Christ.
It was a good first day on the streets of Manchester. We have four more days to go, so we would greatly value your prayers.
SDG!
_____
Josh Williamson is a full-time evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. Since 1853, OAM has been sharing the good news on the streets of the United Kingdom. To stay updated about the work of the Mission, please sign up for the free quarterly magazine and monthly prayer notes.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE AND PRAYER NOTES