“Are You as Good as God?” – Reading Evangelism
Due to travel and ministry commitments, I haven’t been to Reading for a few months. Yet, even though I have been away, the team has continued to be active in sharing the gospel. Today, I was finally able to return, and it was a joy to serve alongside them all again. As the temperature hovered around freezing, we were able to preach, talk with people, and give away Christian literature. It was a tremendous afternoon of ministry.
The literature table proved to be busy as usual, with many people stopping to look at the material. We soon ran out of free Bibles due to the demand (a good problem to have!).
I was the first preacher of the day. As January has higher rates of depression and suicide, I decided to speak on “Hope for a Broken World”. As I explained why the world is broken, and how Christ alone provides hope, people stopped to listen. One council cleaner took a very long time emptying a bin so that he could listen to the message; at the end, he asked for a copy of John’s Gospel. One lady, who was grieving over the death of her puppy, heckled me, asking why God allows bad things to happen. She wasn’t interested in answers at the time, but she did come back later for a more productive conversation.
Next up to preach was Bill, who spoke on “Questions You Want to Ask a Christian”. One man who listened was very much engaged in all that was being said. At the end of the open-air, as he began to leave, I gave him a tract and engaged him in conversation. He shared that he is a Christian but has been struggling of late. However, hearing the gospel preached in the open-air strengthened him and helped him greatly.
Trevor preached next, taking Romans 6:23 as his text. He did a great job explaining the contrasts in the verse—death and life, earned and gifted. One man who listened to him preach spoke with me afterwards. He proudly declared that he comes from a long line of Roman Catholics, with two of his family members having been Cardinals. He then said, “They all say the same thing: be good, and you’ll be OK at the end of the day.” I replied by asking, “What would you say if I told you that Jesus says you need to be perfect like God? Are you as good as God?” The man gulped and said, “No one is that good, including my Cardinal relatives!” This opened the door to explain that salvation isn’t based on our goodness or merit; rather, it is based on the grace of God alone.
This was just one of many conversations that team members had. It was great to see people from the team speaking with a variety of individuals from different backgrounds and religions. Truly, the gospel was going to all people groups in Reading!
Rich was the next preacher. He spoke on “Did You Know Jesus…?”. In this message, he highlighted different aspects of who Jesus is and what He did. It was a strong open-air talk that magnified Christ.
Finally, it was back to me to speak again. We had about eight minutes left before the outreach finished, so I decided to read John 3:1–21 and then offer a few gospel thoughts. After reading the passage, I explained the good news and offered a copy of John’s Gospel to anyone who would like to find out more. Two people indicated that they would like to discover more about Christ.
It was a bitterly cold and windy day, yet many people heard the good news. Please spend a few moments right now praying for all those who heard the gospel.
SDG!
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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.
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