Proclaiming Christ in Newbury
It had been a couple of months since I had been in Newbury, so it was good to return. This location is great for preaching and sharing the good news, but the people can be spiritually cold and hard. This is middle-class, white England – people who need Christ, yet think they can live without Him.
It was good to have Paul Adams from Open-Air Campaigners USA join us today, along with a couple of brothers from Andover. We had quite a sizeable team!
Trevor was the first preacher of the day. He spoke on the subject of “What Is the Most Important Thing?” Of course, the answer is knowing Christ! He went on to share how God, through the Bible, reveals how we can know Him.
As Trevor preached, an older lady walked past saying, “What a load of rubbish!” I asked her why she thought that, and she began to share about her past. It turned out she had been involved with a cult when she was younger, and that had soured her whole view of Jesus. I challenged her with some basic apologetics, and she admitted she probably needed to examine the claims of Christ for herself. She was very friendly and took a tract.
Next up to preach was Paul Adams. He started by asking whether people were pessimistic or optimistic. He then used the England versus Argentina football match as an illustration. He spoke about how football is fun, but not the most important thing. From there, he took the crowd to Isaiah 55:6. Paul then expounded the verse and challenged people to seek the Lord.
Bill preached next. Today, he spoke on “If There’s a God, Why Is There Suffering?” This is a big question, which Bill answered well from Scripture.
When it came time for me to preach, I spoke on “The Three S’s” (Sin, Substitution, Salvation). A couple of people listened, including a Christian lady who said how much she enjoyed hearing the gospel proclaimed in public.
The final preacher of the day was Tony, who spoke from John 3:16. He did a good job explaining God's love towards sinful people.
As Tony preached, I was called over to the literature table to speak with two young French ladies. They spoke very broken English, and I spoke very poor French! Drawing upon all the French I could remember from school, I was able to say a few things to them. They were very keen to learn, so they both took copies of John's Gospel in their own language.
Newbury is a challenging place for ministry, yet it is a needy area. Please spend a few moments praying for all those who heard the good news.
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.SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE AND PRAYER NOTES