It was very busy in Southampton today, as it was the last day of the half-term school holidays, and the weather was nice. We were able to set up in our usual location, and before too long, people were stopping to engage us in discussion.
One man who stopped to speak with me shared that he attends a Church of England church and that he has been speaking with his vicar. She told him that Jesus did not rise from the grave physically. This created a bit of confusion in his mind, as he had always believed that Jesus rose again from the grave in a physical body. Thankfully, this man had enough knowledge to spot heresy; he just wasn’t sure how to answer it. Taking him to John 2:18–22, I showed him how Christ declared He would raise up His physical body. That seemed to settle it for the man. I encouraged him to keep reading his Bible and to find a church that believes and preaches God’s Word.
Around this time, the preaching commenced. Ben spoke first; he preached on “Has Science Disproved the Bible?” It was an engaging message that showed how science hasn’t disproved the Bible, but true science disproves atheistic evolution.
It was then my turn to preach, which I admit was a struggle today. For the past couple of weeks, I have been battling a head cold which seems to go away, only to come back again. It has returned, so my throat was a bit sore. However, I was able to preach on “Death: Is It the End?” At the end of the message, four people received copies of John’s Gospel.
As the outreach continued, we also had the opportunity to minister to Christians who had questions, and we were able to point them to good teaching. There are so many of God’s people out there who are starving for good Bible teaching.
Next up to preach was Jeremy, who spoke from John 3:16. He did a great job explaining God’s love in the giving of Christ. Then Ben preached again, this time speaking on “Let’s Get Real – Really Good News!”
I didn’t get to hear much of Ben’s second message, as I was over at the literature table speaking with a group of young lads who had stopped to ask questions. All of them had studied religious studies at school, with all but one saying they believed in God. When I asked them, “What is the main message of Christianity?”, they replied, “It’s about knowing we aren’t alone, and we can have peace.” Sadly, they had no concept of the Gospel, as they all believed that the way to be right with God is through being good (which they claimed to be).
Using the Ten Commandments, I explained that God’s standard of goodness far exceeds our own. As we spoke about sin, they saw that they deserved Hell, not Heaven. They listened to the Gospel, although the one who claimed not to believe in God was trying to disrupt the conversation. All were urged to repent and trust in Christ. All of them took tracts, and most received copies of John’s Gospel.
Straight after this, a lady with her two daughters stopped to talk. She explained how she had formerly attended church but, due to several reasons, had stopped attending. She had many questions and was looking for answers. I engaged with what she said, and she gladly received a New Testament and a few different Gospel booklets.
As we packed down at the end of the day, we couldn’t help but notice that we had run out of Bibles, New Testaments, and most of our copies of John’s Gospel. Also, much literature had been taken from the table. It was a very good day!
Please pray for all those who heard the Good News. May the Father draw them all to Christ!
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