“How Can I Be Forgiven?” – Portsmouth Evangelism
Last week, I was kept from our open-air outreaches due to a nasty cold and chest congestion, but today I felt well enough to return to the streets, although my voice certainly isn’t fully back to normal. Before the outreach, we had a heavy downpour of rain, but just in time for us to start, the clouds moved away, and we enjoyed a blue, sunny sky.
I was particularly blessed today to have my three children with me. All three of them have professed faith in Christ and have an interest in supporting the outreach. At prayer times, they all mention the different outreaches, so it was good for them to get boots on the ground with me today.
After setting up the outreach, we prayed as a team, then began handing out tracts and engaging people in conversation. Jim chatted with a Turkish Muslim, then called me over to join the conversation. This man was very friendly and considered himself to be a moral person. He told us that he was a very good man and that he was right with God.
Using the Ten Commandments, we showed him how to assess whether he was good by God’s standards. As we walked through the Law, he admitted to many sins and saw that he wasn’t good and moral. He realised his guilt, and then this Muslim man asked the best question: “How can I be forgiven?”
I explained the Good News to him. Jesus is the One who paid the penalty for our sin, and He rose again. Now, if we repent and trust in Christ, we can be completely forgiven. The Muslim heard this and said, “So, Jesus would make me new? He’d reset me and take away all my past sin?” I quoted 2 Corinthians 5:17 and assured him that if he came to Jesus, he would be made completely new. The man was amazed. Before he left, he took several booklets and said, “I need to think more about this. Thank you for speaking with me!” Here is a man who would never have come to a church, yet on the streets he heard the Gospel. We need to go to where the people are!
This was a great way to start the outreach. While I was speaking with the Muslim man, other team members were doing a great job of handing out tracts and engaging people in conversation. It was wonderful to see so many people hearing the Good News!
It was now time for me to preach, so I spoke on “The Three S’s” (Sin, Substitution, Salvation). My voice wasn’t fully back to strength, and I had a few coughs, but a number of young people stopped to listen, with nearly all of them taking copies of the Bible after listening.
Next up to preach was Jim, who preached from Romans 1 and explained how we all need to consider Jesus, as He is our Creator. As he preached, a man took issue with the lack of social care from churches, so he decided to give Jim a piece of his mind. Jim did a good job of answering him in a loving and biblical manner.
While this was happening, I found myself speaking with a young man from Czechia who was agnostic in his beliefs. He knew that there had to be a divine being; he just wasn’t sure who. As we considered the universal laws that govern the universe, he understood that there had to be a lawgiver. Using John 1:18, I showed him that Jesus reveals to us who God is and how we can know Him. The man heard the Good News and received a copy of John’s Gospel.
I had several proud dad moments throughout the day as I saw my children handing out tracts and then watched them engage people in conversation. I certainly wasn’t that brave at their age! My daughter, especially, has been working on her confidence so that she can better talk to people about Jesus. It was an encouragement to them when an elderly saint stopped to pray for them in this vital work.
The final open-air sermon of the day was preached by Matt, who is a trainee pastor at Eastney Evangelical Church. It was the first time he had preached in the open air, but you wouldn’t have known it. He clearly and concisely explained the Gospel and called on people to come to Jesus. I look forward to hearing more from him!
My last conversation of the day was with a man who is going through a great trial. His partner recently attempted suicide, but thankfully survived. This has driven him back to church and has led to lots of spiritual conversations with his partner. She knows she doesn’t have peace with God, so I was able to give him a booklet to pass on to her that explains the Gospel and how we can have peace. Please pray for him and his partner.
A final highlight of the day came after Neal and Richard shared the Gospel with two ladies. They had faced some challenges in their lives but were very open to hearing about Jesus. After hearing the Good News, both ladies professed faith in Jesus. Please pray that their conversions would be genuine. They have been connected with a local church.
It was a good day out on the streets. There is much to pray about, so please take a few moments now to seek the Lord for the salvation of the lost in Portsmouth.
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