She Went to Church, But Trusted in Her Goodness – Portsmouth Evangelism
“Hey Siri, what are the chances of rain today in Portsmouth?”
“There is no chance of rain today in Portsmouth.”
As my AI assistant made this confident declaration, the windscreen wipers on my car increased in pace. The rain was pouring down, even though numerous weather apps had forecast cloudy but fine weather.
After nearly getting drowned walking to the city centre, we heard a sound that no open-air preacher ever wants to hear. It was the sound of music through an amplifier. A street performer had set up in our usual preaching location, which just happened to be the only undercover area in the entire street.
It was a dilemma. The team huddled in a shop front as we decided what to do. Looking at the weather radar revealed that the rain should pass in about thirty minutes, so we decided to stay and see what happened. At just after 12pm, the rain stopped, the clouds broke, and the weather turned sunny. The street performer was still in our location, so we had to set up elsewhere, but we were glad to be able to evangelise.
I started off the preaching by speaking on “The Way to Heaven”. I must admit it felt hard, and as if my words weren’t being heard. However, as I preached, a lady began to engage. It turns out she is a churchgoer but thought she was good enough to earn her way to Heaven. Indeed, she declared that on a scale of goodness, she would be a 9 out of 10, not quite perfect, but near enough.
Using the Ten Commandments, we looked at God’s standard of goodness, and the lady quickly realised and admitted she wasn’t good enough for Heaven. However, before I could explain the Good News, she had to rush off. I quickly handed her a tract before she left. I then summarised the gospel to any who were listening and offered a copy of John’s Gospel to anyone who wanted to find out more about Jesus. Three people responded to that offer.
About ten minutes later, the lady who engaged with the preaching came back. She had bought lunch, read the tract, and wanted to get more gospel material before heading back to work. I gladly gave her some different tracts, and also a copy of John’s Gospel.
This is a good reminder that just because someone goes to church, or even claims to be a Christian, that doesn’t necessarily mean they know or understand the gospel. We must never assume that all those who claim to be Christian are truly converted. The Good News of God’s grace must be proclaimed to all.
While this was taking place, Persis spoke with a young man who is studying biochemistry at university. He was sceptical and seemed to only want to believe in what he could observe. However, after speaking with Persis, he gladly received a Bible.
Throughout the day, team members were kept busy chatting with people. Richard spoke to several people, including a young man over at the literature table. Nigel spoke with a man who said he had never thought about what happens after death. That man heard the gospel, then received a Bible. Neal spoke with a French lady who was a sceptic. After being reasoned with, she gladly received a New Testament.
I spoke with a man at the literature table who is a churchgoer, but I’m not sure if he was saved. He listened to the truth and took a tract that deals with the reality of being truly born again.
As the outreach drew near to ending, I preached once more. This time I spoke on “The Message of the Cross”. As I did so, things got ‘interesting’. A man came by making an obscene gesture. He then loudly declared that he is God, Jesus and Muhammad all rolled into one. I tried to engage him, but he couldn’t be reasoned with. However, as the man ranted, another man who was sitting listening to the preaching began to tell him to be quiet and, in not too polite language, to go away. Then it got strange. Those two men began spitting at each other while yelling that the other shouldn’t spit.
Despite all this happening, the Good News went forth. One of those listening received a copy of John’s Gospel, and a young lady who had been listening told me she was OK, as she had been baptised as an infant, so she was already a Christian. I shared with her that baptism does nothing for our salvation. Rather, salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, and in Christ alone. She told me she had never heard that before. All she had been told was that her religious deeds saved her. It was nice to be able to share the gospel with her and point her to the Bible to find out more.
It certainly wasn’t a boring day in Portsmouth. Please take a few moments right now to pray 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