Great Time Worshiping Jesus
Ministry Update April 29, 2018
Kelly, Steve, Thomas, Joy and I had a great time worshiping Jesus Friday night. We sang several hymns to start the night. It was the warmest night we’ve had so far this year and there were a lot of people downtown. No matter how foolish we looked singing and preaching on the street corner, we really did have great time worshiping Jesus Christ our Lord.
After we sang hymns I brought a message about how warning people is loving people. There was a sidewalk behind us that was tore up and the city had barriers around the damaged sidewalk. I was able to use that as an example that it would be unloving to not warn people of the danger of the broken sidewalk. One driver yelled something as she drove by, but I couldn’t hear her. Then a guy drove by as I was pleading with people to repent and trust Jesus and receive eternal life. He put his finger to his lips as if to say quiet down. Oh, but I can’t quiet down when it comes to Jesus. He is Lord of all and worthy of our praise.
How Can You Know Which Religion Is Right?
While this was going on, Kelly was across the street talking to an atheist named Max. He wanted to know how you can know which religion is right. Kelly responded that most religions in the world are works based, but Christianity is not. We can’t earn salvation, it is the free gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). It’s not about what we do, it’s about what Christ Jesus has done.
Steven quoted Galatians 5:22 and expounded on that verse. Then Kelly preached from John 3. I handed tracts to a few people walking by. They were all looking at the tracts and just about stepped out in front of traffic in front of them. So I yelled “look out” and they stopped. The guy turned around and said that he would have blamed me for distracting them if they had gotten hit. I said I know, that’s why I yelled for them to watch out. Then a couple of guys walked by and both refused tracts, but the one guy emphatically said no. He also looked over at Kelly who was preaching. The young man looked at him with disgust, but surprisingly didn’t say anything. A motorcyclist did flip us off.
Singing Hymns
Then Steven wanted to go again and he talked about Paul meeting the risen Lord while he was on his way to Damascus. Steven did a good job. Then we sang a couple of hymns including Amazing Grace. Thomas and Joy didn’t want to quit so they started singing a song that I didn’t know. I think Kelly and Steven helped them sing it too. About that time a drunk guy stopped near and he could barely stand up. I walked up to him and asked if he’s religious. He replied no. I handed him a tract and said read this. He said he would.
There was still a good crowd when we finished singing, so I brought another short message. While I was preaching, a woman walked up to me and shook my hand and said thank you. It was nice of her to encourage us. Even though we didn’t get into many good conversations, there were people across the street that stopped to hear parts of the messages. We pray that God convicts and converts lost souls as only He can do. We also pray that the Lord will bless the tracts that were handed out. The five of us really had a great time worshiping Jesus, who is worthy of all honor, praise and glory. Thanks be to God.
Wearing Red In Honor Of The Devil
On Wednesday at MSU, I brought a message about true love and how warning people to flee from the wrath of God is loving. Trying to tip toe around the reality of Hell is not loving people, it’s actually deceitful. While I was open-preaching, a student who previously showed me a vile t-shirt on a different day, walked up and held out his sweatshirt and told me that he was wearing red in honor of the devil. Obviously, he was just trying to get a reaction out of me. I just told him to have a good day and God bless.
Right after that, a lesbian couple walked by holding hands. One girl yelled at me “God loves gay people.” I replied, “yes He does.” But no matter what your sin of choice is, God still commands all people to repent because He has appointed a day of judgment (Acts 17:30-13). Even though it was a rainy day, Brittany stopped and listened to most of the message.
Crying While Open-Air Preaching
Another student walked by holding his hands like he was praying. I think he was sincere, but you never know. Even though I had worked on the message True Love for four days, for some reason God broke me as I was bringing the message. As I was describing the reality of Hell, the reality that Jesus spoke of in many different Bible verses, I started crying. It breaks my heart that most students don’t seem to care about their eternal souls, yet Hell is real and it is an awful place of torments.
Jesus said it’s a place where their worm dies not and the fire is never quenched. It’s eternal, never ending (Mark 9:43-48, Matthew 13:36-43). He also said that it’s a place where there’s wailing and gnashing of teeth. Oh, may God reach this hardened generation. May He draw lost souls to Himself. I’m praying that students will repent from their sins and trust Jesus Christ fully and completely.
(These updates are given to encourage Christians to share their faith in our Lord with others)