How to Finish an Open-Air Message
There can sometimes be a sense of awkwardness when finishing an open-air sermon. For the past few minutes, you’ve explained who God is, the need for a Saviour, and the wonderful news of Christ dying and rising again. As people listen (hopefully!), you call on them to repent and believe. Now you’ve finished – what do you do? For years, I simply concluded by saying, “God bless you!” or quoting a Bible verse, but over the past few years, I’ve found myself changing tactics.
I love reading books about how evangelism was done in times past, and something I’ve discovered while reading the old writings of The Open-Air Mission and Open-Air Campaigners is that, often, when a message finished, the preacher would make an offer to those who were listening. Perhaps he’d say something like, “If you want to talk further about your soul, please come over and speak with me,” but more often, the preacher would offer a free copy of one of the Gospels. It is always encouraging to read of numerous people responding to the preaching by asking for a portion of God’s Word.
This history challenged me in how I finish my open-air messages, so for the past few years, I have sought to always offer a copy of the Gospel to anyone who is listening. Part of my reason for doing this is based on history, but I also believe there is biblical warrant for such methods.
In Acts 8:26-40, we read of Philip the Evangelist encountering the man from Ethiopia. After hearing the good news and being baptised, the Spirit takes Philip away, and all the new convert is left with is the Scripture (Acts 8:30). I would also reference the account the Lord Jesus gives in Luke 16:19-31, where, after the rich man goes to judgement, he pleads with Abraham to allow him to return to tell his family the truth. But Abraham replies, “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.” (Luke 16:31). In other words, they have the Scriptures – that is sufficient for someone to know the truth. Likewise, I could point to 2 Timothy 3:15 to show that Scripture makes a person wise for salvation.
Throughout the Bible, we see that the Word of God is central in bringing people to saving faith. This is why, at the end of my open-air messages, I like to offer a free copy of John’s Gospel to anyone who is listening. You can use any of the four Gospels, but I prefer John, as that book was specifically written with evangelism in mind (John 20:31).
So, what I do is preach in the open air, issue a call to repent and believe, then hold up copies of John’s Gospel and say something like, “If you’d like to find out more about Jesus and God’s love, then I’d love to give you a free gift – the biography of Jesus – the Gospel of John. This is a portion of the Bible, which tells you how you can know God for yourself.” I then encourage people to come and take a copy from me, from the open-air board, or from the literature table.
As I preach and then offer the Gospel, I’m also looking around at those who are listening, as what I’ll do after I finish is go up with a handful of Gospels and ask the listeners if they’d like a copy. Many people who may have been too shy to walk forward, or who, for various reasons, couldn’t walk forward, will take a Gospel. The vast majority will say, “Thank you” and take a copy of the Scripture away with them.
Those who respond to the offer of the Gospel also reveal they are interested in hearing more, so one-to-one conversations often follow.
Ultimately, I want people to listen to the good news preached, then go away and read the Scripture for themselves. If they forget everything I’ve said but go away and read the Bible, then that is a win! But I want to make sure they have a portion of God’s Word to read as they leave.
Since October 2023, I have kept track of how many Gospels have been distributed at our outreaches among those who are interested in discovering more about Jesus. In the past 17 months, 1,692 people have responded to the offer of a Gospel. I don’t know how many of those people have been saved, but I know all of them have heard the good news and have enough Scripture to reveal the truth to them.
I would encourage all those involved in open-air evangelism, whether preaching or personal witness, to offer copies of the Gospel to those they speak with. Many a soul has read their way into the Kingdom!
Below are several links where you can purchase inexpensive Gospels in a variety of translations.
NIV, ESV, NLT, KJV: The Pocket Testament League
KJV: The Trinitarian Bible Society
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