Many Languages, One Gospel – Reading Evangelism
In Revelation 7:9, the Bible declares that one day, an innumerable multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language will gather before the Lord Jesus in worship. This tells us that the good news isn’t confined to one people group or language; instead, Christ is for all nations. As we evangelised in Reading, we saw glimpses of what it will be like in Heaven, as in this community, there are people from all over the world. Being so multicultural provides challenges as well as opportunities. The greatest challenge is being able to reach all the different language groups. Throughout the day, we met people from all over the world; thankfully, we could point them to resources in their language. There were many languages, but only one gospel!
The first person we spoke to today was from Spain. They had questions about Jesus, so we gave them a copy of John’s Gospel in Spanish. Soon, we were sharing the gospel with those who spoke Portuguese and others who spoke Arabic. Throughout the outreach, we were reaching the nations without leaving England.
Open-air evangelism allows us to reach people from all different backgrounds and cultures. Many of these won’t visit a church, but they’ll listen to the preacher on the street or will take literature. This is why the churches must leave their buildings to go into the town and city centres. At one point today, a professing Christian told me that I was wasting my time by preaching, as many of those listening were Muslims; what she didn’t understand was that the Muslims were listening. They heard the gospel, so it wasn’t a waste of time!
Today, we had six men stand up to preach the gospel. I started by preaching on “The Message of the Cross.” This was the first time I’d preached this message. The Lord was pleased to allow some to listen, including three who took copies of John’s Gospel.
Jamie preached next. He did a great job speaking on “Why Should You Bother with Jesus?” One young man listened to the whole message, then took a copy of the Gospel of John.
Over at the Bible Table, the team was busy sharing the good news. A Muslim man had stopped to ask questions. He told them that his background was that of a lawyer, so he liked to investigate. His questions centred around the deity of Jesus; team members responded by opening the Bible to show this Muslim man what God’s Word said.
Next, we had a different type of open-air message. Tom blew up two big black bin bags and then used them as an illustration. He held the bags, then slammed them into each other. After doing this, he asked, “Would anyone be upset if two bags of dust just randomly hit each other?” The answer was “No!” He was making the point that if the atheistic worldview is correct, we are just bags of dust and chemicals – why should anyone be upset when people do evil things? Tom then explained that a Christian worldview deals with the issue of good and evil, and that hope is found only in Jesus.
Next to preach was Richard. This was only the second time he had preached. He spoke about the broad road, then went to John 3 to explain the gospel. He spoke clearly and was heard. I loved the fact that he saturated his sermon with God’s Word.
I then preached for the second time. For this message, I asked, “Are you a good person?” A young man named Stam from Greece began to engage. He affirmed his goodness and was sure that he’d go to Heaven. As he said this, a man standing next to him called out, “No one is bad enough for Hell!” Stam and I went back and forth through the Ten Commandments and soon admitted that he was guilty and headed for Hell. I then explained the good news of Jesus paying the penalty for sinful people. At the end of the message, Stam and the man who didn’t think people were bad enough for Hell, took copies of John’s Gospel.
One of the team members spoke to the man who didn’t think people deserved Hell. It turns out he is a former Muslim, now an agnostic. He was thinking and searching, so the team members pointed him to Jesus.
To finish off the outreach, Trevor preached, followed by Bill. They did a great job examining the question of God’s existence and how Jesus alone provides the answer to the question of eternity.
I enjoy visiting Reading. I’ve found it one of the most open and engaging places. Please 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.
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