A Light in the Darkness – Portsmouth Evangelism
As the darkness of winter descends upon England, it is prime time for us to lift high the light of Jesus Christ. People all around us walk in spiritual darkness – they progress through life with no hope and then step into the great darkness of eternity. How many people in our country will close their eyes in death without ever hearing the good news of Jesus? We must be a light in the darkness! Into the darkness of Portsmouth, we proclaimed the light of Jesus. Some listened, others rejected – but the light wasn’t stopped.
The hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and the cold winds created challenges, but many were exposed to the gospel.
We had three preachers today – each presenting the same good news but in different ways. I commenced the preaching by speaking on “Six Deadly Lies.” In this message, I seek to answer the common lies people believe. A few people listened, but not too many.
Next, Chris, the Pastor of Eastney Evangelical Church, proclaimed the good news. He started by talking about God being the Creator and how all humanity has value because of God. He then explained the world today isn’t as it should be due to our sins. Following Chris, Roger preached about how our sin has separated us from God, but the good news is that God has come to rescue us.
During this time, a lady who had listened to the preaching a few months earlier came back to share how much of a comfort the message had been. Then, a man stopped by the table saying he was in recovery and needed to find a ‘higher power.’ He stated that he couldn’t walk past the table, feeling that he should stop to discover more about God. He took a Bible and booklet.
While this was taking place, Val spoke to a Muslim man who said he was interested in looking more into Christianity, as he wanted to become a Christian. She shared the good news with him, and he took material. It appears that he was very genuine.
For the final open-air, I preached on John 3:16. As soon as I started, one young man stopped. He stood unmoving for the whole message; then he took a copy of John’s Gospel. He seemed to be very much engaged with all that was being said.
As we packed down for the day, a Ukrainian Roman Catholic stopped at the free Bible table to ask for prayer. He seemed burdened and broken; as the team began to pray for him, he fell to his knees. Afterwards, he took a Gospel of John and “Grace for You.” We told him we would share about him on this blog so that many people could pray for him. Please remember this man in your prayers.
The light shone brightly in Portsmouth. Many of those in the darkness heard the good news of Jesus. Some believed, some rejected, and others will want to hear more. Please pray for all those who heard the gospel.
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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In common with many evangelistic reports, we have changed the names and some of the photographs to protect the anonymity of those mentioned.