Proclaiming Jesus in Bristol

As a lover of history, I have heard many accounts of the times when John Wesley and George Whitefield preached in Bristol. It was always stirring to hear of the thousands of people standing to hear the gospel in the open air, and how many were converted. Today, I got to preach in Bristol for the first time – let me be clear, I am no Wesley or Whitefield; we didn’t have thousands standing to listen to the gospel, but we did have precious souls listen to the good news, and numerous people wanted to chat and took copies of John’s Gospel.

It has been a year since I’ve seen Tim McShane from The Open-Air Mission, so it was good to reconnect with him. Tim was the first to preach for the day, in his message he asked the question “Who Are You Following?” This message uses the analogy of sheep, and the Good Shepherd to present the gospel. I was quite impressed with the message, so I will be asking Tim for a copy of it.

Something I really liked with the Bristol setup was the fact that they had a free literature table set up in front of the preacher. This drew people in constantly to listen, and to take resources. Those who may not have normally stopped to listen were happy to stop to browse the free books. The hope is that by pausing they would hear the gospel, and then read the gospel as they took resources.

After Tim finished preaching, it was my turn to speak. I decided to use my “Way to Heaven” message. As I was preaching, people came to the literature table, and then gospel conversations took place. At the end of my message, when I offered a copy of John’s Gospel, a man who was standing behind the board came forward to ask for a copy.

Straight after the open-air, two people stopped to talk. They told me that they are currently doing research on the topic of forgiveness. They were amazed that the Bible speaks so much on this topic, so I was able to share with them the reason Christians can forgive. Both of them were thankful that the team was in Bristol; as they left, they took a Gospel of John and also a booklet.

While Tim preached for a second time, I offered a tract to a lady from Sierra Leone. The tract asked the question, “Is there life after death?” The lady took the tract, thought about the question, and then said, “I hope so, as I am a very spiritual person.” Before too long we were having a wonderful chat about the gospel, and how the only hope for humanity is found in the Lord Jesus. After we finished talking, this lady went over to the literature table and took a book, she also spoke to another team member about attending a local church.

By this stage the outreach was nearing its end time, so to finish our time, I spoke once again. This time I preached on “How Can I Have Peace?” While I was preaching, a Jewish man paused to listen, he then went to the literature table and began to browse. He then took a copy of John’s Gospel and went on his way. Please pray this man would discover his Messiah.

As we packed down the open-air board, I had one last gospel encounter. A lady walked past who saw our tracts, so I offered her one. She politely declined as she is a Jehovah’s Witness. Since she was friendly, I asked her how she came to be involved with that organisation; she told me that she converted at eighteen, as she had concluded that evolution is false, so she wanted to discover the God who created. The JWs were ready to welcome her in. I knew that if I went down the apologetic route of addressing the errors of the Watchtower that she would quickly flee, so instead I began to speak about the topic of creation. This lady was open to talking on this subject, so I briefly shared with her some creationist arguments, but at the same time, I knew that creationism is not what she needed. It was then that I realised that on the board we had a booklet that addressed the topic of evolution and presented the gospel. I asked Tim to grab the booklet for me, and this JW very readily took it. Please pray that as she reads the booklet, she will also come to encounter the true gospel.

Please pray for all those we met today – may the Lord save them.

SDG!