Many People Want to Chat about Jesus – Southampton Evangelism
Even though I am still recovering from a month of illness, it was good to be able to get back onto the streets of Southampton. Due to the lovely spring weather, the city centre was busy. This busyness would serve to bring in a constant stream of people to hear the good news.
Before we were fully set up, people were stopping to talk. As Nigel chatted to a Roman Catholic lady who believed in reincarnation, and Jeremy spoke with a Muslim wanting to find out more about Jesus, I found myself talking to a serious young man.
The man I spoke with is a lifelong Roman Catholic, but only recently had he decided to take it seriously. He told me he was hoping that by living a good life, he would earn God’s favour. I asked him how he planned to remove the sins of the past, but he didn’t have an answer. I stressed to him that even if he could stop sinning today, he still had to pay for all the wrongs previously committed. The young man understood this argument, and he wondered what hope there was for him. I shared the good news of Jesus with him, and then together we opened the Bible to read Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:4-5. As we looked at those verses, I explained that salvation is only based on the work of Jesus.
The young man understood! He said, “If I go to Heaven based on what I do, I could boast. Instead, I should go to Heaven, and then point to Jesus saying, He did it all.” I wish more people grasped this simple truth – it is all of Jesus! The young man then said, “That means, if Jesus rescues me, I will want to live a life of doing right because I’m thankful!” I’ve rarely seen someone grasp these truths so quickly – perhaps the Holy Spirit was opening the eyes of the young man. The gentleman shook my hand and took an in-depth gospel booklet.
All this, and the outreach hadn’t officially started!
After finally getting everything set up, Jeremy commenced the preaching by expositing and applying John 3:16. I really enjoy Jeremy’s style of preaching; he does a good job of being very conversational and engaging. One man who listened to the preaching took a copy of John’s Gospel.
Over at the literature table, I spoke with an Indian lady who works on cruise ships. She told me she is a ‘life-long Christian’, so I shared about the importance of personal repentance and faith. She said one of the biggest challenges on the ship was that she didn’t have a Bible or any way to listen to preaching. I gave her a Bible and a flyer for Grace to You. She was excited to read God’s Word and listen to biblical preaching online.
As soon as that conversation finished, I found myself speaking to a mother and daughter. The daughter told me she was a Christian but couldn’t find a good church. I was able to recommend an evangelical church in her area. The mother, however, told me she doesn’t believe the Bible and is a sceptic. I asked what caused her to reject the Scripture, and she answered by raising a question I’ve not heard in around five or six years. She said, “Where did Cain get his wife?” This question used to be common, but as biblical literacy has fallen, people have stopped asking the question. I answered by pointing to Genesis 5:4 to show that Adam and Eve had numerous sons and daughters. The lady was stunned; she said previously she had gone to a Baptist Church, but the minister couldn’t answer. She took a tract and said she’d come back another time to talk further.
It was now my turn to preach, so I spoke on the question, “Are You Good Enough for Heaven?” I asked the question, then read from Matthew 19:16-19 to show that Jesus provides a standard for us to test ourselves. With that, I began to open the Law of God to show His standard of holiness and our sinfulness. A small crowd gathered to listen; they didn’t heckle but silently paid attention as the good news was explained. At the end, two young people walked forward to receive copies of John’s Gospel.
A local pastor was also in the crowd; both he and his wife were very excited and encouraged by the preaching. I was able to give him some resources to help encourage him toward more evangelism.
My last conversation of the day was with a confused Buddhist who believed Buddha had directly visited him and trained him. He told me Buddha had declared that all religions teach the same thing, so I took him to John 14:6 so we could see what Jesus said. The man wasn’t too sure how to deal with this statement, but he did take a copy of John’s Gospel.
As we started to pack down, Jeremy had a conversation with two young people who had listened to me preach. They had come back and were willing to talk further. Both were open to the gospel and took a copy of the New Testament.
Today was incredible. It was almost non-stop gospel conversations. 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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