“I Don’t Need to Repent!” – Newbury Evangelism

Newbury is a historic market town with a rich Christian history. During the Reformation, several martyrs were executed here due to their biblical convictions. Then, during the years of the Evangelical Awakening, both George Whitefield and John Wesley preached here with great success. In the 19th century, Charles Spurgeon also proclaimed the gospel in this community. And today, five of us came along – nowhere near the same league as those mentioned above, but we come to Newbury with the same message of the gospel.

This was our first time evangelising in this town, and I must admit that before arriving, I wondered if much would happen. The Lord certainly showed me up! As soon as we set up the literature table, people began to stop and talk. Bill had an opportunity to witness to an elderly neighbour of his, who received a copy of John’s Gospel. All of us were amazed at how quickly Newbury opened up to hear the good news of Jesus!

I was the first to preach. Today, I shared on “The Big Picture of Easter.” As I explained the “Who, Why, and What” of Easter, an 81-year-old man stopped to listen. He then began to interject with a few comments. “Jesus is the Saviour!” he called out. “We are the children of God,” he continued. Since the man was keen to talk, I decided to engage him further. It turned out that the elderly gentleman was a good churchgoer but not a true Christian.

When I spoke about Christ dying for our sins, he wasn’t too keen. So, I explained how everyone has broken God’s law, which is why we need the Saviour. The man listened as I spoke about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, but when I said, “You need to repent and believe,” he objected. He told me, “I don’t need to repent!” He declared that his belief in God was sufficient and that no repentance was required. Some from the easy-believism camp may have agreed with the old chap, but all they would have done is affirm him in his sin.

The man didn’t believe he was a sinner and, therefore, didn’t see the need to repent. He believed all he had to do was believe in God and follow Jesus (which, to him, meant doing good deeds). I took him to Luke 13:3 and Acts 17:30 to show that he needed to repent, but he refused, saying, “That is just your opinion!” Eventually, he withdrew, saying he didn’t want to engage any further, but he did take a Gospel of John and spoke with Keith for a long time afterwards. Sadly, the man finally left on friendly terms but still trusting in his own religious efforts.

Meanwhile, Bill spoke with two young people who were very interested in religion. They listened to the good news, and both took copies of John’s Gospel.

Throughout the day, we also met numerous Christians, including an evangelical Church of England minister. All of them were greatly encouraged by the outreach and offered words of encouragement to us. We hope our presence stirs up local Christians to be more outwardly focused.

I also spoke with an older man who stopped near the open-air board. He wanted to know my religious background as, in his words, he was a good and practising Roman Catholic. I told him I was a Bible-believing Christian, which seemed to put him at ease. As we chatted, we both lamented the unbelief in society and how far the United Kingdom had fallen. He said (and I agreed with him) that the nation had turned its back on God. I then asked him, “How can someone be right with God?” The gentleman told me that the only way to be made right with God was by going to Purgatory, where one would be cleansed before meeting God. I shared 2 Corinthians 5:21 with him, showing that Jesus can make us completely clean and righteous by His work, not ours. The Roman Catholic man listened to the gospel and then said, “That is really interesting!” I encouraged him to trust in Christ alone; he shook my hand, thanked me for the talk, and headed off.

Bill preached next and did a great job using John 3:16 to explain the good news. Following him, Trevor preached, urging people to consider deeply the claims of Jesus Christ. It was good to hear both of them clearly and powerfully proclaim the gospel.

At the end of the outreach, all the team agreed that today was wonderful. God willing, Newbury will become a regular outreach location. 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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