For those who say open air or street preaching is not biblical really need to go back and read their bibles.
Is Open Air/Street Preaching Biblical? - Sermon Index
Proverbs 1:20-21 declares, Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings
I would like to point out a few Old Testament prophets who clearly seem to have been open air/street preachers:
Isaiah was an open air/street preacher.
In Isaiah 58:1 the Lord says to Isaiah, Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.
Jeremiah was an open air/street preacher.
In Jeremiah 11:6-7 the Lord says to Jeremiah, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; hear the words of this covenant and do them.
Jonah was an open air/street preacher.
In Jonah 3:1-4 we read: Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.
Now lets look at some examples from the New Testament.
John the Baptist was an open air/street preacher.
Matthew 3:1-2 says, Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself was the greatest open air/street preacher.
Matthew 5:1 tells us, When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them
.. And He went on to preach that famous Sermon on the Mount. And there are many other accounts of our Lord preaching to crowds in the outdoors.
The Twelve Apostles were open air/street preachers.
Luke 9:1,6 says, And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases
.Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
Philip the evangelist was an open air/street preacher.
Acts 8:5-8 declares, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was much rejoicing in that city.
At this point I would like for us to look briefly at church history, beginning with the protestant reformation. Charles Spurgeon said, Where would the reformation have been if its great preachers had confined themselves to churches and cathedrals? How would the common people have become indoctrinated with the Gospel had it not for those far-wandering evangelists
.and those daring innovators who found a pulpit on every heap of stones, and an audience chamber in every open space near the abodes of men?
I found an article online which gave a brief history of street preaching, as I am doing here. The article states, the earliest protestant reformers necessarily had to be out door preachers, since
the churches were at the hands of the papacy (Catholic pope and bishops).
Now lets consider for a moment the First Great Awakening, which took place in the mid 1700s. The article I just mentioned states, After the reformation other great movements were started by street preachers. The Methodist Church, co-founded by George Whitfield and John Wesley, is an example of this period. These two were Anglicans, but being banned from speaking in churches since they were not licensed, they took to field preaching, boldly proclaiming Gods Word to large crowd in streets and markets. They traveled throughout England and the American colonies and were instrumental in the Great Awakening
The Methodist Church was started by street preachers.
And there are many more examples, even in modern times, of how God has greatly used this method of open air/street preaching. Sadly to say, the Church of today, to a great degree, has forgotten and forsaken this proven biblical method of evangelism. And yet we do see today that God is stirring up many of his people and raising them up to perform this awesome task of publicly proclaiming His glorious, everlasting gospel. May He continue to stir us up and send us out, and bring a glorious revival in these last days. Of course we also need to seek Him diligently in prayer and in His Word, otherwise our preaching will be in the flesh (our own ability and strength) and futile.
Are There Examples of Street Preaching in the Bible? | CARM.org
There are many examples of street preaching in the
Bible. However, some have argued against many of the following examples, saying that what we see in
Scripture is not the same kind of street preaching most commonly seen on the streets today. But their arguments are not valid.
Street preaching is simply the public reading of Scripture, proclamation of the law, and/or preaching of the gospel in an outdoor setting.
While this is not an exhaustive representation, here are some biblical examples of street preachers and street preaching:
- Noah was a “herald of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5).
- Solomon addressed the entire nation of Israel “with a loud voice” (1 Kings 8:54-56).
- Ezra called the people of Israel to repentance as they sat in the “open square” (Ezra 10:9-14).
- Ezra read the law of God and explained it to the people of Israel while standing before them (Nehemiah 8:1-8).
- Jeremiah stood at the gate of the Lord’s House and “proclaimed” the very words of God (Jeremiah 7:1-3).
- Jonah preached on the streets of Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-5).
- The prophets of old were hated by the people, because they heralded the word of God at the city gates (Isaiah 5:29; Amos 5:10).
- The first street preacher, the first to herald the good news in the open-air, was John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-2; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3).
- Jesus sat atop a hill and preached the greatest sermon ever preached in the open-air -- the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).
- Jesus’s disciples preached on the streets in many villages (Luke 9:5-7).
- Peter preached in the open-air at Solomon’s Portico, after healing the lame beggar (Acts 3:11-26).
- Philip preached the gospel to large crowds on the streets of the city of Samaria (Acts 8:6-8).
- Paul preached the gospel to the entire city of Antioch. He was viciously heckled, yet all those whom God had appointed to be saved believed the gospel (Acts 13:44-52).
- Apollos boldly and publicly refuted the Jews and proclaimed Christ Jesus in Achaia (Acts 18:27-28).
- Paul stood before the judiciary of Athens, atop of Mars Hill, and preached to the men of Athens in the open-air (Acts 17:22-34).
The Scriptures are rich with examples of street preaching. Street preaching is clearly a biblical practice, and those who engage in it follow in the footsteps of great men of the faith and our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.