My First Time Ever Open-Air Street Preaching!

peacefulseeker said:

To.each their own in spreading the gospel. I could hear the message too more often as I am down of late. God Bless you.

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Agreed. A lot of good points here about courage and persistence. This is the essence of spreading the Gospel, and why the Church persevered after so many early struggles. Praise to those setting an example here.

Hi David. I have just been out doing a different type of evangelism. This was my first time doing it using a flipchart.
You told us your story about your first time doing open air and so here is what happened with my first-time doing flipchart one to one evangelism.

Inhocsigno said:

Agreed. A lot of good points here about courage and persistence. This is the essence of spreading the Gospel, and why the Church persevered after so many early struggles. Praise to those setting an example here.

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Yep. It isn't easy. I am fairly passive in my spreading of the gospel, preferring to lead by example as imperfect as I am

peacefulseeker said:

Yep. It isn't easy. I am fairly passive in my spreading of the gospel, preferring to lead by example as imperfect as I am

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and nothing wrong with that. Just because someone has a desire to get our there and preach doesn't mean they have a gift for it. And it is better if it is not just off the top of one's head. Preparation and practice are sometimes needed if we really want to attract people.

A few people study communication. Some get pretty good at public speaking. I am very glad that in high school they still have programs in debate and forensics. While some may be gifted with oratory and rhetoric others can develop the skills. so when it comes to street preaching, I would not recommend that one just goes out there and starts talking. Far better to prepare and practice so that people care to hear. Toastmasters is a group to help people get more comfortable as the main speaker. But again I encourage volunteering in nursing homes. What a great place to practice and get comfortable. Or offer to fil in at a local church.

Street preaching is unique. people walking by do not expect nor look for such interaction. And I would definitely start with blessings rather than condemnations. The Good News as the headline that branches into the full message. Or another strategy is to start with a scripture verse and break it open.

Unfortunately, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
It does make me wonder a lot about where the hearts of leaders are. Is it for building up of the number of people in their congregation or is it to tell as many people as possible the Gospel so that they can know the Lord? Once again, are the leaders obeying the first and second greatest commands. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart soul and mind and, love your neighbour as you love yourself. Our hearts desire should be to do Gods will and it should be for the lost to be saved.
This does not mean we are all street preachers.
I was talking about this with my wife yesterday. I said to her that she is helping to spread the Gospel even though she is not going out and evangelising. We have a family to run and by her holding the fort at home, this allows me to go out and share the Good News. So, she supports me. If she was to tell me that she hates it when I go out and she needs me to control the kids, then, it would make it very difficult for me to go out. So, her heart's desire is for the lost to hear the Gospel and she helps me to go out.
Also, I know that many leaders/pastors are very busy mentoring people and organising a Sunday services. This is also very important. After someone comes to Christ, they may need direction and encouragement. And if a pastor is doing this full time, then that is a great thing. His heart's desire is for the lost too.
But people who run the church need to recognise that just because they are so busy mentoring new believers and running Sunday service, this does not mean that we all are doing enough to save the lost. Many in the church are not doing anything. They just sit in a pew and listen each Sunday and then they go to the bible studies. They may even go to a friendship group that the church runs and from this they think, "Well, I am doing friendship evangelism because I go to this friendship group where I get alongside a lot of other believers". The congregation needs to be given the skills to be able to say the Gospel. So, the leaders have a responsibility to equip the saints to be able to go out. They themselves may not be able to go out because they are already very busy doing things for the Kingdom of God. But there are many that are not busy who would be capable, but they do not have the skills.
Many in the congregation will say that they are not good enough to preach in public, or do one to one, or just hand out tracts. Many will be afraid. But the more equipped they become, the more confident they will be and the more they will start to do it. But without teaching, many will do nothing. We need to remember that some of the disciples were just simple fishermen. We can all do it. We just need the skills.
I myself am not an evangelist. I just have a love for my God and my neighbour.

I have certain quotes that I memorise and use when need be. That Ray Comfort quote is one of them. Love it

I don't like to say that I am an evangelist because then it gives others an excuse to not go out. Many will say, "God has not given me the gift of evangelism and so I do not have to go and preach at the parks or any of that stuff. It isn't my calling."
What I believe God has given me is a great love for the lost. I do not want anyone to be condemned. So, this great love spurred me on to learn how to share the Gospel. Up until a year and a half ago, I did not have a clue on how to do it. But I studied and learnt. It was not a natural thing for me. It has taken many hours, days, weeks, months and years of study to get to this point.

I look at an evangelist as someone who equips the church to go out and share the Gospel. Not just someone who God has given a special gift to talk to the lost. Obviously, an evangelist will go out and share the Gospel, but the gift is really for the equipping for the saints to go out and share the Gospel. Ephesians 4:11-12 says: "And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ;"
So, my understanding is that all of these gifts spoken of in verses 11 and 12, apostleship, prophets, evangelism, pastors and teachers are all inward gifts. They are all for the equipping of the saints. So, we are all to evangelise, but someone with the gift of evangelism will not only share the Gospel with non-believers but he will also teach others within the church to do so. These gifts are inwardly focused so that we can be outwardly focused.

great perspectives