Battle Log

Wednesday, 15 May, 2019

Posted 21 May 2019, 11:15 AM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

Thursday afternoon in Sunnybank was exciting. With a team of seven out, and many, many gospel conversations taking place it was an afternoon filled with much rejoicing! One team member even noted that they had twenty three conversations, establishing God's existence, humanities universe guilt and the beginnings of the gospel in most conversations! What a fun filled afternoon!

An early conversation took place with Raymond. He totally got it! He at first didn't think there was a God but was shown that he knows otherwise. He was then shown how God's existence means he is guilty as he has failed to live up to God's standard. Then when asked what the solution is Raymond had no idea. He was piece by piece taken through the gospel. Showing that sinners cannot earn forgiveness, nor can they earn someone else paying their debt. He was shown that rather God in his love offers it as a gift, which is received through trusting in Christ.

Raymond got it. When asked some simple clarifying and checking questions it made sense to him then he was shown that those who trust in Christ will live very different lives. That out of gratefulness to God and the realisation of how desperately wicked sin is to a Holy God that they will want to turn from it and have nothing to do with it! Raymond understood and said he got a lot more than he bargained for coming to the bus stop today but he was glad that he did!

He said he has a Bible at home he will begin to read and was recommended a local Church to attend! What an exciting beginning to the afternoon!

Soon Naomi sat down and was taken through the same questions. She professed to be a Christian and said she should be okay because she was baptised. The length of the conversation was shorter as her bus arrived a little earlier but she came to understood that what she had been trusting in before this day was not the gospel and it wasn't Jesus, she was instead trusting in herself and she was encouraged this day to trust in Christ and was shown that those who trust in Christ will be forever changed, not wanting to go back to where they came from!

Two Indians girls sat down and funnily enough said they'd just been discussing it the night before! They said they thought it was reincarnation but were challenged on this because in their attempt to solve their guilt but saying they had many lives, all they were actually doing was adding more and more lifetimes worth of sin on top of this already desperately guilty one we're living now. They saw how they'd still be guilty but as they were asked what the solution would be their bus arrived. They took tracts and were encouraged to read them.

An exciting conversation was with Zach a young guy who had spoken to the team around a month ago and shared what the conversation was about and then before his bus arrived he was taken further through the gospel. It was exciting to see that unlike most people had actually remembered most of the conversation and so in the limited time the conversation was taken back up where it had been left off! He was shown the simplicity of the good news, that those who trust in Christ are forgiven on the basis of his sacrifice. But in less than three minutes his bus arrived so the conversation will be postponed until next time!

The last conversation of the afternoon was with a lady named Jawei. She seemed to get the gospel first time around and got most of the checking and clarification questions correct but then it seemed to in a moment all disappear from her mind and she was taken through the gospel again. Same thing happened. There was some disconnect. Finally on the forth time she got it and grasped it and then was challenged this day to count the cost of following Christ, to trust in Him for the forgiveness of sin and therefore turn from her sin and live for Christ.

Please be praying for all those who heard of what God has done that they will ponder it this day and will not let another day pass before they trust in Christ alone to save them. Please also pray that God is gracious that they may have another day of breath in their lungs so that they may be able to consider this most wonderful gift!