
Posted 22 May 2019, 5:26 PM by Glen Richards. PermalinkWednesday saw a busy day of outreach, including trying out a new location.
First up was some time spent in Cathedral Square. I had an interesting conversation with a young lady with a Christian background but who was now leaning more towards atheism.
I was curious as to what her understanding of Christianity was, so asked her what she thought was required to go to heaven. I wasn’t surprised when she described a requirement to be good enough.
So I had an opportunity to explain the grace of Christianity to her: the Gospel.
Her response was interesting. She said she didn’t really care. But I was able to gently explain that she did care: her life was precious to her. I challenged her if she would sell both of her eyes for ten million dollars - and she agreed she wouldn’t. If her eyes were precious to her, how much more was her soul.
I challenged her to respond to the Gospel.
After lunch, I moved to the hospital, and set up my flip chart on the footpath outside one of the entrances. I managed to hand out some tracts, and have one good conversation via the flip chart there.
But as I was walking from Cathedral Square to the hospital, I ended up passing by the law courts, and I realised that there were a decent amount of people walking past. So I decided to cut my hospital outreach short and try out that spot for outreach.
As I got there, there was a young man standing outside having a cigarette. I approached him, offering him an Eternity tract and managing to spark up a conversation. We were able to discuss the existence of God. But, sadly, as soon as he had finished his cigarette, he had to go back in - so I wasn’t able to share the Gospel. But I’m glad he took the tract.
I didn’t set up my flip chart, as I just wanted to get a feel for the location. I was able to pass out some tracts, and have a brief chat with a gardner working outside.
I decided to finish the day by going back to Cathedral Square. And I got into a long conversation with a very polite atheist/agnostic (his words) who had a degree in philosophy.
He completely rejected the building = builder; creation = creator analogy. And I wasn’t making any progress on the intellectual front. So I decided to change tack and address his conscience. I asked him if he would allow me to explain Christianity to him - which he was open to. I was able to explain the seriousness of sin, via the law, and that hell was reasonable in light of that - but that’s as far as I got - he quickly changed the subject.
So a busy and tiring day of outreach. As always I leave the results in God’s hands.