Friday Night Notes

yikes! it was even colder than last week!

Street preaching in the cold is no fun, and it was COLD tonight. It dropped down to -18 degrees Celsius or 0 degrees Fahrenheit for my American readers. Some of you may think: "That's not that cold!" Let me assure you that standing on a street corner with the sole activity being preaching, it gets pretty nippy. Anyway, we were out there for our usual 3 hours; the usual suspects being present, that is myself, brother Laz and my pastor.

It was a pretty standard Friday night of evangelism. Lots of mockery and scorn, a few honest questions and kind exchanges, but in the end, no apparent sign of salvation. That being said, I know the Lord will use the work done for His honour and glory, and that HE WILL save his people from their sins.

Instead of getting into details tonight, I will grant Puritan Belief his wish, and give you all a few examples of what we preach when we are on the street. Note that street preaching involves a great deal of improvisation. If no one stops to listen, then you can pretty much repeat the same Scriptures for awhile until someone does pay attention. At that point, we develop the message to teach our listeners the Truth of the Gospel.

I tend to use a lot of Scripture that I have memorized to start my sermons. The reason? Because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). After that, I expand on it with examples or explanations, if anyone is paying attention that is. Here are some examples:

1- "Friends, the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Tonight, as you are walking along the street, are you collecting the consequences of sin? Are you on your way to eternal condemnation? Or have you received eternal life through Christ? Is Christ your Lord tonight? Are you serving Him? Friends, you belong to the one you serve. Do you serve Satan through sin and wickedness tonight, or are you serving the Living God through faith in Jesus? In the end, my friends, you will either waste your life in sin and end up condemned, the second death, or you will live a life that glorifies God in Christ, to the saving of your soul..."

2- "The Bible commands us to seek the LORD while he may be found, to call upon him while he is near. Have you obeyed this commandment? Have you sought after God by reading your Bibles? By going to a Bible church? By talking with Christians? By taking one of our Gospel tracts? God promises that if you seek God, you will find him, if you seek him with all your heart. Have you done this? These matters are way too important to ignore my friends. Don't live your whole lives ignorant of the Bible, you will wind up in the Lake of Fire. Seek God by reading His Word!

3- Jesus said in the book of John except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Pretty simple isn't it? If you are not a born again Christian, you are NOT going to God's Heaven. So are you born again? Do you even know what it means? The first time you were born, you were born a sinner. Yes, friends, we are sinners by birth, we are sinner by choice. While we are made PHYSICALLY ALIVE at birth, we are spiritually dead because of the sin of our great, great, great grand-parents, Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve sinned, they became sinners, they died spiritually, and all of us, their children, were born spiritually dead sinners. The second birth, being born again, is when God gives spiritual life to an individual. Such a person would then become "born spiritually". Hence, the born-AGAIN! So are you born again? Do you have a desire for God and for His Word, the Bible? If you have no desire for Christ, you are not born again, rather, you are dead in your sin and trespass...

4- Jesus says He is the way, the truth, and the life: no man can go unto the Father, but by Him. No other religious or spiritual path will do. If you want peace with God, if you want eternal life, it's in Jesus Christ and no other person. Jesus is the ONE mediator between God and men. No pope or priest can give you peace with God or eternal life. Mohammed, Buddha, Benedict XVI can't bring you one millimeter closer to the Father. The right WAY, the TRUTH and LIFE eternal are in one Person, and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God. Are you IN Christ Jesus tonight, where there is no condemnation, or have you turned your backs to Him? Have you said "no" to the only name God has provided by which we must be saved?

5- The apostle Paul, in the Bible, wrote not to deceive ourselves; God is not mocked: whatsoever a man sows, he will also reap, spiritually. If you receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart in this life, the Lord Jesus Christ will receive you in the next life. If you will reject the Lord Jesus Christ in this life, be sure He will reject you when this life comes to an end. If life came to an end tonight my friends, and it totally could for any one of us, what would happen to your eternal souls? The bible tells us that we are all appointed once to die, but after this the judgment. So what will happen to you at that judgment? Death could come at any time, and after death comes God's judgment. What then my friends? Will you be found in Christ, saved forever more? Or will you be found guilty of sin and condemned already?

There are but a few examples of mini-sermons I expand on when street preaching, there are a lot more floating in my mind. I try to spice things up by using different Scriptures from time to time, and I try to give personal testimonies/examples to make my points clearer and show that my preaching isn't a mere religious exercise, but a true account of the power of God.

Anyway, hope this satisfies your curiosity, my dear readers, I'm off to bed now, it's been a long day. Good night dear friends.


Rand