Battle Log

Wednesday 19 December 2018

Posted by Posted 20 December 2018, 3:04 AM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

On Tuesday evening for the first time in a number of days the rain had ceased and as a result the crowds were enormous! This resulted in many tracts being handed out and great opportunities for the Gospel to be shared. If you're wondering about what time of year you should begin sharing the Gospel, this is it. This year, if you've struggled to share about Christ before, could be the first year you do so! Maybe it is by door knocking your neighbourhood, maybe by speaking to your friends and family or it could be by coming out and joining the team these next few days! You will be glad you did!

Four conversations in a row were had with people whose names started with the letter A. Andy the Hindu, Andy the Catholic, Ann the Mormon and Amy the Australian.

Andy the Hindu man loved the "freedom" that Hinduism allowed for, people being able to worship any god, how they pleased. He was shown his sin by the law and pointed to the one who came to save sinners. Andy took a tract and said he would read it.

Andy the Catholic was a natural Spanish speaker from Brazil and knew about Jesus and actually was interested in talking and asking questions. It was a privilege to share the Gospel with him both bad and good news and Andy then said, "So how can I apply this to my life?" or in other words, "What must I do to be saved?".

He heard what it means to repent and believe and was seriously left and encouraged to count the cost of following Christ and to trust in Him alone for salvation!

Following this, Ann the Mormon wasn't really interested in talking but she was challenged on one question, "When you read the Bible to you read just a verse here or there, or do you read whole books, whole chapters and seek to understand what the authors meant when they wrote it?"

"Just verses here and there mostly" she responded. She heard that the easiest way to convince someone of something that the Bible doesn't say is by taking pieces of it out of the context. She was encouraged to read Romans 1-8 this coming week and to spend serious time in it, seeking to understand what is the Spirit intentioned meaning of the words!

Lastly Amy the Australian was quite a normal Aussie, she had heard the name Jesus and when pressed could tell you how he died and that Christmas was about Him coming but that was the limit of her knowledge. 

That very quickly changed as she came face to face with God's expectations of her, her failure to upload these standards, their due penalty and her only hope, found in God's saviour, Jesus Christ.

It was a rather brief conversation as she had to leave but Amy was encouraged to seriously consider who Jesus claimed to be this Christmas and to take a read of the Gospel of John.

One final conversation was had with Daniella. She too was Brazillian and shared about some of her history, why she had rejected God and why she was angry with the Catholic church (and rightly so). But through the conversation, she was challenged. She was told that it is foolish to judge God on the basis of the evil actions of wicked and selfish people who claimed to represent Him.

She also heard the true message of the Bible and how it was not about being good enough, praying enough, donating enough money or anything like that to get right with God but rather it was about trusting what God had done to save the rebels who had so arrogantly and sinfully rejected Him.

Daniella understood the Gospel for the first time and like many others over these past few weeks was seriously encouraged to consider who this child in the manger is and to not miss Christmas!

As you read this report, may you be encouraged, as hopefully a person who hasn't missed the real meaning of Christmas, to not miss this opportunity to share with others its beauty!

Please can you be praying for those the team was able to speak with that God would continue to use these conversations and tracts to work in their hearts and that they would open their Bibles and come to understand who this God is, that came as a baby!

Please also be praying for the thousands of tracts handed out that God may use each one, exactly as He pleases!

View previous Brisbane (QLD) report (16 December 2018)


Brisbane

Brisbane Team (Night) (QLD)

Meets Fridays (7-10pm) & Saturdays (6-9pm) & Sundays (7:30-9:30pm) in King George Square.

Contact Ryan Hemelaar for more information.