Dave Matthews Concert

Prayer partners,
Sorry I haven't been doing my FAITH Blog this time around. In the past I would blog about the Tuesday's class and the results of the visits for my prayer partners. Here is the blog to check out past semesters (FAITH blog) . I should have this one posted there too.

We had a good night. Robert sent me to the Dave Matthews concert to hand out track and if possible do some one-on-one witnessing, Way of the Master style. If you don't know this is a way of witnessing that I do with a group of friends about every other week (see groups site). It is an easy way to talk to strangers on the street. It preaches the law. Shows them that their sinners, and let them know what they must do. Here an example: (Witnessing Clips)

Back to our night. I had Tim and Tammy with me. We didn't have a lot of time, only about 15 minuets once we got there. Because of the time constraints, we decided that Tammy would just drop us off and come get us in 15 minuets. In this short amount of time we were able to hand out 150, million dollar tracts (not 150 million, dollor tracts). Since people were moving and on their way to the concert, we didn't have a lot of opportunities to talk directly to people about the gospel. I did, however, talk to 3 parking attendants, two of them claimed to be saved and one did really say much.

When we left there we needed to hand out a bible. I have some Million Dollar New Testaments, that match my Bible tracts. I decided to stop in at one of the lottery locations and give it away. I asked a guy leaving if he got his winnings yet and handed him a million dollar tract. After talking with him for a little bit, I gave him the bible.

It was a great night, something different than usual. The best part of the night came when we got back. Julie's team went door knocking and we now have a new sister in Christ. An elderly lady was saved. She ended up being an in-home care giver to one of our Church members.

Thanks all for praying!

Chris
Victory Baptist Church

Week 10

Scenarios

This week we talked about some of the different scenarios we come across on visits and what would we say in response to various situations. What it all comes down to is our goal in FAITH: to share the gospel and to disciple people. The best way to disciple is through our Sunday School groups. Even though we try to share the gospel while we are on our visits, the Sunday school class should be there to reinforce it. Besides being a place of discipleship and where the gospel is shared, the Sunday school group is a place of support and friendship.

Our Visit

We’ve been doing opinion polls for the past couple of weeks, and we were going to take a break from that and check on a member of our Sunday School class that lived near the school. They weren’t home, so we went back to opinion polls. One problem: we didn’t bring anything with us. We hunted down another team in the area and obtained some of their material. After leaving them, we realized we didn’t have a pen either. We went to the convenience store down the street and purchased one.

Now we’re ready. We went to a cul-de-sac behind the school. We had more people answer the door then we have in the past. We talked to a guy that was saved and went to First Assembly. We had a good visit with him and prayed with him before we left. Our last house was a guy that said he read that bible and went to church when he was younger, but doesn’t have time for it now. We asked him the “key question:” What do you understand it take for a person to go to heaven? He gave an unclear answer. After trying to have him clarify it, I was still unsure of his salvation. I went ahead and shared the gospel with him. At the end of it he just said with some doubt that he thought he did that when he was younger. We told him about our different Bible study classes and worship times. We hope that he will find time to visit our church and see his need for salvation.

Prayer Request

There was another one saved tonight!! Please pray for that person and the others that made professions on that same street. Pray for Patty, Georgia, and my family as we continue to mourn the loss of my father-in-law. Pray for me this Friday as I hand out bible tracts at Disney on Ice.

To find out more about Victory Baptist Church, visit our web site. www.victory-mbc.com

Week 9

H is for Heaven.

“H” is the last letter in our FAITH outline. Heaven is where we’ll spend eternity with Jesus. Jesus says in John 14:3: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also. That word “if” could be better understood as “since”. It is a conditional statement. It’s means that He is already going and since He is going then…

If we are to spend eternity there, what is it like? It seems a lot of people believe Heaven is what they make it to be. If you like ice cream, then you’ll have all-you-can eat ice cream. If you like sports, your Heaven will include a big screen TV with the sports package. Is Heaven what you make it out to be?

That is our selfish view of Heaven. Like now it is not about us. It is about the one who created us. I believe that our desire will be to worship God. Don’t get me wrong it will be a great place where all hurt and sin is wiped away. Originally God made a place that He was pleased in, Genesis 1:31. Sin messed that up and I believe he’ll make a restored earth. The way he originally intended it to be.

We don’t have to wait until we die to experience Heaven, that eternal live starts now with Jesus. Because of our sins, our live are limited (Romans 6:23), but once we repent of our sins and put our trust in Jesus, we have a promise of eternal life. We don’t have to worry what will happen when we die. God makes us a new creature.

John 10:10 say: I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. This doesn’t mean that we somehow we’ll have a perfect life after trusting Jesus. We don’t somehow get that dream job, hit the lottery, and our life will be free from all troubles. That abundant life is an eternal life. We have the assurance of knowing that when we die our eternity will be spent in Heaven.

People think that when you become a Christian, all the sudden life is boring. I know just the opposite. It is not that we “have” to stop doing certain things. It is that God gives us a new heart. We are a new creature. We now have new desires. What is better then having new desires and being able to do them? I think of it like this. I think running a marathon is torture, but some people love the idea and live to run them. Their desire is to run that marathon. When their desire is fulfilled then that is a good thing. Same thing with being a Christian, our desires change. We want to go to church and worship God, we want to do what is right. We want to share Christ with others. When those desires are fulfilled then we are happy.

Our Visits

Josh and I went door knocking on a road behind the school. Our desire was to tell people about the new services and if we got a chance, to share the gospel. We knocked on a lot of doors and left a lot of flyers, but didn’t get to talk to many people. The only person we really go to speak with was already saved. We didn’t share the gospel, but we did get the info out about the new services and we also had a great time of walking and talking.

Prayer Request

Pray that opportunities will come up during the week for me to share my faith. At the beginning of class we discuss some “life witnessing” experiences we have, and I realize that I haven’t talked to anybody. Pray for our new church services at the school. Pray that they’ll be able to reach the lost in that area.

Week 7

I is for impossible.

According to the Bible, it is impossible for us to get to heaven on our own. The Bible tells us in Eph. 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Grace is usually defined unmerited favor. It is something that we receive but don’t deserve.

If we tried to save ourselves we would fall way short. Very short. Not even close. How much do we need to do to make up for the laws and commandments we’ve broken? Remember the verse under “A?” “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That right there is why we need forgiveness. How are we to buy that forgiveness? We’re not! That would like trying to bribe the judge. “I know I murdered that person, but I give to my church and I even helped an old lady cross the street.” Will the judge let you go for the good thing? Of course not. He is going to throw the book at you. If the judge is good and just, he must punish crime.

The only way you can go free is to have that penalty paid for you. That is exactly what Jesus did 2000 years ago. He paid the debt in His life’s blood. There was a legal transaction. God’s wrath and punishment was put on Jesus, who knew no sin. In exchange, we receive His righteousness. A legal transaction was made. We can now go free in God’s court room. So if you repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus, you will be saved. We know that is that He will save us because of what it says in Romans 10:9-10.

You see we can’t save ourselves. That is why we need a Savior. If we claim we are saved by what we do, we are stealing the honor and glory that God rightfully deserves.

Our visit

We went door knocking around Victory Baptist School. We are now having an early service at the school campus and we were getting the word out in the surrounding areas (actually word about the new service and the Word).

When talking with people, if we got anything but a faith answer to the key question “In your personal opinion, what do you understand that it take for a person to go to heaven”, we would share the gospel. We had one good visit. We ran into an officer that had a Catholic background, but his wife went to Fellowship North. His answer to the Key Question was “faith in Jesus Christ”. Surprisingly there was no works added in his response. We had a good dialogue with him in his driveway. He shared with us struggles about an incident where he had to use his gun on duty. Even though he was totally justified, it still bothers him. I could relate to him because I’ve seen that situation in my own family and understand how hard that is. Before we left we prayed with him that God would protect him both physically and mentally.

Another team had great news. They had the privilege of leading a girl to Christ.

Prayer Request

Pray for this officer. Pray that the little girl that was saved will grow in the Lord and that her mother will come to know the Lord also. Another team had a guy that was clearly under conviction. Pray that God will continue convicting him and that he’ll surrender to God’s will.

Week 6

The Letter A

Class was good we studied about the “A” in FAITH. A is for available. God’s forgiveness is available to us. It is available to all of us. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Even though it is available to everyone it is not automatic. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven”. There are a lot of people out there that believe that everyone will be saved or that all religions lead to heaven. They read into John 3:16 and say see He died for all of us, so we all are going to heaven. We need to also look at the “whosoever believeth in him.” This is why the “F” that we studied last week is so important. Every one has sinned and needs forgiveness. That forgiveness is in Jesus only. If we don’t understand our sins, how can we receive or even understand the cure. We compare ourselves too much to other people (horizontally) and not to God and His holy standards (vertically).

In class we also learned that people often ask “How can a loving God send someone to hell?” Again, the need to understand who we are (sinners) and who God is (Holy and Righteous). Like an earthly judge, if a convicted criminal went unpunished then the judge would be corrupt. The same with God, we wouldn’t think that God would let a murder or a rapist go unpunished would we? How about a lair, a thief, or a blasphemer? When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus in John 3:18, a few verses after John 3:16. He said “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already”. Jesus didn’t come to lead people to hell they are already on their way. He came to save us from it.

Our Visit

We visited a family from the school. When we got there we found out that that attend church at Central Baptist Church. Our goal is not to pull members from bible believing churches; our goal is to spread the gospel. Our first inclination was to just move on, but we were invited in. We had a great visit. We found out that they were trained in FAITH evangelism but had never been out on a visit because of fear. We just encouraged them to share their faith and the importance of evangelism. We just learned in class that the forgiveness is available but not automatic. Josh gave his new and improved testimony and I went over the gospel presentation “for practice”. I say for practice because, even though the 3 people we were directly talking to were saved, there were two others in the house that could hear what we were saying. Sometimes God is working on someone other than the person you’re talking with. Since this family was from Central, I gave them an example of that exact thing happening a few semesters back. The team that I was on was door knocking and came across the pastor’s house for Central Baptist Church. He was already saved, of course, but we just talked back and forth about God and the things he has done. They were just starting the FAITH program and we encouraged each other in sharing the gospel. What we didn’t know was the daughter was standing behind the door, and our conversation got her thinking and convicted of her sins. We later found out that, she was saved that night. We weren’t talking to her and the gospel wasn’t even really mentioned. It was nothing our team or the pastor said. It was all God. When God draws people to Him he’ll use anybody and anything. Be ready for God to use you.

Prayer Request

Pray for my mother-in-law and my family. It is her and Don’s anniversary this Saturday. Pray for those that are sick in our Church family and have been out.

Week 5

Forgiveness

At the heart of the Gospel is forgiveness. We need forgiveness because we have all sinned and fall short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23). Sin is the transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4). We a lot of times may dismiss sin as not being “that bad”. When we compare ourselves to other people we may not seem “that bad”. It is not until we compare ourselves to God and His holy standard that we realize our need for forgiveness. Everyone can find someone worse off than they are, but Gods standard is perfect. If we’ve kept the whole law and yet offend in just one area we are guilty of it all (James 2:10).

The Bible says in Romans 6:23 that the penalty for those sins is death. This is why we need a savior. We have a sin debt and that penalty is death. God didn’t want that to be, but if He is just and fair, He must punish sin. Thank about it this way if a earthly judge let someone off, who rapped and murdered someone, simply because they are now a good person and said they won’t do it again, the Judge would be corrupt and should be punished himself. How much more holy, fair, and just is our God. If we’ve sinned that sin must be punished.

God didn’t want it that way, so He provided a way. He sent his only Son (John 3:16) to earth in the form of a man. He lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose again the third day. Jesus who knew no sin became sin for us. A legal transaction was made. He took our penalty in exchange we received His righteousness. We can go free in God’s court room because that penalty has been satisfied in Jesus.

How do we get that forgiveness? By repenting of our sins and putting our trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Robert said in class, “good people don’t go to heaven, Saved people do”. I’m glad that is true, because if I had to rely on my goodness I’d be in real trouble.

Our Visit

We were scheduled to visit a family from the school. When we got there the child was sick so we told them we’d come back at a better time. We were in the area of another member of our Sunday school class, so we dropped by. It was a great visit. You know how God closes doors so that others can be opened. I feel that this visit was one of them. We had a good discussion and prayer while we were there.

Josh gave out our bible to a lady at a car wash in Jacksonville and earlier in the week he had a chance to share what he has learned in FAITH with a friend on the computer.

Prayer Request

Pray for our age group. Satan is hitting us with sickness and just all sorts of things to keep us a way from serving the Lord. Pray for our visitors and potential visitors we’ve meet the last few weeks for our class. Pray that they feel a connection and the love of God through His people. Pray for our outreach both on our scheduled Tuesday night visit and our everyday lives. Pray for my family and the White’s. We will be traveling Wednesday and be gone through Thursday. Pray that we’ll be safe.

Week 3

Opening up Spiritual Dialogue

In tonight’s class we talked about opening up spiritual dialogue both on a FAITH visit and in our day to day actives. Because sharing the gospel should be everyday right? There is only two times we should preach the Word Paul says in 2 Tim 4:2, in season and out of season.

One of the things that I got out of the lesson is to listen intently to the one you are visiting. Being of the male race, I don’t listen very well. Just ask my wife. It is important to do more then hear someone, but to listen and understand what they are saying. One of the groups that went out tonight had a good example of this. Not where they didn’t listen, but where a previous church didn’t.

Another great point that I got from the lesson is to be real. We should really care for people, especially the lost. If we ponder hell, how can we not have a true passion for the lost? We should every day think what hell is like and who is going there. Matthew 13:47-50 says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In Mark 9:47,48, where my class studies will be soon, it describes hell as a place where the worm will never die and the fire is not quenched. Who do we know that is not saved? Should we not warn people and tell them that they too can have eternal life?

Our Visit

My team visited a church member. We wanted to introduce ourselves and invite her to our class. It was a great visit. Because we care for the lost (see above), we asked what she understood it took for a person to go to heaven. From her answer we know she was saved. No need to share the gospel, but we did invite her to Sunday school and look forward to her joining our group.

After this visit we went a few houses down and visited her parents. We stopped by just to introduce ourselves, because I am terrible with names and faces and couldn’t place them. It was a great visit there too. We told them about another class that would be a great fit for them.

Prayer Request

Pray for Adam’s family. This is the young man that was killed in the automobile accident this Sunday. Pray for our country and our economy. Pray for our age group, it seems we have been hit very hard this year sickness, surgeries, work related issues. You name it and it seems it has happed to us this year.

Week 2

Testimony Time

It’s week 2 of FAITH. You may be wondering where week one went. Even though this is the second week it is the first time for us to go out visiting. The first week was an introduction and some testimony work. We are doing it a little different this go around. Only the learners, first timers, are required to go to class. All the rest come in just for visitations. Even though it is not my first go time, I can’t pass up the food. They are the only ones to get a meal….oh the teaching good too and you can always pick up something more each time through.

The last couple weeks we have been working on our Sunday school and evangelistic testimonies. If you are saved and go to a Sunday school class you will already have one, but it always good to put it on paper. This gets you thinking about it and helps you in how to share with others.

We also have a specific way we share them. On our Sunday school testimony, we list some true statements about our class. We then follow it up with a benefit we gained about that statement. For example here is mine; “I love my class and the people in it. We just formed a new class because we were growing so large, but we still feel like one big, close group with the connections in the other class. All of them are people around my age. We have the same life situations and just people that I can have fun with both inside and outside of class. They are there when you need them. Just recently we had a death in the family. Our class stepped in and was there for us emotionally and physically too. We had meals brought to us for over a week. That was just one thing we didn’t have to worry about.”

The evangelistic testimony is real similar. We break it down the three parts: pre-conversion experience, conversation statement, and benefits of conversion. The pre-conversion experience is a statement about before we were saved and about our life. Then we have the conversion statement which is just “Then I had a life-changing experience”. The last part, the benefits, describes how things are different since that change. The example of mine would be: “When I was just starting my family, it often worried me that if I died, what would happen to my family. Not only that that, but I feared death and what would happen to me. Then I had a life-changing experience. Since then when troubles arise I have peace. For example with the down turn in the economy and people losing their jobs, I still have confidence that God will take care of us and more importantly I no longer fear death.

We were also instructed to start memorizing the outline through “I”. To learn more about the outline see the post from last year:
“F” http://faithatvictory.blogspot.com/2008/03/week-4.html
“A” http://faithatvictory.blogspot.com/2008/03/week-5.html
“I” I don’t have a post for “I”, I must have been gone.

Our Visit

Our visit was with some members of our Sunday school class. It was a family that has been out due to medical issues. We just wanted to drop by and see how they were going and if we could help in any way. We had a good visit. I got to practice our gospel presentation, both to show the learners on the team and also to expose our class mates we were visiting to what we actually do in FAITH. We had a great visit and got to know them a little better. I may even have a new team member to fill the empty spot. One of the class members we were visiting said she has been thinking about joining FAITH and will pray about filling that spot that we have. We prayed with them before we left and got back to church about 30 minuets late, but it was worth it. Great visit!

Prayer Request

There has been a lot of sickness going around, pray that God will keep everyone well so we can enjoy the fellowship of all our class members. Inside and outside our class we have friends that are fighting long term illnesses. Pray that God will heal them. Pray for my new class that God will give me the wisdom and guidance to lead it in a way that will honor and glorify Him. Pray for baby Emma as she is recovering from RSV. Pray for our possible new FAITH member, that if this is the right time to join, God will give her the strength.