Dear Friends,
This week a married couple prayed with me according to the pattern of Luke 18:13 & Romans 10:9.
I shared the gospel with three Chinese people, a couple and another single mother, over lunch. They all have been attending our church’s English as a Second Language classes, so they have all been exposed to the gospel. They came to our home for lunch, to which we invited all. I grabbed two Chinese friends, a woman and a man (the man I led to the Lord 5 years ago, and then his wife and then his mother-in-law followed over the years), to help me with translation as needed. The three visitors with whom I was sharing said they could understand me sufficiently well. Nonetheless, I wanted to be sure, so I asked my friends to translate everything I said. I had a presentation with the Bible texts in Mandarin, so they read the scriptures in their language.
Of the five adults from China at the table, the three visitors, and the two translators, there were also eight young children ages 1-9. The children were doing the normal kid-type distractions over a meal, and there was much extraneous noise from many around us. So, it was difficult for me to hear or focus. At one point during the sharing, I thought this was such a train-wreck with all these difficulties and interruptions. But then it was as if the Holy Spirit reassured me that I was sharing the message God has designed for the salvation of souls; it will work despite the chaos. And it did. The couple was interested in praying with me at the end. The single woman was less so, but I will follow up with her again, Lord willing. The man who received the message is a PhD cancer researcher in the medical center. His wife stays home with their two children.
I am always amazed at this message we have been given to preach. Surely, this same gospel has been preached on bustling streets throughout the ages, in women’s gatherings filled with children, and on noisy thoroughfares. It is still able to accomplish its purpose. So, from the courts of kings to street cafes to daycare centers, this gospel never loses its power. One could even say that the gospel was designed for situations precisely as this.
There are numerous examples where the gospel was shared in busy places:
1. Acts 17:17 – Paul in the Athenian Marketplace
“So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present.”
2. Acts 14:8–10 – Lystra, Public Healing and Proclamation
“At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet... Paul looked at him intently and saw that he had faith to be made well...”
3. Acts 16:13 – Philippi by the Riverside
“And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer...”
4. Acts 3:1–11 – Peter and John at the Temple Gate
“A man who had been lame... was being carried along... at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful...”
5. Acts 2:5–41 – Pentecost in Jerusalem
“Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven...”
6. Matthew 9:35 – In Cities, Villages, and Marketplaces
“Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom...”
7. Matthew 23:1 – Teaching the Crowds and His Disciples
“Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples…”
8. Luke 14:21 – The Parable of the Banquet
“Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.”
God bless,
Jim Tour
