The last couple of months have been filled with opportunities to continue to plant and water gospel seeds in our community. Often, the winters in New England tend to slow progress and outreach. However, we have been as busy as ever working to share the gospel in the city of Lawrence and believe that the Lord is going to give the increase.
Recently, I was speaking with Lindsey about the number of people who have not yet trusted Christ as Savior but were regularly attending services. We have recently started evangelistic Bible studies with 6 different people. We are praying that these 6 will trust Christ soon. Some are very close.
With the influence of Pentecostalism in our area, we have met many who have struggled with trusting Christ to keep them saved. Often their story involves some idea that they have to work or perform well enough to be saved. They recognize they are sinners and that Jesus has died to save them from their sins, but are not ready to depend on His finished work as sufficient for salvation. Many are very dependent on an experience rather than the gospel as presented in Scripture.
One of our frustrations is something I have termed “YouTube theology”. We have found many who turn to popular, social media personalities during the week as opposed to going to Scriptures for answers. At times it can feel like we are in a constant debate with social media influencers and our influence throughout the week is more limited than the influence of Facebook and YouTube.
Please pray for wisdom as we work to point people to the clear teachings of Scripture. We can see evidence that the Lord is working, but progress can feel slow at times.
We are excited about some of the growth we have seen in our church. Recently, Dee became our 16th church member. Dee was saved over a year ago. She was invited to church by her grandson, James, and after about 8 months of answering questions she brought from her Catholic background, Dee trusted Christ! Abi, a faithful lady in our church, has been meeting with Dee weekly for discipleship. Dee always has the toughest questions for me in Sunday School and after services. She is a faithful witness in her retirement community, and we are so glad to have her as part of our church family.
This past Sunday was an exciting day for our church. We ordained our first deacons — Brad and Ryan. We had a special service on Sunday in which I focused on preaching the gospel. We had several visitors attend the service. Brad’s parents, Steve and Corrine, came to the service. They have become personal friends. You may remember from my last letter that I had the privilege of preaching the gospel at the graveside service of my friend, Hellen. Corrine is Hellen’s daughter. I was reminded of that service as I preached from the story of Stephen about the confidence that we can have in Christ even in the face of death. Hellen had that kind of confidence in Christ. Please pray for Corrine and her family that the Lord would continue to comfort them and that they would have the same confidence in Christ that they witnessed in Hellen.
Jonas is another friend of mine who attended the service. Jonas is a local historian and has helped me to discover some of the history of our church building. The week prior, I told Jonas that this service would be a historic service for our church and encouraged him to attend. It was a pleasure to have him join us, and I hope he will plan to join again soon.
Brad and Ryan have been such a blessing to our church and to me personally. Each of them is involved in holding one-on-one discipleship Bible studies each week. Ryan translates in Sunday School and Sunday morning services. Brad helps with coordinating our Scripture reading each Sunday and gives out candy to each of the kids who took notes during our services, talking with each one about what they have learned and how it has impacted them. Both of these guys are handy and are regularly doing projects around the church, even bailing me out when I have gotten in over my head with a project around the house or on the car. I am thankful for the opportunity to work alongside them as servant-leaders in our church.
Please pray for one of our neighbors. Lee has lived on our street since she was a little girl. Lee never married, and her parents and siblings have passed some time ago. We have developed a friendship with Lee and help her out around the house and with transportation to doctor’s appointments and running errands. Please pray for opportunities to continue to share the gospel with Lee. She recently mentioned to Lindsey that she might be interested in attending our meal and Bible study on Sunday nights. Please pray that she would do so soon. This would give us a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel with her in a focused and detailed way.
We could not do what we are doing without your faithfulness to pray for us and support our ministry. Thank you! Our prayer is that the Lord would be glorified in our efforts here in Lawrence and that He would bring forth fruit that would abound to your account.
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