Nov 09 Archdeacon Kevin, Let's get the Good News out

I shall never forget the moment when Annette told me that she had made a commitment of faith in Christ. It was in the crush of people streaming out of church at the end of a service of carols by candlelight. I was simultaneously attempting to shake people’s hands, give sweets to the children and have the usual snatched pastoral conversations at the church door that will be all too familiar to most clergy

And in the middle of the rush and fun and busyness of a packed church porch Annette told me that during the service she had committed her life to Christ. The readings, the music, the preaching had all combined to speak to her and bring her to a moment of decision. For the next few minutes she had my undivided attention, while the queue waiting to leave church banked up behind her!

I have had many such conversations over the years and each one of them remains firmly stamped in my memory. Each is a reminder to me that God is at work in the routines of our regular worship and church life drawing people to Himself. Our task can be to simply watch what He is doing, to pray for it, to welcome it and to try not to get in the way of what is fundamentally His story in people’s lives. As we move into the busy routines of the next two months lets be alert to what God will be doing beneath the surface of people’s lives, drawing them into the fire of His love.

At the same time let’s be alert to our responsibilities to make the gospel of Jesus known. Indeed, let’s be sure not to fall into a kind of passivity that says this is God’s work so we can leave it all to Him! Astonishingly He invites us to be co-workers with Him. He entrusts us with a message to share. And He sends us out with the express commission to make disciples. Wonderfully, God has chosen to make his appeal though us.

In my own experience this means not only learning to take opportunities to witness to my faith in my daily life, but also ensuring that local churches have regular occasions through the year when people can come with their questions and talk to us about what we believe. For every one Annette who has come quickly to faith through the normal worship of the church, I have known twenty Mikes and Julies and Peters who have come to faith through a gradual process of exploration and discovery, often before ever stepping through the door of Sunday worship.

One way we can meet enquirers and share our faith with them is to hold an Alpha Course, or an equivalent process evangelism course. One researcher into how churches grow came to this conclusion “churches that invest time and effort on a long term basis in the renewal and articulation of the faith of church members, and in the sharing of that faith with enquirers to help them into discipleship, are more likely to grow than those that do not”. He goes on to encourage churches of whatever size and in whatever location to plan process evangelism courses into their regular programmes; to stick with them for the long haul; and to see this as part of an ongoing process of building people as disciples of Christ.

God will be sure to do His work in human hearts and lives over these coming months, drawing people to Himself. Let’s be sure that we play our part as co-workers with Him, however stumbling our efforts may be. As Paul puts it in Romans 10 “how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?”. Let’s get the good news out!

Kevin Roberts