All articles in category Evangelistic

By John McKay

December 2016

Evangelistic

Jesus never forsakes us

‘I believe that when we accept the claims of Jesus on our lives he never forsakes us, even when we stray’. This has proved to be the Christian experience of church member, John McKay, as he explains: I was converted, baptised and received into membership of a Baptist church 50 years ago. ‘Four years after joining the church, I felt that God was calling me into some form of full-time Christian service, so I left Shetland and trained as a youth and community worker at a Glasgow college. I worked in this capacity in an Anglican and then a Methodist church for a number of...

By Ken Hill

December 2016

Evangelistic

The joy of restoration

I was brought up in a broken home with little Christian influence. Aged 19, I was invited to a Christian convention in Keswick. After a week of learning how spiritually dead I was and seeing first-hand Christian love expressed towards me and others, I began to read the New Testament that I had been given. After a few weeks, and following a prayer for clarity, I read from Romans 1 and was particularly moved by verse 6 — I came to realise that I was also ‘among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ’. I committed my life to him and became involved...

By Roger Ellsworth

December 2016

Evangelistic

The twelve days of Christmas

The baby lying in Bethlehem’s manger on that first Christmas so long ago was none other than the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We must say this because the angel Gabriel said it to Mary in no uncertain terms (Luke 1:31-33). The wise men, who journeyed far to find Jesus, made it clear that they were searching for the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2). Did they have a complete and accurate understanding of Jesus’ kingship? Probably not. But the Holy Spirit of God had given them enough illumination to know that Jesus was born, not only to be a king, but...

By Roger Carswell

September 2016

Evangelistic

Ben-Hur: the making of the story

I have seen Charlton Heston in the 1959 film Ben-Hur more times than I care to remember, and I loved viewing it. I have never been bothered by the faux pas of the twentieth century images in the background of the chariot race, but have been moved by this simple tale of the injustice of human beings and the grace of God. 2016 sees Jack Huston playing the part of Judah Ben-Hur in the latest re-make of this great novel. It is far removed from the 1907 or 1925 silent films with the same name. So what is the story behind Ben-Hur — the tale...

By Peter Jeffery

June 2016

Evangelistic

A hole-in-one!

It’s amazing how the game of golf can take over some men. They start playing for a little exercise and before long are addicts. They can’t get enough of the little white ball! I was never like that, but I did like to play this amazing game. Mind you, I was never very good and my game varied between poor and pathetic. I remember once playing in Coventry and hooking three successive balls way off to the left, and into a river! What with the price of golf balls, that was an expensive round. I lined up to drive my fourth ball rather anxiously, but...

By Barry Loeber

January 2016

Evangelistic

The great question, and the equally great answer

Today’s society seems filled with a vast number of unhappy and unfulfilled men, women and young people. There seems to be such gloom and doom on the faces of so many. This is not just some passing judgement, but, I believe, a startling fact. As someone who works on the front end of a well known supermarket, I see it on a daily basis. And, no, I don’t believe it’s because of ‘another’ shopping trip and less money in the bank. I think it has more to do with the fact that so many are vainly searching for an elusive ‘ultimate happiness’, whether they think...

By William Wade

January 2016

Evangelistic

The gift of ‘now’

I recently attended a service in a local church which had, in times past, been a regular preaching house for the famous Charles Haddon Spurgeon. It was attended by only a handful of people and I could not help wondering what the mighty Spurgeon would have felt, considering that in his day it would have been packed to the rafters. Would he have felt discouraged, sad, or even angry, that in years to come the witness he left behind would fizzle out into what it has now become? Golden eras Church history tells of many eras in Christianity which were, by all accounts, golden: the...

By Martin Wells

January 2016

Evangelistic

The privileges of belonging

When a forgiven sinner enters God’s house, he is welcomed through the front door — and he doesn’t stay at the entrance! He’s invited inside to enjoy all the privileges of family membership. Here are a few of the great things in store for a believer. His life in the world from now on is sharedwith God: God is with him. He is allowed to speak to God in prayer and hear God speaking to him through his Word, the Bible. Fellowship The Bible calls this ‘fellowship’; ‘truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ’ (1 John 1:3). All our...

By Gearoid Marley

December 2015

Evangelistic

From Catholicism to Christ

How can I be right with the one, true and holy God? Have you ever pondered that question? The question haunted me ever since I was a boy. I only discovered the answer when I was 23 years old. Do you know this all-holy, eternal God personally: the one who created you and continues to give life to all? Whether you are religious or have no religion, this story has relevance to you, for all of us will stand before God one day. To be right with God, our great need is to be born again (John 3:3) and be converted, by grace through faith...

By Evangeline Collard

December 2015

Evangelistic

From fear to faith

I have been very blessed in that God has put me in a Christian home — not just my immediate family, but much of my wider family as well. As I grew up I was taken to church, and mum and dad often did Bible times with us. When I was about ten years old, I started wanting to do my own Bible times as my older siblings did and gradually got in the habit of doing so. However, my salvation could only take place through God’s work in my own individual life, leading to my own individual faith in him. It was when I...

By Josiane Collard

December 2015

Evangelistic

‘I started to read my Bible again’

It wasn’t until I was studying for my A-levels that the faith I’d had as a young child was really tested, and I started to question what I had believed for so long. I took Religious Studies in philosophy and ethics. Faced with so many new ideas and theories about the world and its existence and life and death, I questioned what I had been brought up believing. Until this point, I had believed what my parents had taught me from the Bible, without question or doubt. I started wondering how I could know that Christianity was the truth when there were so many other...

By Martin Wells

December 2015

Evangelistic

A wonderful name

Names are so important! Parents agonise over what to call their newborn infant. Should he or she carry on the family tradition for a name; or bear the name of a loved relative or friend; or reflect the parents’ hopes and aspirations? When Jesus was born, 2000 years ago, all these considerations were set aside. His name ‘Jesus’, given by God through his angel, was chosen with the one aim of highlighting his unique work of saving his people from their sins. But Jesus has another name — Immanuel. This Christmas, let’s consider carefully this wonderful name and its meaning. Mystery First of all, think...