Our preacher last Sunday, Rev. Helen Kirk, began by saying that we come to church with questions, a desire to learn about Jesus. She praised God in prayer, thanking him for his love and guidance. Neil read to us from John 1: John the Baptist testifies about Jesus and leads the first disciples to him.
Evangelism is scary. We are often reluctant to fulfil this obligation of Methodist membership. We can learn from John the Baptist who used familiar language to ease understanding. He shared his personal experience of how knowing Jesus led him to prepare people for his coming. Do we say when our actions are prompted by Jesus’ teaching? John points to Jesus. All he does is for Jesus, not himself. When he directs the disciples to follow Jesus they trust him and follow his advice. Trust and integrity as so important. Sharing faith is about personal relationship. As individuals and as a church we must be trustworthy. Jesus gives the disciples space to explore. Asking questions leads to stronger faith. We must invite discussion and exploration and share our experiences. We may get things wrong but we must offer the invitation to come and see.
Our service concluded with a hymn, We have a gospel to proclaim, and we shared the Grace.