Hope in the Unstoppable Gospel

Last Sunday, we began our Vision Series at St John's, "the hope of the risen Christ”. We looked at the hope we have in the empty tomb of Jesus and all that it means for us.

This week, we’ll think about how God uses us and what we tell others about that empty tomb. We’ll spend some time looking at Peter’s famous speech on the very first Pentecost, recorded for us in Acts 2.

Sometimes it’s good for us to be reminded just how effective the gospel is when God takes the words we speak and uses them to bring hope to others. We had a powerful reminder of that just a week ago when a number of St John’s members decided to use the annual Parramatta Lanes festival as an opportunity to invite people to visit the cathedral and speak a little about Jesus.

We had many people come inside our church building over the 4 days of Parramatta Lanes. Here’s a few of the things that our church members said about the conversations that they were able to have:

“We talked about how we can ask God to give us faith and help us believe.”

"There’s was a lot of openness in conversation"

There were conversations with Buddhists about prayer, Roman Catholics about where real hope comes from and with Hindus about how Jesus’ church is made up of people from all around the world. Our people told of opportunities to tell some of the parables that Jesus told so that visitors could understand the gospel of grace.

One church member was so encouraged that the answer to their simple question “can I pray for you?” was an emphatic “yes please!”

Sometimes we can be tempted to think that people don’t want to hear about Jesus and they certainly don’t want to hear from us. But it’s the exact opposite! There are so many people around us who are thirsty for spiritual conversations and more than willing to have those chats. But even more importantly, we have a God who uses us to tell others the gospel of hope in the risen Christ! It’s an unstoppable gospel because God himself is unstoppable!

Who can you tell about the hope you have in the risen Christ? What might God do with the unstoppable gospel that you share?

David Ould
Senior Associate Minister

Pray for Gospel Conversations in Our City

Give thanks for the hope of the risen Christ and for the many gospel conversations that took place during the Parramatta Lanes festival. Ask God for continued opportunities for St John’s members to speak about Jesus with boldness and clarity. Ask God to use their words to bring many to find lasting hope in the unstoppable gospel of the risen Christ.