Many of you have been praying for our annual Open House at Lancaster Baptist Church. Today was amazing, so I thought a quick report was in order. Here are the highlights:
1. The church family knocked on approximately 80,000 doors. What a delight it was to see church members going out soulwinning all week at various times. There was a great team spirit! God has always blessed the fact that we don’t set “attendance goals,” but we do set “work goals.”
2. Many were saved during the week. Before Sunday ever arrived, we were able to share the Gospel with many in the community and see them come to Christ. Pictured above is Karl and his daughters. We had lunch together at Open House, and we are praying for their continued spiritual growth!
3. We prayed all week. During several church prayer times and then much at other times, we asked God to bless the efforts and the preaching of the Gospel.
4. Spiritual battle is always a part of the process. There were many ways we sensed Satan fighting the outreach, and we asked God for a hedge of protection.
5. Pastor Chappell preached a tremendous Gospel message and broke all the rules. Staying in his series on prophecy, he preached this week on “The False Church or the True Saviour.” His message to a room of first-time guests was from Revelation 17—the coming one-world church! While the seeker-sensitive philosophies of our day might avoid a passage like this, Pastor Chappell stood and warned the lost not to buy into the “all roads lead to the same place” philosophy of our day. He contrasted the coming false church with the one way of salvation—Jesus Christ. It was a fantastic message that proved two things—hard truth can be preached with compassion, and God always blesses truth! (This is worthy of its own post… coming soon.)
6. The aisles were flooded with people coming for salvation. For the invitation we had to sing seven verses of Just As I Am as people were literally lined up down the aisle, waiting for a counselor! It was just awesome to see. The preached Gospel and public invitations still work—even when the message is from Revelation 17!
7. The courtyard was filled with people being led to Christ. As I walked through the hallway, it was overwhelming to see all the people in the back hall and in the courtyard being led to Christ. For me, the great highlight was seeing Dana and Lance both dealing with people who came forward.
8. Hundreds of first-time guests came and were responsive. As we sat at lunch with our guests (even the ones yet unsaved), they were fascinated by the message and the accuracy of Bible prophecy. We look forward to seeing others saved during the follow up in the coming weeks.
9. Souls were saved at lunch. As our guests left, Dana and I enjoyed meeting others at the lunch. As I looked around the room, I noticed Pastor Chappell sitting at a table with one man and an open Bible. He was leading him to Christ at the luncheon. These two pictures were a blessing!
10. It’s a joy to serve the Lord with my family. One of the greatest blessings of this day, for me, was seeing my children get involved with Mom and Dad and their church! All week we enjoyed serving God together—soulwinning, praying, hosting, counseling, serving lunch, giving people rides to church—it was just fun. I’m thankful to see my children developing sincere hearts for the Lord and others.
Much more could be said! To God’s glory, it was a blessed day. Pray for the continued follow up and discipleship of new believers.
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2 Comments
Thanks for sharing the good news! Always blessed to hear of great things being accomplished for our Savior. The church still works! We had over a hundred saved last week and a great crowd this week. What a joy to serve the Savior. Enjoyed your ten reasons and agree with each one of them. Thank you again for the great job you are doing for our Savior.
Awesome pictures of Pastor Chappell leading that man to the Lord!