SOS Ministry Newsletter - March 2009

Lessons on Preaching

For nine months (taking a break in September for the SOS outreach report), I have been going through Acts, looking at examples of New Testament preaching. My goal was to try to look at the Bible without any preconceived ideas. I learned a lot from this study, and I hope you did too.

The first thing that stands out is the extent to which New Testament preachers relied on Messianic prophesies from the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Jesus. In most cases, these messages were directed to a Jewish audience. But Paul also referred to Messianic prophesies when speaking with Agrippa, an Edomite familiar with Jewish matters, and Felix, a Roman less familiar with them. He told them, “I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen” Acts 26.

Another common theme was Christ’s suffering and resurrection. Peter, Stephen and Paul all spoke about it. Mentioning the resurrection of Jesus would be particularly powerful before a Jewish audience. It was well known that Jesus’ body was missing, and there was no good alternative explanation for what happened. Also, the Pharisees and Sadducees argued about whether the dead are resurrected. The statement that Jesus was resurrected would seem strange to the Gentile audience in Athens, but Paul nonetheless told them about it.

Peter, Stephen, and later Paul confronted their audience with specific sins. They all told the Jews that they had crucified the Messiah. Paul spoke with Gentiles about the sin of idolatry. Many of the preaching situations were in response to a miracle—tongues at Pentecost, healing a lame man in Jerusalem and healing a crippled man at Lystra. Paul survived a shipwreck and being bitten by a poisonous snake. He healed people at Melita.

We are not given a lot of information about how to witness to a Gentile audience. The main example is Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill in Athens (Acts 17). Paul used an inscription from a Greek temple and quotes from two Greek poets to relate to his audience. His message was quite simple. He started with the concept that one God made all things, and that He does not dwell in temples. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commands all men every where to repent. Because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained, whereof he has given assurance to all men, in that he raised him from the dead.” Paul speaks of God’s judgment, the need for repentance, and the resurrection of Jesus as evidence that He is the One we must trust for salvation. In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabus told the Gentile crowd at Lystra not to worship them as gods, but that there was one true God who made all things, and left a witness in doing good, and bringing rain. Again, the message was very simple.

Later we have Paul’s witness before Felix and Festus, both Roman governors somewhat acquainted with Jewish law. Paul spoke with Felix about “righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.” This caused the corrupt ruler to be afraid, but he didn’t repent. When Paul spoke with Festus about Christ’s resurrection, he thought he was crazy: “much learning has made you mad.” Paul also gave his testimony several times, how he had opposed the gospel and persecuted Christians before Jesus appeared to him.

Finally, we have Paul’s witness to the workers on the ship that wrecked and the natives on Melita. He used supernatural gifts—the word of knowledge and gift of healing—to persuade them that the God he worships is the true God. However, we don’t know what he said to these people.

The Gentile audiences we preach to today have more Biblical knowledge than did the people of Athens or Lystra. Today, some people know the Bible well, while others know very little about it. Also, many people are confused by false information about Christianity.

All the New Testament preachers were well aware of their audience, what they knew about the Bible, and the sins they needed to be confronted with (killing the Messiah, lack of self-control, idolatry), and tailored their message to the people they were talking to. They tried to relate to their audience, often using things they were familiar with. They spoke in a dignified manner about sin and repentance. There was no hint of pride or self-righteousness in their preaching. At the same time, they were not ashamed of the gospel. They boldly preached God’s word, even when they risked death and imprisonment.

On the Streets

On January 10 and 17, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Both days were warm and sunny, bringing thousands of people into this area. Paul and Noreen Coca ministered with us on January 10. Chuck Girard joined the Coca’s on January 17. Although he lives in Nashville, Chuck has been in the San Francisco area ministering in churches. It was great having him join us on the streets. We had several good witnessing conversations each day. Eric ministered to Paul, a backslidden Christian from Redding. Late in the afternoon on January 17, a youth group from True Vine Church in Tracy joined our outreach. They each were holding hand-made signs which testified to their faith in Christ.

We witnessed in Berkeley on January 24. The weather was cloudy and cold, but it did not rain and many people were on the street. Chuck Girard and Paul Coca played music, and several of us preached that afternoon. When I preached, I mentioned that I had been an “existentialist” in college. Afterwards, I spoke with Noah, a young Jew from Berkeley. He told me that he was an “existential nihilist” – meaning that he believes life is meaningless. He told me he had struggled with depression, which didn’t surprise me considering his beliefs. I shared my testimony with him. I also shared with him about how Jesus fulfilled many Old Testament prophesies. After 30 minutes, he told me he was in the eighth grade! Eric and I thought he was about 20 years old. Please pray for Noah.

Click on Photos to Enlarge

Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531-5325 or 926-3299 (new cell phone) to confirm outreaches or for more information.
Friday March 6, 20, 27 Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. 7:30 - 10 PM
Sat. March 7, 21, 28 Evangelism Outreach. Berkeley (Telegraph and Haste St.) or San Francisco (Jefferson St. between Powell & Mason) Call Saturday morning for outreach location.

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. This year we will be planning our 30th annual SOS-San Francisco outreach. This outreach will be a reunion of many Christians who have participated in outreaches over the past 30 years, as well as Christians who have never been to SOS. Please pray for us as we plan this outreach. I hope to have the SOS dates in next month’s newsletter. Call me if you need to know them sooner.

We still need to make some new banners and signs for the ministry. They will cost about $500. Our computer broke last month and we purchased a new one. Thank you, Bill Foisy, for helping us set it up.

We still have two openings in our Oakland ministry house. Please pray that God will bring the right people for our house. Please continue to pray that the Berkeley City Council will not take away our freedom to minister in that city. Also, please pray for those we have witnessed to recently, and those who have written us in response to tracts, including Abigail (Moscow, ID), Tom (Seattle), Christina (San Martin, CA), Zhaoyu (Berkeley), Michael (SF), Nakia (San Quentin prison), and Kevin (Vacaville prison).

Our CD of the Month is Nehemiah and Evangelism by Scott Crawford. I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum