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SWAT TEAM Witnessing
Easter Time
When we arrived, Luke and J.J. were already there. They had been hanging out at the square and had already witnessed to an intoxicated gentleman.
After arriving, J.J. and I walked up to two teenagers, Ricky and Mike, who were sitting next to the water fountain. I gave them the Easter tract and candy. I asked if they had a Christian background. Ricky had been to church in the past, and Mike said yes. I asked if they considered themselves to be a good person. Ricky said yes, Mike said no. I asked if they would like to take the “Good Person Test” to find out for sure. They said yes.
They admitted to being a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer-at-heart, that they would be guilty of breaking God’s Law on the Day of Judgment, and if they died right now they would go to hell. They said it did concern them. I explained that Jesus said, “except a man be born-again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. Then we talked about what needs to be done to be born-again. Repent (not only be sorry and confess your sins to God, but turn from them) and Believe (trust) in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Luke had gone over and was talking to another man in the square and began witnessing to him. Luke ended up getting his telephone number. The man said he would go to church with him on Easter Sunday.
We split up into groups. J.J., Leann, Nick and Dillon went one direction and Luke, Alexis and I walked towards the Springfield bus station. I am still waiting for an answer from the City of Springfield regarding their order to not go onto their property to pass out gospel tracts, witness to people, etc. I’ve been notified that they forwarded my e-mail to their legal department to review and respond. I will keep you informed. If this is public property, it is legal to pass out tracts, etc. on bus station property.
Anyway, we walked to the edge of the bus station property and asked a couple people if they wanted some Easter candy. A gentleman came over from the bus station and got the candy and the Easter tract for him and his wife. He said, “thank you”.
While walking around, we saw a Christian gentleman and his family (all adult) that we met last week…Mike, Connie, Kristina and Natalie, I believe their names are. They have been coming out on Friday nights to the downtown area to witness for a few years.
Leann
said their group walked up to security guards and began talking to
them. One of them saw the million dollar bill gospel tract and said that
he doesn’t have that one, but he did get the big $100 bill tract
from a guy the other night that was from a group out of Branson (our
group). Leann gave them the million dollar bills this time.
Luke
passed out an Easter tract to a really tall man who was intoxicated. The
man looked at it, asked what church we attended, and we said we all go
to different churches. He then patted Luke on the shoulder and told him,
“I’ll be there tomorrow”. Luke didn’t even tell him what church he
attended. He said, “we all have to have something to believe in”, and
handed the tract back to Luke. We decided not to continue the
conversation.
Open-air preaching: We decided that instead of
standing on the water fountain ledge to speak, we would go over to the
raised platform in the square. The water fountain was going, making it
kind of noisy.
One of our heckers, Josh (a self-declared pagan),
was out tonight. I asked him, “Josh, are you going to be heckling me
tonight?” He said, “No, you guys are okay.” He mentioned how that last
week another street preacher was out and he did heckle him, however.
We’ve been talking a lot with Josh. We are praying for him.
I had
the Minivox PB-25 portable PA system. I turned it on and started
talking. We were giving away chocolate Easter rabbits and large plastic
Easter eggs filled with chocolate as the prizes to the trivia questions
we were asking. We drew some people over to listen. Within earshot of
the speaker, there were about 70 people total that was able to hear.
There was a guy in the middle of the open-air that said, “hey, you need
to turn that off, there is the police over there, and you’ll get into
trouble. They told a guy earlier to turn their loudspeaker off”. First, I
have been out here for about 4 weeks now using the speaker, and the
police have never said anything to me about it being illegal. Second,
another police car drove right by last night where we were speaking and
said nothing. I believe this guy might have been trying to get me to
turn off the speaker so they didn’t have to listen. I heard others back
there saying something about it before he said that to me.
Here is the outline I used for the open-air, as well as the trivia questions I asked:
Origins of Easter-How it relates to Christianity
What religion is the pope? Catholic
The bunny as an Easter symbol was introduced to American folklore by which country? Germany
Origin of the Easter Rabbit/Bunny
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention.
The pagan goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.
The rabbit was the most fertile animals known, and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season.
The bunny as an Easter symbol was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.
The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s.
The Easter bunny was not widely celebrated in America until after the Civil War.
What did Western Union deliver in the old days? Telegrams
What’s another name for a football? Pigskin
Long before its association with Easter, the Easter Egg was a symbol of what? Rebirth
Orgin of the Easter Egg
Exchanging Easter eggs with one another is a custom that goes back thousands of years.
Long before its association with Easter, the egg was a symbol of rebirth. Many ancient cultures used the egg to symbolize both rebirth and the universe.
Ancient peoples such as the Persians, the Egyptians, the Chinese, and the Romans all used the egg in their springtime celebrations.
Easter falls on what day every year? Sunday
The Date of Easter
Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 20th. Easter Sunday in the West can fall on any date from March 23rd to April 26th
How many curves are there in the standard paper clip? 3
How Did Christianity Become Part of the Easter Celebrations?
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of Spring by worshipping their goddess, Eastre.
Second-Century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes and were able to convert them to Christianity.
However, it would have been suicide for the early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed.
So, to save lives, the missionaries decided to spread their Christian message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner.
It so happened, that the pagan festival occurred the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ.
It made sense to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over.
The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.
Later, the exchanging of colored eggs became incorporated in the memorial celebration of Jesus' resurrection.
These Easter eggs were colored and given as tokens to remind Christians of the tomb and Jesus' triumphant victory over death.
What is today called in regards to Easter? Good Friday
Good Friday is a reminder of Jesus’ death on the cross.
The origin of the word “good” has been lost. Some claim that it is a corruption of “God” and that the early Christians called this day “God’s Friday”.
In parts of Europe, the day is not called “Good,” but “Great” or “Holy” Friday.
Have you ever heard that the gospel (the reason Jesus died and was raised again), is Good News? Have you ever wondered why it was good news? I’ll show you.
To illustrate why Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead, I will need a volunteer. You will get $5.00 for volunteering. John volunteered.
We asked him if he kept the Ten Commandments. He admitted to be a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer-at-heart. That he would be guilty before God and on his way to hell. It did concern him.
We then went through how to be saved…born-again. Jesus dying on the cross and raising from the dead is “good news” indeed to someone that is on their way to hell. We broke God’s Law and Jesus paid our fine. We need to repent (ask for forgiveness and turn from sin) and believe (trust) in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I gave John the $5.00 and thanked him, as well as the folks listening.
Just like John took the $5.00 I offered him, we must take hold of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We can’t just “believe” in Jesus. The Bible says that “even the demons believe, and tremble”. We must repent and believe, turn our lives over to Christ and live for Him. We must do as the Bible says, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” and “pick up your cross daily and follow Me”. God will give you a clean heart and the power to live for Him.
Lord, thank you for bringing people into our paths tonight to speak to. Thank you for convicting their hearts and continuing to do so. We do this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
In Christ,
Brad St. Clair
