Recently I asked you to join me in praying for an unbelieving student who has been in our community for a couple of years. This student’s involvement with our church has gone from initially attending only social functions, to then checking out our Story of God gatherings, to now regularly attending our Sunday Worship Gatherings.
A few Sundays ago I preached on Communion from 1 Corinthians 11. Afterward, I led our group in observing the Lord’s Supper, but not until offering the chance to verbalize our need for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. It was at this point that the student shared honestly with our group that, in addition to checking out Christianity, she has also been exploring Wicca, and that she doesn’t know what to believe. As she shared with our group, you could see the sadness and despair in her eyes. It was a true picture of someone who is “lost”. I thanked her for sharing, and we spent the next few minutes praying for God to reveal the truth about His Son to her.
Shortly afterward, I sensed the Spirit leading me to talk further about where she is in this spiritual journey. I asked her to explain what she understood it meant for someone to become a Christian. Her answer involved moralistic living, and there was no mention of Jesus. Knowing her background in science, I shared with her that the good works of a Christian are the “effects” of a changed heart, but the good news of Jesus is very much the “cause” of those effects. She asked if Christians believe that Jesus is the only “cause”. I said, “absolutely!” and explained to her that Jesus Himself said that He is the only way, truth, and life. Friends, I know that this student has heard the gospel proclaimed to her many times, and our conversation highlighted the fact that she is spiritually blind. I ended our conversation asking if she has ever, in her journey of exploration, prayed for God to reveal to His truth to her about Himself. She admitted that she hadn’t prayed to God in over two years. I invited her to pray, and she did. Since our conversation, Britney asked her if she would like to join us for dinner on Thursday nights where we will continue processing with her questions she has and sharing more truths about God from His Word. She agreed with much excitement.
Please continue to pray for this student. Pray for her eyes to be opened, and pray that the Spirit grants Britney and me wisdom.
This article, written by Travis Hamm, was originally published in the April 2016 edition of our Missions & Ministry Newsletter.
