Billy Graham Crusades have been held in 85 countries on six continents. Mr. Graham’s largest Crusade in the world was in Seoul, South Korea, with an estimated 1.1 million people in attendance on June 3, 1973. (From BillyGraham.org)
What brings a tear of joy to your eye?
What brings a tear of joy to my eyes? Seeing people accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
I have watched countless crusade events online where people have come forward to accept Jesus. I have also been to a few. Every time I end up crying my eyes out with joy. It is the evangelist in me.
Knowing people have changed their eternal destination from hell to heaven impacts me greatly. It is a large part of why you and I are here on earth – to bring people to Jesus.
As I type I am reminded of Luke 15:10, “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
This verse reminds me that I am not the only one crying tears of joy. All of heaven celebrates with joy when people come to Jesus too!
I just watched this video about the underground church in China. I love how they just have small home churches in their buildings and focus on sharing with their neighbours. A great strategy…
This morning when I was doing my devotions the words, “Imagine if Jesus came to our town” popped into my mind.
Imagine if Jesus came to our small town. Wow that would be awesome! But then I started to think about the things He would do?
As my mind wandered I imagined Jesus starting His day on the Peak. It is a solitary place overlooking town where He could pray to His Father.
When He came down where would He go? I suspect to where the people were. My first thought was the main street where all of the shops are. I could see Him interacting with people. Preaching, teaching and healing like He did in the Bible.
Then I could see Him crossing over the railway line and going to Hospital and the Nursing Home. Praying for and encouraging people who were sick. Some would be miraculously healed and many would be set free.
After that I could see Him going to the western end of main Street where the bakery is found. I could see Him encouraging the people in the street and then sitting across from the bakery waiting for the lunchtime crowd.
As people came and went I could imagine Him talking about the Bread of Life and having spiritual food that never runs out. People would forget their physical hunger and crave the spiritual food He would give.
From there I could see Jesus going to the primary school and shooting hoops and kicking the footy with the kids. When He was tired I could see Him sitting with all of the pre-school kids on His lap and even more gathered around. He would be sharing the Parables.
As day turned to night I could see Him looking for a place to sleep. I could imagine that rather than staying in the best hotel in town, I could see Him curled up in a doorway with one of the homeless people who sleep rough every night.
The next day He would wake and do it all again in… or move on to some other town that His Father in heaven showed Him.
If Jesus came to town… I suspect it would be about people. It would be about blessing, encouraging, healing, loving and saving people – all people. It would be about showing God’s love and God’s Kingdom to everyone.
If you are a new Christian you have made a great decision to follow Jesus! To get you started I have provided some suggestions for you to help you grow on your new journey. Below you will find some things that really helped me nearly 35 years ago when I decided to follow Jesus.
Read the Bible
The Bible will help you to learn more about God and gives you practical advice about how we should live. A good place to start is the Gospel of Luke that is found in the New Testament. This book will give you information on the life of Jesus Christ and you will be able to read about His miracles and teachings to His followers. After this you can move on to the Book of Acts. This talks about the early church and how they got started. We also have a number of two week reading plans on our Bible Readings page. If you don’t have access to a Bible, you can find an online one here at www.biblegateway.com
Start to pray
Prayer is simply communicating with God. It is a part of building our relationship with Him. Just remember to keep it simple. The Bible tells us to give thanks to God for what He has done when pray and also to ask for the things we need for ourselves and others. Before long you will see the difference prayer makes in your life and in the lives of those around you. You can check out our prayer category on our blog for some tips.
Meet with other Christians
God wants us to meet with other Christians and be a part of a caring faith community. We see in the Bible that He wants us to have a support network and a place where we can learn more about Him. We don’t recommend any church in particular, but encourage you to try a local one near you in your community. If you are in Western Australia you might like to look for a local Church of Christ, Baptist Church or an Australian Christian Church.
Do a discipleship course
Doing a discipleship course will help you to set a solid foundation for your new life in Christ. We have a free booklet you can download on our discipleship page. The booklet has 10 short studies on the Bible, prayer, church, serving God, sharing your faith and being assured of your salvation. It includes a number of Scriptures on each topic, some reflection questions, a simple prayer and some Bible memory verses.
Tell others about your new faith
Sharing your faith can be fun and rewarding. You might like to start by telling people close to you that you have accepted Jesus into your life. Telling others about your faith and decision to follow Jesus can will allow them to follow Him too. If you need some tips to help you share your faith you can visit a sermon I preached on this topic.
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