By Natalie Burns

(Natalie Burns is on staff at McLean Bible Church and is participating in the Future Leaders Program. Natalie works for Cross Cultural Ministries)

Sit back and get ready for this story-we serve a MIGHTY God.

So Todd Phillips, the teaching pastor of Frontline, is doing a three week series on the person and work of Christ and eternal security. In preparation for that, we asked many people about who they believed Jesus Christ to be (see the previous post) and were heartbroken by the majority of people who are so lost. The video played last week at church and our pastor asked our body of believers to prayerfully invite unbelievers to the church during these next three weeks in hopes that many would hear the truth and respond.

On Tuesday – I received an email from a staff member inviting others to join him in prayer for Frontliners to have the courage to invite their unsaved friends, that unbelievers would be drawn by the Holy Spirit, and just that the Lord would help us to see the opportunities before us.

Okay so rewind-I just started fasting during breakfast and lunch on Tuesdays to focus and pray for my family who are unbelievers. After our prayer time as a staff around 3:00 pm my heart just felt so heavy and burdened by the masses of people who don’t know Christ as their Savior that I decided to skip out on a movie night at friends house and continue my evening fasting and praying for the people I had conversations with while making the “Who Is Jesus?” video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMzKHFnD29E&rel=0]

Feeling a little bit drained and ready for some ALONE time, I headed to Starbucks after work with my Bible and journal to read and have some solid quiet time- apparently God had a different plan in mind.

I ordered my Earl Grey tea and curled up on the window cushion, opened my bible and began to read and pray oblivious that there was anyone else around. I glanced up to this man walking past me looks down and says, “Oh you are reading the Bible…are you Christian or is it for school?” I responded that I am a Christian and that I had already finished school and I worked at Mclean Bible Church. He said, “Oh, my step-brother is Nazarene and he has mentioned to me before about a Savior, but I don’t know what he means and I think he is a really weird guy.” My initial thought was to immediately share the gospel and tell him EXACTLY who Jesus was, but instead I decided to get to know HIM as a person first. It’s neat how God works- this man shared about his family who are all still in Kenya (where he was born and raised) and I shared about my experiences in Africa which was a nice common bond. Before I knew it, I opened my Bible- shared a few scriptures with him and did my best to explain the gospel message.
 
I asked him if he would like to pray and accept Jesus Christ as his savior and he told me to pray and he would listen and “think about it.” So I just did that.
God, I admit that I am a sinner and I need a Savior: I need someone to wash away my sins. I believe that you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, as a payment for my sins.
Jesus: I am inviting you to be the Lord and Savior of my life. I will live for you from this day forward. I am yours. You are mine.

I invited him to Frontline and later that night received an email from him saying that he would attend. PRAISE GOD. He hears our prayers friends. He really does.

Believe it or not (and I’m still pinching myself asking if this was for real) God gave me the opportunity to share/talk with three other people that night about Jesus, a couple from Ukraine and the barista who overheard these conversations and had some questions of his own. Each one I plan to see this Sunday night at Frontline.

Friends-I am fully CONFIDENT that if we join together and are committed to sharing the gospel message God will give us an overabundance of opportunities and will use us to further the Kingdom…not for our own glory or for the fame of Frontline but all for the glory of our incredible God who is so so mighty to save.

I also know this – we have to be intentional to cultivate relationships with non-believers and pray for their salvation. We must have the courage to obey when the Holy Spirit prompts us to speak up, even in uncomfortable situations. Our lives must reflect character and integrity, because it’s true so often our actions speak much louder than our words.

Be BOLD and Courageous— Go give an answer to the hope that lies within you.