Dear brothers and sisters,
I’m writing to introduce myself to you and to offer you some help! I’m David Robertson and myself and my wife Annabel have been part of the St Thomas’s family for almost a year. We love being with you all. I work for City Bible Forum as director of a new project called Third Space – which is designed to help churches reach out with the Good News of Jesus. Because of Covid 19 an opportunity has arisen for me to work with St Thomas’s for one day per week (not counting the Sunday we worship with you!) doing evangelism and helping you to reach out.
For many of us the word ‘evangelism’ carries mixed meanings. On the one hand it is a good word because it is what the church is for. On the other it conveys a series of images, not all of them positive. The man yelling at the street corner, the flamboyant TV evangelist, the pressure that some of us feel under because we are not like those Christians who seem to have conversations about Jesus every time they go to work, or get on a train!
But real biblical evangelism is a joy. It is just simply one starving beggar telling another where they have found bread! Sometimes of course there is a gap that is caused by lack of appetite, fear, disbelief, incredulity. My job is to help you overcome that gap (bearing in mind always that only the Holy Spirit can bring someone to Christ – but also bearing in mind that he does – and he usually uses means – us!).
I will write you a wee catch up letter every two weeks and both here and online offer some suggestions of resources you could use. This week I want to offer three.
Firstly have a look here at this wonderful video Solas (an organisation I used to run) made of Dick Lucas encouraging us in real evangelism.
Secondly together with the Bible Societies Eternity Podcast network, Third Space have a podcast called Life in Wartime which is designed to help Christians think about how we live for Jesus in this current crisis – you can hear the latest one here.
Feel free to subscribe – it will complement St Thomas’s excellent Christians Engaging Culture podcast.
Finally the third resource I want to offer is yours truly. I love sharing the Gospel, listening to people, discussing and answering questions. So maybe you have some questions, or friends or family who do? Maybe you have some ideas about reaching out? I can’t promise to answer all the questions, or implement all the ideas, but I can promise to listen…you can contact me at [email protected]
I look forward to serving you and working together with you in the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his name.
David