Taking the Gospel to the Streets

“But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.” – Mark 1:38

Jesus went and met the woman at the well in Samaria because she had an appointment with God. In Jesus' detour into enemy territory, we see two important concerns as we bring the message of the Gospel today.

First, we have to go to where people are. Jesus did not say that the whole world should go to church; He said the church should go into the whole world. As Mark's Gospel tells us, "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature' " (Mark 16:15).

When we are witnessing along Orchard Road, we are often asked, "Why are you doing this in a place like Orchard Road? Why would you even want to talk to a stranger about things of God?"

Our answer is simple, "Because Jesus said, 'Go into all the world,' and He did not exempt Orchard Road. There are people here. And we want to reach people."

The glorious thing is that many people came into the kingdom through our evangelistic endeavors. We need to go to where people are.

Second, we need to care about the people we speak to. Jesus needed to go to Samaria because He cared about this woman (see John 4:4). When the Apostle Paul was in Athens, he saw the city that was given over to idolatry, and his spirit was stirred within him (see Acts 17:16,17). He felt righteous indignation as he saw so many turning to false gods.

In the same way, any effective sharing of the gospel must always begin with a God-given burden. Jesus cares and we care. We want to reach out to perishing people. We are going to where people are.

This, in a nutshell is our street evangelism ministry.

- malt