OceanSide church of Christ

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FOLLOWING UP ON A GOSPEL MEETING

Victor M. Eskew

 

            Gospel meetings are anticipated long in advance of the date they occur.  Once they arrive, they come and go very quickly.  By the following Sunday, the meeting seems as though it was ages ago.  Very quickly we fall back into our old routines within the church.  Sadly, we do not always follow up on our meeting the way we should.  In this article, let’s look at some things that we can do after our meeting comes to an end.

            First, let’s give thanks for our speaker, Billy Bland, and ask God to bless him as he travels home and has he continues his labors at his home.  A person who is willing to leave home and to preach the gospel in a place that is “foreign” to him is someone upon whom God looks with favor.  “…as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Rom. 10:15).  Billy has served the Lord faithfully in many capacities within the church.  Let’s pray the Lord will continue to use him and give him opportunities to preach the gospel to the lost.  We have been blessed to hear him.  Let’s pray others have the same opportunity.

            Second, let’s pray that the precious seed of God’s Word was planted into good and honest hearts.  These are the kind of hearts that will bear fruit according to Jesus.  “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matt. 13:23).  Our theme at OceanSide this year is:  “We Will Go…I Will Go!”  Our gospel meeting is one way in which we spread the gospel of Christ.  We desire fruit just as Paul did (See Rom. 1:13).  May God bless us with a harvest from this effort.

            Third, let’s seek doors of opportunity that come to us because of this meeting.  There may have been several individuals who visited during these services.  Let’s follow up with them.  Let’s introduce ourselves to them.  Let’s tell them about the church.  Let’s try to take care of their needs.  Let’s try to get Bible studies with them.  NOTE:  If we do not do this quickly, the embers will die out quickly.  We may only have the opportunity for one visit.  That one visit could mean the difference in the salvation of a person’s soul.  “Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.  And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me?  And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him” (Acts 8:29-31).

            Fourth, let’s take the information that was presented in the lessons and share it with those who could not be with us.  Yes, CDs of lessons make wonderful evangelistic tools.  Give them to friends and family members and ask them to listen to them.  They may not do so immediately, but in time they might.  What they hear could impress them.  What they hear might cause them to ask questions.  What they hear could bring them to Jesus Christ.  Remember, our responsibility is to plant the seed.  God will give the increase.  “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” (I Cor. 3:6).  The more we sow the seed, the bigger the harvest we will reap.  “But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (II Cor. 9:7).

            Fifth, let’s take the information that is proclaimed in our hearing and use it to make us more faithful in our Christian service.  Paul tells us that the instructions found in God’s Word are designed to make us more mature Christians.  “That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (II Tim. 3:17).  The only way for this to be accomplished, however, is for us to be doers of the Word.  “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be bless in his deed” (Jms. 1:22-25).  If a gospel meeting blesses no one other than our self, it is worth the money that was spent.  We are more faithful.  We are more dedicated.  We are stronger.  We are comforted.  We are encouraged.  We are more hopeful.  Whatever the benefit derived, it was worth the expenditure.

            Sixth, let’s all give thanks for an opportunity to be part of a work that pleases and glorifies God.  When the truth of the gospel is proclaimed, God is well-pleased.  God wants all men to be saved (I Tim. 2:4).  “…it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Cor. 1:18).  When God authorizes a work, and man accomplishes the task, God is pleased.  Too, when the gospel is proclaimed, God is glorified.  Man learns of God’s great love.  Man learns of God’s generous sacrifice.  Man learns of God’s wonderful plan.  It is God who has made salvation possible.  Those who respond to the message put off sin.  They are cleansed and seek to make themselves into the image of Jesus Christ.  Their whole life is spent seeking to bring glory to God.

            Seventh, let commit to the proclaiming the gospel in every way possible throughout our community.  A gospel meeting is just one way of making the saving message possible to the lost.  Let’s now use all of the other means at our disposal to take the light of truth into the darkness of the world.  We cannot just reach out once a year during a gospel meeting.  Let’s reach out every day.  In Acts 5:42, we find an encouraging example.  “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”  This should be what we try to do.   Our theme should include the word “daily” in it.  “We will go…I will go, daily.”

            Our gospel meeting will be over in just a few short hours.  Brother Bland will go back home.  What will we do?  Let’s commit to some diligent follow up.  Let’s make certain that we use this meeting as a spring board to take the gospel to the lost.  Let use it to make us more faithful and diligent as both servants and personal workers.  It is hoped that we will not let the efforts of this meeting be in vain.