There were three of us today heading to Nambour and once we met, we spent a good deal of time in prayer, asking that God would allow the gospel to go out today freely in Nambour and that we wouldn't have severe opposition.
The morning started out spectacularly. The first conversation that Kevin and I was with a lady in a wheelchair who said that she goes to a Brethren Church, but it turned out that she was trusting in her good works to get her to Heaven. So we explained how God's standard is perfection, but we do not live up to that at all. We went through some of the commandments with her, showing that she too had sinned against God and therefore was deserving of the punishment of being sent to Hell forever.
We then had the pleasure of telling her the way in which God's justice can be satisfied and she can be let into Heaven, through the work of Jesus on the cross. Jesus has lived a perfect life 2000 years ago, suffered on the cross as the substitute for everyone who believes. For everyone who trusts in Jesus alone for their forgiveness and repents.
This lady seemed to now understand the gospel and said she wants to trust in Jesus from that very moment. Please pray for her.
We were having lots of great conversations, and we spent some time preaching from the step. As midday was approaching, two council workers came up to us saying we can't preach with an amplifier and we can't give gospel tracts out. They hung around for quite a while, while we just went back to witnessing.
Two very high ranking police officers turned up a little while later, the Senior Sergeant in charge of Nambour Police Station and the Inspector for the whole region. They were very friendly people and we had very respectful conversation with them, they mentioned that they've had no complaints about us.
We had been told that the officer in charge had let all his officers know that if anyone makes a complaint that they should let him deal with it and not them. For today we were protected from the police's move-on direction powers because we were there under an authorised public assembly.
The conversation with the police went very well saying they've got no issue with us and they soon left. The council workers, however, warned that we were not allowed to continue preaching with an amplifier on council land or hand out gospel tracts. We explained that we were preaching from private property, not council land, and we were entitled to use amplification even on council land because we are protected under an authorized public assembly. And the tracts we were handing out advertise no business, commercial or trade activity. They threatened to fine us if we continued.
We then went to lunch, came back and continued witnessing. Despite council workers seeing that we were continuing, they did nothing at all to stop us.
Praise be to God that he allows his gospel to continue to be spread. Please pray for the conversion of many of the people we spoke, even the council workers, who got to hear the message as well.
To God be the glory!
View previous Sunshine Coast report (16 August 2013)