Open air preaching and Hill men

Our Saturday Sidewalk Breakfast & Church Service happens every week and no matter the weather. So, rain or shine, snow storms or hail,  frothy people still make their way to breakfast on the sidewalk.

Usually, my wife is serving the hot food, which gives her the ability to snap a few pictures of the Sidewalk Service. But she was gone this past Saturday, visiting grand-babies. So, no pics of the service. There were 20 or so present--a large crowd actually--for the sidewalk church service. But the pic above will have to do for this Wasted Evangelism thought--and it is the picture one of my former students (I was once a college professor) posted a reply on Facebook . . . 

One of the reasons I do open air preaching--one of the reasons I wanted to do an outdoor, on-the-street-church service (which we do with the Breakfast on Saturdays)--is that open air preaching will reach more men than regular church-in-a-building preaching . . . We Presbyterians refer to Sunday church as ordinarily on Sunday and 99.9% of the time inside a building . . . Our Saturday sidewalk church service is "nonordinarlily" for sure. But, it has been a fact--read the books and essays on open air preaching, even from 100+ years ago, and this fact is in them! Yet, it is ordinarily true that men are more likely to listen and respond to open air preaching than indoor church pulpit preaching . . . and we do see that here.

One regular elderly gentleman, who is a regular at the sidewalk service, was a bit later than usual. When I greeted him, the first thing he said was, "Did you already give the Word?" And when I said I had, he replied, "Oh, man," and was sad . . . I thanked him and said I was grateful he was so consistently present for the Saturday Sidewalk Church service. He told me he had come for the breakfast, but comes back because of the Word.

Praying God takes this fact about outdoor preaching and men and changes the lives of Hill men, that they may find Christ, receive Him, and have their lives changed. Revive us again, O Lord, right here in the unexpected place, the Hill. All to the glorious praise of the Heavenly Father!

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