June 2008 Newsletter from the Pastor

“They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household.’” Acts 16:31

John Harper was born in a Christian home in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1872. He became a Christian around fourteen years old, and began to tell others about Christ. At seventeen he began to preach. He started a church in 1896 with twenty-five members. When he left thirteen years later, the church numbered over five hundred.

Harper was married and widowed and had a little girl named Nana. His evangelistic zeal resulted in Moody Church in Chicago inviting him to America for a series of meetings. The meetings went well, and a few years later they asked him to come again. Harper boarded a ship with a second-class ticket at Southhampton, England, for the voyage to America.

Nana remembered being woken up by her father a few nights into their journey. The ship they were on had struck an iceberg. Harper told Nana that another ship was just about to rescue them, but, as a precaution, he was going to put her in a lifeboat. Little Nana and her cousin were saved, but many others did not survive that journey on the Titanic.

Some months later in a prayer meeting in Hamilton, Ontario, a young Scotsman stood up in tears and told of how he was converted. He had been on the Titanic that night it struck the iceberg. He had clung to a piece of floating debris in the freezing waters. A wave brought someone near him. He called out to him, “Man, are you saved?” “No, I am not,” I replied. “He shouted back, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.’” The waves bore him away, but a little later, he was washed back beside me again. “Are you saved now?” he called out. “No,” I answered. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” “Then losing his hold on the wood, John Harper sank. And there, alone in the night with two miles of water under me, I trusted Christ as my Savior. I am John Harper’s last convert.”

How were you saved? Did God use someone to introduce you to Jesus? Has he been using you to tell others about the Savior? Would you like to make yourself more available to God in this way?

On Wednesday, June 4th, we will begin an adult evangelism class at 6:30 p.m. The class will deal with questions like: Why Don’t We Evangelize?; What Is the Gospel?; Who Should Evangelize? How Should We Evangelize?; What Isn’t Evangelism?; and Why Should We Evangelize? A prayer emphasis will also be a part of this meeting. To support this emphasis, adult Sunday School classes will be based on the book of Acts starting June 1st. The Sunday sermon will coordinate with the passage used for that day’s Sunday School lesson.

I trust that our emphasis on evangelism will stir your heart and encourage you to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Pastor Lerud