Open Air Preaching Part 3

...the time got closer and closer and I had no sign of my friend and I was getting worried and starting to question the whole situation again. But there was just this reassurance of God speaking to me that if He says He will do something then He goes through with it. It was a calming feeling knowing that it was going to be Him speaking and not me although I was going to be the vessel His voice would be heard. As the clock struck 1 I looked up and there was my friend who had come down, I thought there would be others there by now that said they would come. However there was nobody besides him. As he approached me with his lunch box in hand and grin on his face I felt encouraged! The verse "Where there are two or more gathered in my name there will I be also." If nobody else was going come, we were going to have church!! We both went over to grab the pulpit and bring it over.

As I grabbed my Bible and watch I set it down on the pulpit and stood behind it and knew there was no turning back now! I was praying the entire time as my heart was about to beat out of my chest. I flipped open the Bible and as the pages made the noise that only Bible pages make when turned I knew I was in the absolute will of Christ. I read the verses and prayed for His Word to be anointed. I started in and had this hint of nervousness in my voice as I was just looking at my friend and basically talking to him and trying to be louder but the frog in my throat would not allow me to do it. I know I missed certain points that I normally would say, but they were more for the "enjoyment" of the congregation than the actual "meat" of the sermon. As time went along people started to come and gather around. I got a few Amens and the people who were there just tried to ignore it. However you could tell they were wondering what is this loud guy up here talking about.


I didn't want to come across as condemning, but at the same time I wanted to have the fire and unction of God's word on my tongue. As I continued on in my sermon I began to have the frog in my throat go away and spoke with authority and boldness, not of myself but of God. I noticed that the crowd began to grow and the quote that I heard over and over in my head was "You never have to advertise a fire." from Leonard Ravenhill. I didn't notice the exact number of people that were there but if I were to guesstimate it I would say around 30-35 people were there. As I was preaching the feeling of nervousness left and as I entered into the closing prayer I knew that God had been there and spoke because I was moved inside as well.

After I finished up saying the prayer the people who were there clapped and seemed as though they were saying "it's about time." I walked over to my buddy who was there and we both smiled. I gathered my things that I had brought down and a couple of people came over and shook my hand and told me "Thank You." Then the security guard came over to me and in a very stern tone said, "As much as I enjoyed that, you can never preach here again." To which I replied, "Well you don't have to worry about that because I'm outta here in 2 days." I kinda felt like Wesley for a brief moment. Although nobody threw rocks or a brick at me lol. I went up to my cube and put my things away and just relaxed as I was exhausted.

I was talking with a guy that was there and a friend of my buddy and he was telling me that he was talking with the security guard and she was there about half way through the sermon and could have gone up at any moment and tried to stop me. She had started up there to say something and froze when he said that I had freedom of speech. She had mentioned something at the end of the sermon about letting me finish but I was not sure what she was talking about. I am sure that she was supposed to come in and stop me right away but the power of God so descended upon that place that she was paralyzed and speechless. So God had allowed me to finish and declare His word. What a Jesus!

As I look back on this experience I realize that if God calls and we answer that no matter how uncomfortable it makes us feel that He will take care of the details. I am not sure if anybody received Christ that day but I do know that seeds were planted. My friend went to get some veggies after it was all over and people were talking how some guy was in there preaching the gospel. My friend piped in and said yes he did and you should have been there. I hope and pray that this starts something at Chase whether it be a movement or just thoughts just as long as it drew some closer to Christ. May Jesus be glorified in all we do!!! I never thought I would see the day where I would open air preach at Chase, but again I'll say it, Christ called and I answered. I pray you answer any call in your life that He is putting upon you!