Guest Speaker arrives at A Church Without Walls...

 

A Church Without Walls, October 6^th

The last week of September I got to go on a dream trip; fishing for a week in Canada. I went with 2 friends – both brothers in Christ. Beautiful clear water, incredible scenery with the leaves changing daily, a mostly untouched landscape made by God’s hands, and lots of fish to catch. Being a nature lover, I knew I was experiencing something special. What I didn’t realize was how much I would be affected just by being with these Christian brothers.

At church on the Sunday after we returned God started to reveal to me the true blessing of the prior week – being in His presence in a unique way. I was in tears thru half the service – not my normal reaction to singing hymns. One song sent me a strong message about God’s grace and His unlimited love that He pours forth.

Tuesday morning I entered into a time of meditation. I prayed and wrote down in my journal, “Lord, what will you have me do?” One of the six items He gave me to do was to be present Saturday, October 6^th at A Church Without Walls ministry to the homeless, so I called my friend Steve and he invited me to join them on the streets this Saturday evening.

This wasn’t my first experience working with the homeless and I was proud to cook, help serve, interact with the men and women there, and do whatever was needed.  Jimmy gave the message, the parable of the wedding feast and a great message it was. I thought God was telling me to say something but I blew it off (I said “No”).  When Jimmy asked if anyone else wanted to speak, I could no longer deny the call of God to share what He gave me with these folks – I obeyed the call of the Lord and stepped forward.

Being a recovering alcoholic, when I saw these men and women I thought, ‘there but by the grace of God go I.’ I shared some of my story with them and how when I received the Lord the blessings poured forth. I was offered the opportunity to accept Jesus as my savior before I got sober but I refused to receive Him for 12 years. The message God gave me to share last night was they didn’t need to do that, they didn’t need to live the life of loneliness, fear, isolation, and uncertainty that I did. They could say “YES” right now and allow God in their hearts and lives and never be lonely again.

To share one other thing, until yesterday I had never been God’s messenger that directly led to someone being saved. I had never prayed with anyone as they allowed God in their heart.  By God’s grace on Saturday night many people responded to Jimmy’s word, and several men and women came forward – 6 joining me after my exhortation – a humbling experience to say the least.

I look forward to the future guidance from God as to what is next and I am grateful to A Church Without Walls for allowing me to be a part of their ministry.

God Bless,

Shaun Smith