Re:Verse passage – Philippians 1:12-19 (day one)
Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Philippians 1:12-19 in our Fall Sermon Series: “Pure Joy” a study of Philippians.
My son (Emmanuél) and I live walking distance from the Guadalupe Theater. One night my teen aged son took the bus (11pm) to get home from work. When he got off the bus, a man took him at knife point. He was taken to an ATM machine across the theater, but it was out of money. The man took him downtown to get money. They walked under a very dark bridge where he could have been killed, but instead they made it downtown. Emmanuél gave him money. As they walked the entire time, my son had talked about God. He witnesses to the man. The man explained he did not want to do it, but his baby need pampers and had no option. As they walked back under the bridge (Guadalupe), the man tossed the knife over the Alazon Creek. Emmanuél was filled with joy that he reached out to a stranger and no harm had come to him. This passage came to mind:
When Joseph said (in Genesis 50:20) as saying to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God used it for good.” To this day, Emmanuél remembers, and it made me believe stronger in the Word.
What this chapter means to me – Do I witness when it is easy, and not when its challenging moments?
Outstanding example of taking a possible life-threatening experience and giving the glory to God and witnessing to the attacker. Thank you.
I have a friend who has been on the Focus on the Family radio show because she was kidnapped (80’s) in a parking lot in broad daylight on San Pedro by a serial killer. He drove her to Kerrville where he was going to kill her but she witnessed the whole way and appealed to him with Christ and had a tape of a dynamic pastor in her purse. By the time they got to Kerrville she convinced him to turn himself in, he confessed Christ as his Savior. He was sentenced to death, but witnessed to some others in the jail. I believe his name was Stephen Peter Moran. It’s been years, so that might not be correct. Her name is Margie Palm and is a friend of mine. Her story has given me courage for many years.