Circuit Riders- Day 4

Outreach

On Saturday, I was super excited for the day. I was excited for evangelism through outreach. Part of our lives as believers is sharing the Gospel with others and teaching others about Jesus. In the morning session, I was activated through the talk on courage in sharing the Gospel. It is important to get over our fear of what others think of us. They talked about the importance of living true to what we preach, and how we should live in integrity. Something important in sharing the Gospel is not to bend the truth, but to state what is true and real. Then we allow God to work in their hearts. When we don't know where someone is in their walk, our obedience to God despite not knowing is where the Holy Spirit shows up! Another thing that is important to realize is that the revival in our hearts comes from the truth of the Gospel. When preaching the Gospel, our hearts need to be burning for those who need the truth of God.

The message really got me excited to go out and preach the Gospel. This summer, I have really come to realize that living for the Lord is the most important thing. There will always be someone who judges us, so why not live our lives for the one who saved us instead of trying to please those who did not save us. I struggled with fear of man and people-pleasing for much of my life, but I am learning how to live fearing God instead. Fear of God is a reverence of him that is driven by his deep love poured out over us. We continued through morning sessions learning the simple Gospel and how to include our testimonies in the Gospel. 

Evangelism happened at the beach in Huntington Beach. It was a beautiful day to go out and share the Gospel with others. We prayed for God to provide us guidance to people. Mostly everyone was receptive to what we had to say, and we prayed for a few people. I felt very confident about sharing the Gospel with those around me, and I had people there with me. I think part of growing in boldness for me is growing in community with others. I know I try to share the Gospel with people I work around, but I think having friends there can be important in growing in sharing the Gospel with others. 

One Love- Lindi Cofer

Later in the evening, we heard from Lindi Cofer. She acknowledged how we just got back from evangelism, and that what is amazing about our generation is that authenticity is what people really desire. Authenticity is a powerful way to share our faith as many people in our generation just want realness and vulnerability among each other. 

Her message was about returning to our first love Jesus. She talked about how we just need to recognize how God first loved us and that we don't need to work our way back into his love. She talked about Childlike faith and how it allows us to run into the arms of our heavenly father. Something that stuck out from what she said was how she approaches reading the Bible, and I really want to try it: read it, sing it, write it, and pray it. That is a very different way than how I read the Bible, and it may allow for deeper engagement in the scripture. Something that I remember her saying is that pursuing Jesus looks different in every season we are in. She is a mom to a newborn right now, so her walk with Jesus looks different than when she did not have a newborn. However, we still can walk with Jesus in our every day even in very busy seasons. Walking with Jesus through our every season is important as he is our first love, and we can always come to him as our true selves. 

Another important thing to realize from Lindi's message is when she talked about the importance of who our foundation is. Who or what is the first thing we turn to when facing trials? I have realized that in my life, the first thing I turned to is numbing. Ever since coming home from Circuit Riders, I have become more prayerful when going through the day-to-day challenges in life. 

I enjoyed Saturday because outreach was a fun way to get out into the community. I just loved being able to share the Gospel, and I am challenging myself to be bold in doing it more. I live my life trying to share my faith and be a light to Jesus for those around me. I recognize when I do fall short, and I know that turning back to God is so important in our walks with him.