The gospel was proclaimed in the centre of Beaconsfield New Town on April 16th, Easter Saturday. Tracts were handed out focusing upon the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
One middle-aged man was seen to be listening for a considerable length of time on the other side of the road, and then crossed over and took a leaflet, which was encouraging. Many, however, sadly refused to take any tracts.
There was a very encouraging conversation with a young university student who asked some good questions about the faith. These included, Why can we trust the Bible if it is a mere collection of the writings of many different human authors over an extended period of time?
Pastor Simpson explained that the Bible was written between around 1450 BC and 70 AD. It is not just the mere writings of men but every author was directly inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is a book which has the power to change lives. It speaks to peoples’ hearts.
The Penn minister went on to stress that the value of the Bible is demonstrated by the historical example of the Christians known as Lollards, some of whom lived in the Buckinghamshire area not far from Beaconsfield (in Amersham and Chesham to be precise). There were certain Lollards who were actually burnt at the stake for reading the Bible in English in the early 16th century, when to do so was a criminal offence. These believers took the risk of meeting secretly in the woods in order to worship together and read the Scriptures in their own tongue, because they thought that it was simply so important to do so.
Pastor Simpson also endeavoured to explain to the young man what is going on in contemporary society, and the great assault which is taking place upon the true church by the forces of cultural Marxism. He also took time to explain why abortion is always wrong and can never be defended on Biblical grounds.
Pastor Sherwood preached on the new resurrection life which is being born again, which all who repent of sin and come to Christ may experience.
May there be some who heard gospel truth in Beaconsfield upon this day who come to realise that they too must seek thus new life by repentance from sin and trust in the crucified and risen Saviour.
