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[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 3 page.]
Gospel meeting time will be here very soon. Some people have discounted such efforts by saying that they don’t hold any value in our age. Admittedly, there are more things that vie for the attention of modern men at present than when my grandfather led singing for such efforts a couple of generations ago. Certainly, we must not limit our attempts to evangelize our community and strengthen the church spiritually to one or two meetings per year. But I am not nearly ready to say they are of no value. Consider the following and you may find yourself agreeing.
- One value is to be seen in the interest these efforts arouse in Christians to try to make a genuine contribution to the Lord’s work. There are some who are truly excited by the approach of and preparation for a Gospel meeting who can hardly be challenged by other types of efforts.
- Another value is seen in the opportunity for the church to hear a different preacher. It is also good for the preacher to have some respite from the pulpit on occasion. He needs to see how things look from the pew as well as from the pulpit.
- There is no small measure of good that arises from the fellowship enjoyed within the church here in the frequent meetings in a full week or even half a week of preaching. This is compounded by the fellowship of brethren from surrounding areas who always come.
- The ultimate aim of a Gospel meeting should continue to be clearly spiritual. The regular, frequent preaching of the Word can’t help but strengthen the faith of those who attend. And a meeting always affords rare opportunities for introducing our religious neighbors to the distinctive plea for simple, Biblical Christianity. People will usually come to a Gospel meeting more readily than to one of our regular Sunday assemblies. The number of people who have been led to Christ in this way is legion.
May the Lord deliver us from a pessimistic attitude about this or any other good work.
[Note: I wrote this article for and it was published in the January 9, 1972, edition of The Christian Reminder, weekly bulletin of the Johnson Street Church of Christ, San Angelo, Texas, of which I was editor.
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
