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Some people have discounted such efforts as Gospel meetings 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 few 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 our 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.
A large measure of good arises from the fellowship enjoyed within the local congregation during the frequent meetings in even half a week of preaching. This is compounded by the fellowship we have with brethren who visit us from the surrounding area.
Furthermore, the regular, frequent preaching of the Word strengthens the faith of, encourages, and edifies the saints who attend. And such a series of meetings 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 is legion who have been led to obey the Gospel by attending and hearing one or more sermons during a Gospel meeting.
[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, curator, and administrator.
