On September 10, Stevens Christian Fellowship asked if I can be the speaker at an event they would have on 9/18 called “Pizza and the Gospel.” It was simple enough! Their plan was to serve free pizza and have the speaker (me) share the good news at their regular weekly meeting.

When I asked Darren (student leader) whether they expect many non-Christians, he said most likely not. They expected a regular weekly meeting with mostly the same faces and maybe some guests.

Well, God surprised them and me!

On top of the usual 30 regulars, about 40 new students showed up, who happened mostly to be international students from India! Everyone was floored and I began praying for extra boldness and clarity for my talk entitled “What the Gospel is and What it is Not.” Seeing as almost all these new guests were non-believers, I decided to ditch a whole portion of the talk that was designed for training Christians in evangelism.

Instead, I made sure to talk to this mostly non-Christian audience in terms and with explanations they would understand. It was challenging as I could not assume they would know who the “Holy Spirit” or “Paul the Apostle” or even “sin” was.

God did His thing though!

For 20 minutes, I explained what the gospel is not. In detail, I explained that Christianity’s central message is not moralism or cheap grace or behavior control or prosperity or world peace or politics or philanthropy or being really kind. No, our central message is not mainly about these things. It may include them but the gospel, as I shared it is, “God reconciling sinners to himself through the actions of Jesus Christ.”

For the final 15 minutes, I explained exactly what that meant through Cru’s “Knowning God Personally” booklet (which you can find on knowgod.com). Through 4 points adapted from Campus Crusade for Christ’s 4 Laws tool, the gospel is clearly articulated and supported through scripture. In summary it explains, (1) God’s love and desire for relationship, (2) our separation from God because of sin, (3) God’s solution for this through Jesus and (4) our opportunity to trust in Jesus through faith!

I ended with an invitation to trust Jesus and I prayed. Afterwards, guests stayed and chatted with the student leaders and myself. I got into a conversation with 5 Hindus who thanked me for the gospel explanation they had never heard! Honestly I am still so encouraged by this outreach and TO GOD BE THE GLORY.

Please pray for Stevens Christian Fellowship’s follow up. Pray many trust Jesus in the coming weeks because of God’s supernatural power. Thank you!