How To Find A Person Of Peace

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “A Word of Encouragement for Village Church Planters.”   

When Jesus sent his followers out two by two, he expected them to find men and women of peace.  Jesus was confident that his followers would find men and women who were hungry for God and receptive to the message of the Good News. I expect there will be people in your village who are also hungry to know God and who will be receptive to you as you share the Good News of forgiveness and peace with God.  

But church planters always ask, “How can I find persons of peace?  How can I find men and women who are hungry for God?” When you enter a village, it is not obvious who is receptive to your message and who is not. As church planters, we wish we could easily see, simply by looking at people, if they were hungry for God or not hungry for God.  But until we speak, we don’t know how people will respond.   

How do you find persons of peace? By speaking.  Jesus taught us to bring blessing to the homes of villagers.  He told his followers, “Say ‘Peace to this house.’” We find persons of peace by speaking.  And the message we speak must be a message of blessing and Good News. 

  After we greet people with warmth and kindness, we may want to offer to pray for them.  A good way to offer prayer is to ask, “What would you like for God to do for you?”  Listen carefully to the person’s response. Show concern. Tell about the love of God.  Then ask if you can pray with them right there. Keep praying for their request in your home. I have a friend who has identified many persons of peace by this method.  He visits homes. He introduces himself. He offers to pray. He prays for a week for the person’s request: healing, income, restoration of broken relationships, deliverance from addiction.  Then he returns a week later to find out what God has done. At that time he shares God’s plan of salvation. Many people come to Christ and many churches are started. 

Another way to find persons of peace is to tell a story.  You may want to tell your story of salvation in Christ using your 15 second testimony. Or you may want to tell a Bible story like The Parable of the Prodigal Son about the younger brother who returned to his father after wasting his inheritance. When we tell stories about the love of God, we find out who is hungry to know more. Telling Bible stories to see how a villager responds is a great way to find persons of peace. Persons of peace are hungry for God.  When they hear your story, they will want to learn more. When you find a person of peace, invest time in him and her.  At the right moment, invite the person of peace to put their trust in Christ. Then help this responsive person, this person of peace, share the Good News with family members, friends and neighbors. 

My brother, my sister, there are persons of peace in your village. You will find them as you speak blessing, as you pray and as you share Bible stories that proclaim the Good News of the love of God. 

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.  

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