Preaching in a barn
Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word (Acts 8:4).
An evangelist was cycling between two villages and it was a very warm day. As he cycled along, he saw a large barn in the field alongside the road he was travelling on. For some reason he felt the urge to preach the gospel in the barn. But then he thought … it was a warm day, he was tired and his mind was playing a trick on him. So he carried on. But as he travelled, the barn stayed in view and the compulsion to preach in it became stronger. At last he got off his bike and walked across the field and into the barn. Like most barns, there was a lot of hay and an absence of people. But to fulfil the urge to preach, he stood in the middle of the building and at the top of his voice shouted, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Then he left the barn, got back on his bike and cycled on his way.
Some months later, he was preaching in a local church. He recounted his experience in the barn and told his listeners he couldn’t understand why he felt God led him to go there and shout out John 3:16. After the meeting, he discovered why. A young man approached him and shook him warmly by the hand. He explained he had been working near the barn the evangelist had spoken about. On such a warm day, he had taken a nap in the hay. He was woken up by the words of John 3:16. The speaker had disappeared, but as well as waking up from sleep he had woken up spiritually and soon opened his heart to the Lord.
This incident gives us an insight into how, in the ordinariness of a journey, God can do something remarkable and lead us to the precise place He wants us to be. Most times it will not be a compulsion to visit a barn: it will, most probably, be in very commonplace circumstances. We have grown up with formal meetings in which the Gospel is communicated, and God continues to bless this ministry. But it has struck me afresh how the ministry of Christ and of the apostles was so often fulfilled by being actively engaged with people from all walks of life and in all the circumstances of life. The Lord sought and found beggars, and rulers of the synagogue. He was present at the joy of a wedding, and the sorrow of a funeral. He was inside houses, and outside in fields. The Lord Jesus was sensitive to every need. This same grace was evident in the early Church and, strikingly, even persecution never restrained the Gospel, but only served to ensure its expansion.
So often we look for a special ministry and can overlook the opportunities everyday life provides. A Christian once said to an evangelist that he wished he could be an evangelist. The evangelist asked him what job he did and the man told him he had a market stall. Then the evangelist asked him how many people visited his stall; he explained he had lots of customers every day. The evangelist said it seemed to him that his friend already had a pulpit: he just needed to use it! This challenges all of us. And perhaps more than ever in the present circumstances, God would lead us to those whose hearts He wants to open to the Saviour: “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen” (Mark 16:20).
