Beer Store Breakthrough

What started as serving coffee slowly became coffee (hot chocolate for those who don't drink coffee), sandwiches and conversation.  From there the conversation led to collecting prayer requests, eventually praying for people on the spot and then progressed to gathering a group to pray together on the sidewalk.  Most recently, I have begun to bring a scripture, specifically words of Jesus, starting with His "I Am sayings."  I have been sharing the scripture to begin prayer and then praying that scripture and an application for our lives before praying for individual requests.  This is the shape of what is now referred to as Beer Store Church.  Like many ministries, it has ups and downs, times of prayer and times of breaking up fights, rich times and times of wondering about the point of it all.  Yesterday, however, put a smile on my face; a bit of a breakthrough even.  

We began our prayer with Jesus' words, "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me."  As soon as we were finished praying someone asked about people that lived before Jesus.  It provided an opportunity to talk of the Old Testament, its relation to the new, about seeing the Gospel in Old Testament texts and to give a brief survey of the Gospel story.  It also, and as importanly, gave me an opportunity to really listen to his questions and comments and better assess where he is spiritually.  

In the end I was really encouraged.  I was  encouraged because I love to talk about that kind of thing and walk with people as we discover truth.  I was encouraged because I have a clearer idea of where he is and can better move forward to meet him where he is at.  I am most encouraged because the question let me know that at least one person was actually engaged in what was going on.  

That in and of itself is reason enough to be there next week!