Church Plant
March has been a very busy month as far as the church and ministry are concerned. On Wednesday we are going to the States, so there have been a lot of things to finish here in Sweden as we prepare for the trip.
I’ve continued with the series that I’m preaching through the book of Isaiah. This has been such a blessing for myself and for others. I’ve preached through Isaiah 9:7 and can’t wait to get back to Sweden again to continue with the series.
For around half of a year I had been meeting with two men and two teenagers to go through the book “What is the Gospel?” by Greg Gilbert. We finished the book and afterward we went out to do evangelism together. For most of them it was their first time doing evangelism. It was especially encouraging to see one of the teenagers who went from not being able to articulate the gospel to now being engaged in long conversations as he shared the gospel, mainly with Muslims. Afterwards he said, “I really need to study the Bible more in order to be able to better share the gospel and answer the questions and arguments from the Muslims.”
Yesterday I had the joy of baptizing the other teenager that participated in the study through “What is the gospel?”. When we started to go through the book, though he professed to be a Christian, he could not articulate the gospel. As we started to go through the chapters he came under conviction of his sins and realized that he had never been a genuine Christian. It has been my joy to see the change in his life over the last six months and to see how he can now articulate the true biblical gospel with confidence! I’m planning to meet with him and the others to continue to disciple them when we get back from Sweden.
Please pray for Joseph, Daniel Lungren and Omid who will be preaching and teaching on Sundays and in the Bible studies while we are in the States.
Reformedia / Evangeliecentrerat
As for Reformedia, “The Family Worship Book” by Don Whitney is being sent out to be proofread this week and we are hoping to have it printed in May. We had a board meeting with Reformedia this past week where, among other things, we discussed some of the books to be translated in the future.
We Are also planning to have a follow-up conference in the Fall on the two books, “What is the Gospel?” by Greg Gilbert and “What is a Healthy Church?” by Mark Dever, both of which we are giving out for free to Swedish pastors and leaders. We have now given out around 1/3 of the 2000 books of each to church leaders. The theme of this follow-up conference will be on “What is the Gospel?”. There are so many pastors that I meet here in Sweden who cannot articulate the gospel, so this is a very urgent need. It looks like the author of “What is the Gospel?”, Greg Gilbert, will be able to come. We are also aiming to have Paul Washer’s book, “The Gospel’s Power and Message,” printed in time for the conference. Please pray for all of these plans and for the gospel to continue to spread in this country.
USA
On Wednesday my family and I will be flying to the States. I will be preaching and sharing around a dozen times during the trip. Please pray that it would bear fruit and also for protection as we are travelling.
Thank you very much for partnering with us in spreading the gospel here in Sweden!
