58 Visitors, 13 Disciples @ Bible Talk!     (back)
by: Angel Maldonado

Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

God is alive and working in His church! The number of visitors at our AUC Bible Talk nearly doubled from last week. This week (10/24) we had 58 visitors that came out for the discussion and the fellowship. There were only 13 disciples there making it a total of 71 people crowded inside the small lobby of a dorm building listening to and sharing about the Word of God. What makes it even more incredible is there are only 4 disciples that actually live on campus, all of them brothers. It was so crowded that a student involved in the student government decided to take it upon himself to find us a bigger room.

This week’s topic was “Jesus & Love.” Most of the students said they loved a member of their family the most when I asked them, “Who do you love most on earth?” We looked at Mark 12:28-34 that we must love God with all that we have. There is nothing we hold on to as disciples. It’s a passionate and deep love that shows itself by our deeds. We talked about practical ways to show God and people that we love them but I made it clear that nowhere does it say to love yourself and that’s the problem…most of the people in this room love themselves more than God or others. I laid it out that there is people in the room who are having sex, getting drunk and smoking weed to please themselves. In vs. 33, it’s clear that this love is more important than any traditions like going to church…in fact you don’t love God with everything you have, you are just wasting your time being religious…going to church but living a life of sin. Then Matthew 10:34-38 convicted people after most of them said they loved one of their family members more than anyone and Jesus knew that would stand in the way of loving Him the way he calls us to. After some more discussion and other scriptures, we started closing it out with John 14 as I had a different person read vs. 15, 21, 23, 24 and 31. This is Jesus’ love language—OBEDIENCE—because that’s how he showed God he loved him as it says in vs. 31. I had one more scripture up my sleeve, 1 John 4:9-19, 5:3. The bottom line is that God showed us his love by sending his one and only son to die for us. We can be rich or poor, single or married, in school or working…no matter what situation we are in life, the Cross stands firm! Blessings are great but they may not always come. The one thing that will never shift is Christ crucified.

After we prayed to wrap things up, the fellowship was incredible. The brothers and sisters reached out and made contact with as many people as we could. I hope this is something that builds your faith. On one of the smaller campuses in Atlanta, God brought out 58 people to hear his word. The same can happen in your bible talk with a small group of committed disciples whose only purpose is to seek and save the lost. How much will you allow God to use you? It’s time to repent of this selfishness that has crept into our fellowships. Let’s lose our lives for the gospel and get ready to see miracles like this happening at bible talks across the nation and the world.


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