Tas Kungs patiesi augšāmcēlies!

The Lord is really risen!

Thank you all for praying for our Resurrection Sunday service in Ikšķile, Latvia. We had a great turn out, over 100 people came to the culture house for our Christian concert and evangelistic message. There were even a handful of kids that enjoyed the children's ministry. Lena was part of the children's ministry team as I preached the gospel to the adults from 1 Corinthians 15.

I felt the Spirit give me boldness to preach the gospel, why Jesus died for us on the cross and how His resurrection is significant to our salvation. I preached about sin according to the law, about God's righteous judgment, about what Christ did to save us, and about the need to respond to the gospel with faith and repentance, but no one wanted to pray to receive Christ as there Savior and Lord. However afterward I talked with two teary eyed teenage girls who were invited by a grandmother in our church, it seems one was convicted but was not ready to commit to following Christ and the other is a professing Christian concerned for her friends eternity. I am kind of discouraged that no one responded right then and there but I am encouraged that so many heard the gospel and seeds were sown. I am reflecting on how I could have done a better job as a sower of seed, but I also know that only God is able to make it grow and the response also has to do with the state of the hearers' hearts (as in the parable of the 4 types of soils). Perhaps it is better that they didn't spring up at this first opportunity, they need time to count the cost of discipleship. Perhaps the double edged sword of God's word was tearing up soil of their hearts so that the seed of God's word would take deeper root.

Let us pray that the enemy doesn't steal the memory of this message but that God's Spirit will continue to convict the unbelieving world of sin, righteousness and judgment concerning Jesus Christ. So at the end of the day, after all the effort that went into the event, I am disappointed there were apparently no conversions and I wish I was a better communicator but then I look up at my God with assurance that His word will not return void (Isaiah 55:10-11) and our labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). Please also pray for us to have God's perspective as we prepare for our 2nd Sunday at the culture house in Ikskile. Thanks, good night. - Brenten