“That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.” Mark 1:32–34
On February 9, 1958, a twenty-six-year-old Assemblies of God pastor in a rural Pennsylvania town watched late-night television while his wife and small children slept. “How much time am I spending in front of the TV each night?” he asked himself. “A couple of hours at least. What if I sold the TV set and spent that time praying?”
The next day he and his wife placed an ad, agreeing to sell the TV if a buyer appeared within thirty minutes of the newspaper landing on their doorstep. At twenty-nine minutes, the TV sold.
Sixteen days later, while praying late in the evening, the young pastor’s eyes focused on a nearby issue of Life Magazine. After resisting the temptation to interrupt his prayers, he finally picked it up with this question, “Lord, is there something you want me to see?” On pages thirty and thirty-one he found the answer: a sketch drawing and story of seven young New York City gang members on trial for the brutal murder of fifteen-year-old Michael Farmer.
David Wilkerson, the young pastor, began weeping for these lost boys. Two days later he was in New York City, a place he had never been before, and his appearance in the courtroom that day opened the door for ministry to gang members. Soon, Teen Challenge was established. Over the past five decades, multiplied thousands have experienced the deliverance of Jesus Christ from addictions, life-controlling problems, and bondage.
David Wilkerson simply followed the pattern of the Lord—he went into the street. The people who met Jesus in the street at sundown had not been to the place of worship that day, the synagogue; nor had they been inside the home of Peter because it was too small for them all to fit.
Indeed, the opening paragraphs of Mark’s gospel show us that Jesus is present in the house of worship, the home, and the street. That is also where His activity is today. The street is where His people must carry His presence as well.
It isn’t enough just to be gathered in the church. Nor can we just keep Jesus in our homes. He is looking for the wider venue—out in the public place where people are needy and hurting.
Picture the citizens of Capernaum. They waited until the Sabbath was past and with clay lamps illuminating their faces they gathered outside the door of the home where Jesus was present. For the first time in many years, the broken in body and spirit, the broken-hearted, had hope. There is hope when Jesus is in the street!
One demoniac was healed in the synagogue and one sick mother-in-law was healed in the home (Mark 1:21–31), but many were healed and delivered in the street. It is the same today. Yes, there are results in our church worship services—people come to Christ. But if we want to see many come instead of the few, then, as Christ’s followers, we too must be out in the street.
A Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am grateful for the comfort zone of my church and home, these safe places. Help me, Lord, to see that You also want me out in the street.
Excerpted from Dr. Wood’s forthcoming book, Fearless: How Jesus Changes Everything, available in September from Vital Resources.
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