So how do we bring the good news of Jesus Christ to people who don’t know Him? Who do I talk to? When? How? What if they don’t want to know?

When Jesus sent out His disciples ‘on mission’ He told them that there would be people who would be ready to receive them. These would be people who would welcome them into their homes, feed them and would want to hear their message. Jesus said not to keep on moving around but to stay with these ‘people of peace.’

When we’ve got our heads around this we recognise people of peace throughout the New Testament. There is the ‘woman at the well’ in John 4 who had burning questions about how she could worship God. She introduced Jesus and His disciples to her whole village and many of them believed in Jesus. In the book of Acts there are Cornelius, Lydia, the Philippian Jailer, all of them people who are hungry to know Jesus.

So how does this work for us? Who are the ‘people of peace’ in your life? Do you need to spend more time with people outside the church so you can find some people of peace? Many of us have had to rethink how we spend our time and which relationships we invest in.

Understanding Jesus’ teaching on ‘people of peace’ has been liberating for me. I’d previously felt an uncomfortable pressure to have uncomfortable conversations with people who didn’t want to know about Jesus. Sharing my faith has now become more of a partnership with Jesus, discovering where He is already at work in someone’s life. I’m loving making strong friendships with people outside the church.

 

Read:    Bible – Luke 10, John 4, Acts 10, Acts 16.11-15, Acts 15.16-34

                Inspirational books – Miraculous Movements by Jerry Trousdale

Pray:      Ask God to show you people of peace

Act:        Invest in these relationships, re-orient your diary to spend quality time with people of peace in their contexts

  

⁵ “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ ⁶ If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. ⁷ Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide.

Luke 10.5-7

 

“There is something about being unapologetically vulnerable and relying on people of peace who welcome us and serve us.”

 

“It can be easy to find a person of peace but never get round to talking about Jesus with them. People of peace love to talk with us about spiritual things.”