An Atheist Comes to the Light

February 27th, 2021
by Brian Warth

Jesus taught His people are to be a light on a hill (Matt. 5: 14-16). The world is to be attracted to the light. Impacted by the light.

When the COVID -19 pandemic broke out last March, the government shut down all churches. We complied out of good faith and went exclusively online.

But something didn’t feel right. The church is not just a sent people, but we're also a gathered people. We've been gathering to worship King Jesus for 2000 years. Depending upon when you lived, you worshipped in the face of fear, death and even lions. Sometimes you worshipped in cemeteries. Sometimes underground.

Our church was faced with a decision. Do we keep worship exclusively online or do we figure out a way to worship outdoors?

We felt this was the moment for the church to shine. The world needed the church like never before.

We decided to relaunch worship outdoors. We held a drive-in worship service first. Then we put up tents. We bought sound equipment. We gathered for worship in our parking lots and patios.

Very few people came out at first. Sometimes it was very hot, sometimes very cold. But we gathered by faith. We worshipped by faith. We set up by faith, week after week.

Soon I started hearing stories of people seeing our outdoor worship. One guy said he heard us worshipping while he was in the drive-thru of a nearby Jack’n Box. Another said he heard us from his home. Fresh Hope started sucking people into our outdoor worship gatherings, in the face of fear.

Last weekend, over 1000 people were impacted with the Gospel. Many surrendered to Jesus. We baptized a former atheist. After gathering with us three times, the power of God amongst us convicted his heart. He then made a public declaration of Jesus as King through the waters of baptism.

Lord, help your church to continue to be a light on a dark hill.