How can Gospel outreach feed the faith of believers?

4/24/18                Craig,  23

“A certain farmer had two dogs that were always fighting each other. He named one “Faith” and the other “Doubt”. A neighbor noticed that when they fought, Faith always won. “Why does Faith always beat Doubt?” he asked the farmer. “Simple” said the farmer. “Faith is the only one I feed!”

I don’t know where I heard that story, but I found myself repeating it to a young man named Craig during a street outreach conversation. Craig told how he had grown up attending his family’s church, but has stopped attending church and reading the Bible, and has some serious doubts about his faith, even questioning God’s existence at times.

I told this story to show him he needs to actively feed his faith and starve his doubts through fellowship and time in the Word. Craig was extremely grateful for the reminder and made plans to get back to church.

Jesus said “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” Our churches often have many empty seats where our young people and new believers once sat. If we take the initiative to reach out to unbelievers, we'll also find some "lost sheep" among them, and the opportunity to invite them back into the fold.

We'll also experience an important principle of the Gospel: "For to him who has, more will be given". When we put our faith in action, sharing it with both unbelievers and wayward believers, we'll find we are feeding our own faith as well.

Christian outreach isn’t just about evangelism, it’s also about going out to find lost sheep who have wandered astray, and feeding our own faith in the process.

(see our conversation at https://youtu.be/1JNmM86QJZY on my YouTube channel)