Do you, atheist, take this gospel...

Officiating a wedding for the first time in Finland, Bob Pecoraro got a rare chance to preach the Gospel to a group of guests with several atheists among them. The response was promising.

In late August, Pastor Bob Pecoraro from Calvary Chapel Turku in Finland was asked to officiate the wedding of a couple in his congregation. Knowing there would be several atheist guests at the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom specifically asked Bob to lay out the Gospel in its full glory - no holding back, no toning down. You don't need to tell Bob Pecoraro that twice, and thus the Gospel was preached with as much ferver as the subsequent "I do's" from the newlyweds.

"It was a great honor to be asked to perform this wedding. There were 120 people present on the day, and I felt God using the occasion to reach people who don't normally come into a church, let alone listen to a pastor teach from the Bible," Bob Pecoraro says.

After the ceremony, the bride and groom were approached by several non-Christian guests - including some confessing atheists - who explained to them that the Gospel had "touched them" in ways they hadn't felt before.

"Please pray for these people and their souls. God wants to save them, and I believe they're just now starting to feel His hand knocking at the door of their hearts," says Bob.

Click here to see pictures from the wedding ceremony.

Witnessing God Work on the Streets of Stockholm

Just when they thought it would be just another ordinary night of street witnessing, Joel Wickström and the people of the Stockholm Bible Study became witnesses of a miraculous work of God's Spirit.

Every Wednesday night, the Calvary Chapel Bible Study group in Stockholm takes the gospel to the streets of the Swedish capitol in a weekly effort to spread the Word of God to random Stockholmers. Up until last week, a usual night would consist of handing out several dozen cards with Scriptures on them - no invitation, no advertising for certain churches, just handing out the Word of God, knowing it won't return void.

"We were out there handing out Scripture cards like any other night. As we were getting ready to call it a night, suddenly one guy came back to us and asked us straight up "How can I start my spiritual journey?". We talked with him, and he shared how he had felt a conviction of his sin for a while and how he felt somehow that he needed to be forgiven. After sharing the gospel with him, he ended up praying to receive Christ as his Savior," Joel Wickström explains.

"What an encouragement to see God's Spirit work like that in someone's heart! It was so easy for me to lead this man to Christ, because God had already done all the work. It was so incredible," Joel says.

This new addition to God's Kingdom has indicated that he wants to come to the Stockholm Bible Study group next week, but already now God has used him to bless the workers of that Bible Study.

"Although we do trust that God can use the simple verses we hand out in the lives of those who take the cards with them, I was maybe beginning to doubt a little bit whether we were making any difference by doing this every week. We were, in a sense, ready to give up. Praise God that He showed us not to give up - it does make a difference."