A man who worked for a television station accepted an invitation to attend a church's drama about the death and resurrection of Jesus. At the conclusion, a pastor invited attendees to call the church if they wanted to talk about what they had seen and heard. Simon, who was a skeptic, called the next day and made an appointment to meet with a pastor.

Later that same year, after several meetings and much soul-searching and thinking, Simon decided to trust Jesus as his Savior. He grew rapidly as a believer, and he was part of the cast in the next year's drama.

This type of testimony is encouraging because so often it seems that our efforts to shine the light of the gospel into our communities are met with resistance.

In today's Bible reading, former Jewish exiles who were trying to rebuild Jerusalem were facing opposition from their neighbors. God reminded them that success would not come by human might or power, but by God's Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).

As part of Christ's church today, we may get discouraged by resistance to the gospel. We too need to remember that God's work is not done by our might or power, but by the Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is to speak out faithfully in His name and leave the results to Him.  — David C. Egner