{"id":111535,"date":"2021-10-12T11:20:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T10:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bcc.no\/johan-o-smith-150-years-righteousness-as-the-foundation-for-life-2\/"},"modified":"2025-01-30T11:45:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T10:45:37","slug":"johan-o-smith-150-years-righteousness-as-the-foundation-for-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcc.no\/en\/johan-o-smith-150-years-righteousness-as-the-foundation-for-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Johan O. Smith 150 years: Righteousness as the foundation for life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It began with one man who quietly and calmly gave his whole heart to Jesus on May 17th 1898. Last weekend several thousand believers celebrated the jubilee of Johan O. Smith \u2013 the man who was livingly interested in leading individuals to Christ.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By Ulrikke Andresen – Photo by Andreas Lehmann\/Inger S. Kristoffersen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of October 11th, it\u2019s been 150 years since Johan O. Smith was born, and this was commemorated in BCC during the mission feast this past weekend. The theme of the feast was the foundation that was laid for the church through his life and work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local church in Grenland, Norway, organized the semi-annual mission feast. There were over 3000 attendees in the hall at Oslofjord Convention Center, in addition to fellow believers from 48 countries who watched the event online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Several thousand members attended the jubilee event, both in-person and online. Photo: BCC<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A desire to reach the younger generations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The target audience for the event was young people and young adults. The desire was that young people who have grown up in BCC would get insight into Johan O. Smith\u2019s significance for the church early in the previous century, and what this means for the generation growing up today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Smith built on Jesus Christ as the foundation, and that foundation which was laid for the church at that time has proved itself to be solid and able to bear loads with each new generation. Our hope is that all the young people and everyone involved will make sure to build on such a foundation. The same one that Paul laid in his time, which Johan O. Smith also continued to build on in our time”, says Bj\u00f8rn Nilsen, elder of the local church in Grenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A desire to gather the god-fearing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the first half of the feast, viewers heard about Smith\u2019s conversion, and later in the second half, about his commtiment to spreading the gospel. He had a desire to gather the god-fearing in the country, at a time when several revivals were sweeping over Norway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last part focused on the meaning of righteousness, both in one\u2019s own life and in the church. This was all conveyed through spoken messages, films, panel conversations, and songs written by Johan O. Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The songs J.O. Smith wrote in his time often reveal a practical Christian life, and several of these songs were sung at the feast. Listen to one of the songs here:<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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