Some Tips On Sharing Your Faith Series

SERIES: “LESSONS FROM THE EARLY CHURCH”

TEXT: ACTS 8:26-40

TITLE: “SOME TIPS ON SHARING YOUR FAITH”

INTRODUCTION: A. What gets you excited?

--Someone: “You cannot kindle a fire in any other heart until it is burning in your

own.”

1. Another word for excitement is “enthusiasm”

2. It’s been said: “Enthusiasm is unmistakable evidence that you’re in love with your

work.”

3. Charles Schwab: “A man can succeed at almost anything for he has unlimited

enthusiasm.”

4. If we are excited about our relationship with Jesus, it shouldn’t be too hard to tell

others about that relationship

--We can talk to people about all kinds of things: the weather, our favorite sports

team, our favorite television show, a hobby that we enjoy or any other topic of

interest to us because it excites us and we want to share the excitement with

other people.

B. Chuck Swindoll, Strengthening Your Grip, lists four basic hindrances to sharing our

faith:

1. Bad experience

--Maybe as a non-Christian you met someone who seemed to be a “wild-eyed

fanatic” who pushed you, maybe even embarrassed you trying to force a decision.

2. Indifference

a. As hard as it is to admit, there some who claim to be believers that just don’t

care that people are lost and will spend this life without Christ and eternity in

hell.

b. They think, “Hey, if that’s the way that person wants to believe, that’s fine with

me; to each his own.”

3. Fear

--We’re just plain scared

a. We’re afraid we’ll be asked a question we can’t answer

b. Or we’re afraid that someone will get mad at us and tell us off.

4. Ignorance

--We don’t know how to go about sharing our faith

C. This passage from Acts 8 describes someone sharing their faith

1. It’s a fairly well-known story in the Restoration Movement about Phillip and the

Ethiopian eunuch.

2. Most of the time I’ve heard it preached in a sermon or taught in a lesson, the

emphasis in Restoration Movement churches is the doctrine of baptism for

salvation.

3. Let’s look at this passage to help us in sharing our faith with others

I. MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE

--Acts 8: 26-27a – “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes

down from Jerusalem to Gaza." So he started out…”

A. Availability is anything that makes itself accessible for utilization

1. Availability is what we see in Is. 6:8 – “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send and

who will for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I; send me.’”

2. One of my favorite sayings: “God doesn’t want your capability. He only wants your availability. If

you’ll give Him your availability, He’ll provide the capability.”

B. Philip Clarke Brewer:

God uses

what you have

to fill a need which

you never could have filled.

God uses

where you are

to take you where

you never could have gone.

God uses

what you can do

to accomplish what

you never could have done.

God uses

who you are

to let you become who

you never could have been.

II. KNOW THAT GOD PREPARES HEARTS

--Acts 8:27b-28 – “… and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the

treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his

way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.”

A. How did God prepare the heart of this Ethiopian official

1. He was returning from worship in Jerusalem

2. He was reading scripture

3. God doesn’t prepare every heart the same way every time.

--The essential thing is that this preparation is a process that develops in the person the knowledge

that there is a need for God in their lives and a need to know God.

B. Preparation is the work of the Holy Spirit

--Jn. 16:7-11 – “7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the

Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the

world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not

believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no

longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

III. LISTEN TO THE PROMPTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

A. Acts 8:29 – “29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."”

--If the Holy Spirit is preparing hearts ahead of time, you can be sure that He knows when they are ready