Eight Ways To Be An Effective Witness

Acts 1:8

Eight Ways To Be An Effective Witness

Woodlawn Baptist Church

September 12, 2004

Introduction

Tonight I want to share with you a message that I have preached before on the subject of witnessing. I preached it about two and a half years ago, after hearing Pastor Charlie Ellison preach it at one of our local association meetings. This is one of those messages that I believe you will hear from time to time, not because I think you do not know them, but to remind you of your responsibilities to be the very best witness for Christ that you can be.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus was standing on Mount Olivet outside of Jerusalem and was about to ascend into heaven when He gave His first church some important information. He told them that they were about to receive power: the Holy Spirit would come upon them to empower and equip them for an important work. And then He said,

"After all of this, you shall be witnesses unto me…"

I believe that we would all agree that one of the chief responsibilities and privileges we have as God’s children and as members of this church is to be witnesses for Christ. I know that you about this often – share your faith, be a witness – but how? I am of the opinion that there is no one set way to share your faith. The Roman’s Road is good, but it is not appropriate in every situation. There are other fine plans of evangelism that you could learn, but the fact is that Jesus took advantage of every opportunity that came to Him to reach out and minister the gospel to those in need. You and I should do the same, and it should be easier knowing that when the Holy Spirit came upon the church at Jerusalem to empower and equip them, He never left. Our church today still has the same Holy Spirit, who is still doing to same job. He has given us all the tools we need to carry out Jesus’ commands, and it is in His power that we carry out God’s will.

These are not 8 isolated ways to be an effective witness from which you should pick and choose. These 8 ways to witness should all be a consistent part of your life. As you hear them, I hope that you will write them down and make a real effort to continue in those you are doing; repent of those you neglect, and improve upon all you can. Do you know any lost people? Some of you have them living in your homes. Some of you work with them. Remember this: they will go to hell if they never receive Christ. Their salvation may be dependent on you. They need what you have, and here are 8 ways to share it.

Live a consistent Christian life.

I think that there is no greater way to be an effective witness to those around you than to live a consistent Christian life. What do I mean by consistent? It means to be consistent with the Word of God. The world expects us to live better than those who are not in church, and they should expect it! Not only should they expect it, we ought to delight in it! It should not be a chore to follow the teachings of the Bible – it is a great privilege we have, and it is to be a great source of joy and happiness in our lives. Jesus said, “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.” He didn’t say we would be happy by knowing them, but by living them out.

Living a consistent Christian life also means to be consistent in terms of your moods and emotions. Some believers are up and down with every whim that comes along. These are Christians who are not growing like they ought to be. We ought to be ashamed at the way we fly off the handle and pout and bellyache about life. We serve the greatest God there is – and so often we convey by our actions, by our inconsistency that we do not trust God! So live a consistent Christian life for those around you to see. We can all talk the talk – but will you walk the walk?

Witness by word of mouth.

Remember what Paul said in Romans 10:13 and following?

"whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher…so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."