How To Share The Gospel

I was one way… And now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between… Was Him“.

Repeat.

That is a quote from Mary Magdalene in the TV series about Jesus' public ministry called The Chosen.

She is trying to explain to someone who was witness to her transformation, from having seven demons as the scripture indicates in Luke 8:2 to being of sound mind and heart.

She was trying to explain how that happened.

Mary. of course, went on to be a key disciple of Jesus. She was one of those who funded Jesus' public ministry, who encountered the resurrected Christ at the tomb, and was the very first witness to the fact that Jesus was resurrected.

“ I was one way… And now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between… Was Him“.

Today we are wrapping up our September series on evangelism. Or at least this is the last direct sermon for now on this message,

and we will be having the Bible study after the service as well as the Thursday Bible chat to dig deeper into the scriptures and into the application of what we’re going to talk about today.

Next week, on the first Sunday of October, we are moving on to discussing how it is that we discover our specific individual purpose within the body of Christ.

That will be another series where we discuss spiritual gifts, ministry passions, and what we uniquely bring in terms of a personality to the ministry or Ministries that God has called us to and is calling us too.

But even though in a sense this is the last message on evangelism for now, my prayer and my deep hope is that we will all continue to grow in our love for the gospel,

and in our eager willingness to always be able to give an account for the hope that we have in Christ, when people ask us.

This past Thursday, a number of individuals who regularly attend our Thursday fireside Bible chat, shared the very short and concise, 30 second version of their testimonies.

The previous week we had some discussion and a little bit of training about how to do that.

Honestly I was very moved by how and what people shared as they expressed their testimony.

Part of the challenge of being prepared to share your testimony, is doing the work of thinking about and meditating upon how God first got your attention, perhaps who was involved in sharing the gospel with you, and then a little bit about why and how you come to faith.

This coming Thursday, those who wish to will share the one minute and/or the three minute version of their testimonies, again as training,

as preparation for being able to be ready to articulate the reason that they are a Christian, and how they came to faith.

What is the value of sharing our testimony? It is potentially a Gateway, it is something that can create an open door to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is demonstrating the impact on you of who Jesus is and what he has done for you, and for those whose hearts God has prepared, again it can be an “in“, or gateway to further conversation about the gospel.

It could also be a gateway to inviting someone to church or inviting someone to a Bible study, someone who is seeking God, someone who is exploring faith.

Now sharing our testimony as an opportunity for further dialogue to sharing the gospel is something that excites some people and terrifies others.

It excites some because as Pastor Arleen talked about last week, it’s in our DNA as the Church to want to share our faith, to share the gospel, the incredibly good news of the saving and redeeming work of the Gospel.

It’s in our DNA, it’s in our genetic make up to want to, in a sense, self-replicate in order to perpetuate all that is good and wholesome about the gospel, and about the Body of Christ that results from the gospel.

It’s also true that once we share our faith the first time, there is often a wonderful sense of joy and an increased desire to share more often.

But sharing the gospel terrifies others likely for a variety of reasons. Some of us have a deep sense of the weight and importance of the gospel, and we just don’t feel worthy to share it,

or we don’t have confidence that we will share it rightly or effectively. Maybe we’re unclear on the language.

Malcolm Muggeridge was a famous author, philosopher and commentator. When he came to Christ, he chose to not go public for 11 years because he realized that he needed to sort out a number of issues in his life.