Topical / Instructional Message – Various Scriptures
Introduction
Did you know that a five-year-old can tell people about Jesus? There was a little girl named Lindsay. Her parents were amazed one day when they heard this five-year-old telling one of her little friends about Jesus. The children were sitting on the front steps of the house, and the parents tiptoed up to the window to see and hear better.
Little Lindsay told her friend that if she believed in Jesus and prayed, He would forgive her sins and she would go to heaven. The little girl was convinced, so they prayed.
When she was done praying, she looked up at Lindsay and asked, Will my mommy be in heaven, too?”
Lindsay thought for a moment and replied, “Yeah, if she believes in Jesus. But if you don’t want her there, just don’t talk about Him when she’s around.”
[From 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speakers, Michael Hodgin, Zondervan (1994), p. 136.]
Transition
Now, that’s cute coming from the mouth of a
child. But what’s not cute is the fact that so many of us take little Lindsay’s approach every day. We have people around us, family – friends – schoolmates – coworkers – neighbors, who have no knowledge whatsoever of Jesus Christ. They are spiritually dead. Yet we do not share the one message that will change their life and eternity. We know the truth, but we keep it a secret. Most often because we are afraid of rejection, or we fear we do not know enough, or we fear that the people we talk to may ask us a question that we cannot answer. But in the end, our silence all boils down to our fear. We are, in almost every circumstance, more worried about our pride and our ego than we are about the spiritual condition of the people around us.
As we conclude our SURVIVOR series today, we
are going to talk about how we can grow our tribe. Now, if you know anything about the SURVIVOR television show, they are not about increasing their number. Their goal is to vote people off … get rid of them so that there are less people competing for the prize. Ten weeks ago there were 16 people on the SURVIVOR island. Now there are only seven. And, eventually, the number will get down to one. That’s the strategy of the show.
Unfortunately, that’s almost the strategy of many churches and so-called Christians. Each year we have thousands of churches that do not reach a single person for Christ … and those churches are dying in droves. In fact, the last statistic I saw showed that we are closing the doors on seven churches a day in the United States.
But, even in those churches where people are being reached with the message of Christ, the preacher is doing most of the reaching. He is the soul-winner, because the people figure that’s what they’re paying him to do. And there, again, we find so many Christians who have no clue about sharing their faith.
Well, today, you are going to learn about sharing your faith. Friends, I need your help. I can’t do all of the witnessing and sharing on my own. We will never be the explosive, dynamic, growing, irresistible church that I know God is calling us to be until all of you understand your role in evangelism and get busy performing that role. So, today, I am basically going to teach you today a simple strategy for sharing your faith with the people you have contact with in your life. You might even call this Witnessing 101. But, it’s my prayer, that when we’re done here in a few minutes you will be convinced that it is your job to tell people about Jesus, and you will be a little better equipped for that task.
But, first, let’s make sure our foundation is established. Look at these verses. We call these the Great Commission. They are the foundation of what we do as a church. Let’s do something a little different today. I want you to read these out loud with me.
***Read Matthew 28:19-20***
Paul wrote some incredible words in his letter to the church at Rome that I want you to read along with me.
*** Read Romans 10: 14-15***
So, Jesus expects us to share our faith … but how do we do it?
Bible Truths
1. Start with people you already know. (Matthew 4:18-
20)
This was Jesus first approach. Many people don’t know it, but Jesus already knew Simon Peter and Andrew. We know from John chapter one that Jesus had already talked to these two men. He had also started preaching and teaching in the area, so they knew who Jesus was. Now, isn’t it interesting that Jesus, right at the beginning of His ministry, went and called out two men that he already knew … two men that he already had relationships with.
Folks, this makes so much sense. Hopefully, the people who know you already have some measure of respect for you. They value your friendship and your influence. Going to those people and telling them about Jesus is the most natural thing in the world. Your faith should be such an active part of your life that it should come up on occasion in the normal flow of conversation … unless you’re living your Christian life in the closet.
I put this principle to work in my own life when it came to my kids. I determined early on that I wanted to share Jesus with my kids. I wasn’t going to let the preacher or someone else do it. I wanted them to hear about Jesus from me. You see, I started close to home. I started with the people in my life. Friends, that’s where you need to begin. Don’t start out by running up to the Cadiz Restaurant and pegging people at the salad bar. Don’t start with street preaching. Start with the people you know.
2. Pray that they will accept Christ into their life. (James 5:16b)
This is a righteous prayer. It will be powerful and effective. God hears this prayer, and He acts on it. I have seen it happen far too many times. I saw it happen in the life of a teenager named Michael. Michael was horrible. He came from a really troubled home. He stayed in trouble at home and at school, even with the law. Several of his friends decided to just cover Michael’s life in prayer. They prayed together for him, they prayed individually for him – that God would step into his life and change him. And you know, one day He did. Delinquent, problem-child Michael accepted Christ, turned away from his old friends, joined the church, and began serving God. He went on mission trips, he sang in the youth choir. He grew into a leader in his ministry. But it all started with prayer.
Friends, you need to sit down and make a prayer list of the people in your life who need Jesus Christ, then start praying for them each and every day. Place the list in your Bible. We’re going to talk a little more about that during our Life Application time later. But decide now that you will pray without ceasing … and God will honor and answer this righteous prayer.
3. Build relationships through which you can share your faith. (Mark 2:13-15)
Jesus did that. He built relationships with people, even people he would ordinarily have nothing to do with. Look at what he did in these verses. He went to the home of a tax collector … he dined with the most rejected sinners of his culture. But He was building relationships. He was getting involved in peoples’ lives in a very real and personal way.
Folks, that’s what we have to do to share our faith. I absolutely despise Christians who slam people. Do you know what I mean? They just walk up to total strangers and slam them with the Bible, and with a boiled-down version of the Gospel. There is no life investment involved. They just appear in someone’s life, shout something about Jesus, and demand a response. Then when a response doesn’t come, they just walk off with satisfaction and say, “Well, at least I sowed some seeds.” But, tragically, those seeds are more often than not seeds of doubt and seeds of disgust.
Friends, sharing your faith requires an investment on your part. It demands an investment in prayer, time, relationships, and friendships. Don’t expect to make any headway by suddenly appearing in someone’s life and smacking them in the head with Jesus. You must invest yourself, make relationships, establish friendships which will become the bridges across which you carry the incredible message of Jesus Christ. Spend time with people. Eat with them. Invite them to your home … then, when you have earned the right of friendship, tell them about Jesus.
4. When you feel led to share your faith with someone, start where they are. (Acts 8:29-35)
Philip found the Ethiopian sitting in a chariot and reading from the Old Testament book if Isaiah. So, Philip walked up to him and engaged him in conversation, right there in the chariot. He met the man where he was, and opened up an opportunity to talk about spiritual things. He used the setting that the man was already in to reach him with the message of Jesus.
This is a simple missiological principle. You reach people for Jesus right where they are, in their culture, in their life setting. You know, we didn’t always used to do it that way. There once was a time when missionaries would go into a country, make the people dress in our western clothes, teach the natives English and good manners, then tell them about Jesus. They required people to travel a great cultural distance in order to know Christ.
But we must not reach out in that way. We must engage people and meet them right where they are in life … in their circumstance. We simply cannot expect people to act like Christian, church-going folk before they know Christ. We have to meet them where they are, right in the middle of all of their messy life problems. You know, people really do make messes. They mess their lives, and the lives of their families, so much. But it’s in those messy life moments that people are most open to spiritual matters. It’s those moments where we, as Christians, must step into their lives, help meet a practical need, and earn the right to help meet their spiritual need in Christ Jesus.
Transition: There was once a man who was born blind. He had never had use of his eyes. Then one day Jesus came along and healed this man. Jesus spit in the dirt and rubbed mud on his eyes, then told him to go wash his eyes in the pool … and he was healed!
This caused a great uproar in religious circles. First, Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath … and that greatly upset the religious power-brokers. They brought in the formerly blind man and interrogated him. They accused him of never having been blind in the first place. They tried to get him to renounce Jesus – to call him a sinner.
But look at what the man said, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I know. I was blind but now I see!”
That man, in answering his critics, has showed us our next important step in sharing our faith.
5. Share your own story – your testimony of faith. (John 9:25)
So many people fail to share their faith because they are not theologically equipped. They are afraid that someone will ask them a hard Bible question that they can’t answer. So, instead of being embarrassed or backed into a corner, they just keep their mouths shut.
But, friends, you don’t need to be a Bible scholar to share your faith. You just need to know Jesus. Tell your own story, your own testimony, what Jesus has done in your life. You don’t have to quote a single verse of Scripture to tell someone about Jesus. If they ask you a hard question, you just say, “I don’t know the answer to that, but here’s what I do know …” and share your story.
Please understand this simple truth. A person with a personal experience is never at the mercy of someone with an argument. They cannot argue with your testimony, because they do not know … they cannot crawl into your heart and life. Christians, be bold and strong, and share your story.
6. Share the basics of the Gospel. (Romans 10:8-12)
Folks, people are not going to hear the message unless we tell it. Our lifestyle and our actions are vitally important in our witness, but we can’t just let it end there. Sooner or later, we have to tell. We have to explain the truth of the Gospel message. Here are all of the basics that you need to know and share.
A – Accept
Accept our sin problem. (Romans 3:23)
B – Believe
Believe in who Jesus is and what He has done. (John 11:25-26)
C – Commit
Commit to following Jesus for the rest of your life. (Luke 9:23)
If you will share these simple basics from God’s Word, along with your testimony, you have all of the tools and power that you need to lead a friend to Jesus.
But don’t just float the information out there and leave it hanging. You must take it to the ultimate, most important step.
7. Help them call upon the Lord. (Romans 10:13)
Be willing and able to lead someone in a simple prayer of salvation. There isn’t anything magical about the words. You can’t mess it up. It’s okay if you stumble through it. God is not going to ignore the prayer of your friend if you leave out some theological word like sanctification or atonement or substitutionary! Just help your friend put what is happening in their heart and soul into words. Your prayer will help them solidify their understanding and their faith and ground them in the confidence that God really is stepping out of Heaven and stepping into their lives.
Closing Illustration
An elderly man was once known in his community for telling this story:
“A man, his son, and his son’s friend were sailing off the Pacific coast, when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright. The three of them were swept into the ocean.
“Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life...to which boy would he throw the other end of the line? He had only seconds to make the decision that would save one life and guarantee the death of the other.
“The father knew that his son was a Christian, but he also knew that his son’s friend was not. As the father yelled out, ‘I love you, Son!’ he threw the line to his son’s friend. By the time he pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared under the waves. His body was never recovered.
“The father knew that his son would step into eternity with Jesus, but he could not bear the thought of his son’s friend dying without Jesus. So, he sacrificed his son.”
When they first heard this story, two teenagers said, “That was a nice story, but we don’t think it was very realistic for a father to give up his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”
The old man said, “Well, you’ve got a point there.” And a big smile came across his narrow face. He said, “It sure isn’t very realistic, is it? But I’s standing here today to tell you that THAT story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His son for me. You see, I was that son’s friend. And I’m so glad that he threw me the line. He saved my life in more ways than one.”
Closing Challenge
Friends, all around you in the waters of life, people are floating, struggling, and in some cases, drowning in a sea of horror in the life that they live. You have the lifeline (hold up a large rope), you have the message of Jesus. How much longer will you selfishly hold it? When will you uncoil the lifeline of Jesus Christ and cast it out into this world of hurting, struggling, dying people? Will you begin today to implement this strategy that I have taught you and seek to lead the people around you to Jesus? Throw out that line!
Prayer and Challenge
Share Gospel within today’s context. Pray for believers to be passionate about sharing their faith and growing their tribe.
Life Application
Turn over on the back of the message sheet and explain the Friendship Evangelism Challenge.
