The Habit Of Witnessing Series

The Habit Of Witnessing

Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20, 5:48, Heb 10:14, Romans 3:10, 2 Timothy 2:15, Luke 12:12,

John 16:8, Acts 1:8, 1 Peter 3:15, 1 Samuel 16:7, Acts 1:8, 1 Peter 3:15

January 4, 2004

I. Today I want to look at another habit that all Christians should develop, and that is the habit of witnessing.

A. Witnessing is not something that we choose to do or not do, it is something that we choose to do well or do poorly.

B. Whether or not we are a witness is not an option. We’re just a good one or a bad one. We take the time to learn how to do our job well, or don’t take our responsibility seriously.

C. We are witnesses. The bible doesn’t give us an option to opt out of the witnessing department.

(Acts 1:8 NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

D. When we accept the gift of salvation, and take on the name of Christian we are given the responsibility to be witnesses.

E. There may be a lot of people who don’t put much into being a good witness, and who don’t give of their time in that department, but one way or another when you say I am a Christian, you also say you are a witness.

II. So how do I be a good witness?

A. I AM A GOOD WITNESS BY MAKING A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO DEVOTE MY TIME TO WITNESSING.

(Mat 28:19-20 NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

1. To be a good witness, one of the things that we have to do is, Go.

2. Now, if there is one thing that people in our society do its go, but for the Christian it means that we are to in our going look for the opportunity to share what it is that we have received from God.

3. We are to go looking for opportunities to tell other people about salvation, and model for them the difference that being a Christian makes.

4. The verse that we just read says that we are to go and make disciples of all nations or all people. That means that we are to teach about Jesus and the difference that He has made in our lives.

5. Being a disciple means that we are to be followers of Jesus, and no one can really follow Him unless they have accepted Jesus as the only way that they could be right with God.

6. We know that what we are to teach is what we have learned about salvation, because the next thing that it says is that we are to baptize those that we teach, and we would only baptize someone if they had accepted Jesus as the only way that they could be right with God.

7. That verse also says that we are to teach these people that we are being a witness to, all the things that Jesus has commanded.

8. But the key to the verse is that we are to go. It doesn’t say that we are to sit in our churches and wait for people who want to know more about God to come to us. It says that we are to go.

B. That means that we should look for opportunities to witness as we go through life, but it also means that we should go with the intent of being a witness.

1. It means that we should visit and talk with those who are sick or having problems.

2. It means that we should intentionally visit people to try to talk with them about being a Christian.

3. It means that we should visit people, to invite them to church, and to encourage people who have come to church to come again.

4. And that leads me to answer the question that has been in the bulletin for the last few weeks. What is bigger than your heart, a special gift to our Lord and a great New’s resolution?

5. We are going to have regularly scheduled visitation times. Beginning this Wednesday, and every second, and fourth Wednesday of the month we are going to have a scheduled time for everyone in the church to visit people who have visited the church.

6. This is something that we have to do to get our church to grow. I hope that all of you will plan on being here. If that day doesn’t work out we may try another one, but going out and visiting people is a part of being a witness and it is something that will allow God to create opportunities for us to be the witness that He wants us to be.