STEP 3 - SHARING THE GOSPEL - CHAPTER 16
LET THE NEW ADVENTURE BEGIN
Personal Evangelism
You can be effective in spreading the Gospel message to others as you grow in your Christian faith. Some extroverted folks use a straightforward approach in sharing the Gospel, and introverted ones are more reserved, shy, and soft-spoken. No matter what category you find yourself in, you can get passionate about successfully impacting others with the Gospel by being yourself and leaving the results with God. Infectious Christians come in all ages, experiencing different levels of sharing, personalities, shapes, color, and size. As do all those lost and searching for truth come from different age groups, ethnicity, education, personalities, and religious background. There are all types of Christians and all types of spiritual seekers. God knows and will match you with the right person to share the "Good News."
My Story
I am a regular person that wanted to share the Gospel, but scared and fearful of how folks would think and react. As a new Christian in the seventies wanted to tell everyone about the love of God with not much wisdom. I did not know the basics of sharing my faith. Once my parents were visiting from another part of our country and were planning to stay the night. I wanted to share what has happened to me, and they left that night. With the remarks, "you will not preach to us." Yes, we will all make mistakes along the way, but we will grow in spiritual wisdom as we move from being hesitant and afraid to confident and courageous to adventurous. In the nineties, I became the president of a small street ministry where we fed and gave a mini-sermon each night to those living on the streets. To be honest, those were one of the best days of sharing and seeing the "favor of God" on my life and others. It was an "God-given wonderful adventure." You can have the same exciting adventure, sharing, and seeing God work by His Spirit in your circle of acquaintances.
Your Story
These next few study guides are dedicated to you who want to share the Gospel message to your family, friends, neighbors, and the lost. Common prayer requests that we get:
"Please pray for me that I have the right guidance to share God's love and gospel with __________, who shows more and more interest."
Or Paul, a teenager that asks: "Pray for my family to get closer, and my parents are against me joining a religion, but I wanted to be saved." He goes on to say he is searching for answers and is looking for a church.
Deanna says, "Have hurt and pain in my heat, and I am lukewarm and do not attend church."
Others are homeless; others just turned to Christianity; the list goes on. I am excited to see what your story will look like as you start sharing your faith.
LET YOUR GOD-GIVEN ADVENTURE BEGIN!
Our prayer is "Holy Spirit take these remaining study guides and infuse in each person an uncontrollable desire to share the Love of our wonderful Savior to a lost and dying world."
What stage are you in your Christian adventure?
Here are five general Christian stages of sharing. They will help you to understand what is holding you back and how to increase your desire and compassion for the lost.
1. A New Baby Christian (Just accepted Christ as Lord.)
Usually very excited about sharing the love of God and what happened to them. (Sometimes with a lot of zeal and lacking knowledge.)
2. A New Christian (Up and down in trusting in God.)
In some cases, hungry for the things of God, like a sponge soaking up God's Word (The Bible.) Wanting to volunteer and get involved in God's work while observing mature Christians and following their lead and example. You are discovering your faith in God with all the ups and down of putting your trust in God.
3. Developing Christian ( Hungry and desiring to serve Jesus by trusting the guidance of the Holy Spirit.)
Spend many hours reading, growing, and understanding the Bible, praying, joining study or life groups, and fellowshipping with other Christians in a caring local church.
4. Mature Chrisitan ( Saved for a long time and knows the scriptures well.)
In a lot of cases, their first love of Christ has taken a back burner. Sharing is not a priority; having a family, job, making money is more important and in some cases wishing for the old days when you first met Jesus. Remembering the times you first accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and wanted to tell everyone what happened to you. Over time too many believers lost their urgency, determination, and eagerness to be soul-winners.
All the above are essential, but unless we share the Gospel with other people, the unsaved will never know what Jesus has done for them. Many Christians known Christ, for a long time, have never led a sinner to Christ and experienced the incredible joy of nurturing that soul. Now is the time to begin. Congratulations on desiring to want to be more like the New Testament Christians that always shared and literally 1000's came to the Lord.
Yes, God can use YOU in the same way! I am sure there are many doubting responses to that statement, but instead of feeling insecure in your response. Say, "Lord, here I am in all my failings and weaknesses, use me for your Glory in sharing the Gospel."
5.
You are a soul-winner. You live to share the "Good News."
You have a Burden for Lost Souls. You are passionate about God just as when you are first saved, telling others about Jesus is the most crucial part of your life, more than anything else in the world.
What is God's perspective? God's command in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation." You might not go to other countries, but you can be a soul winner (a witness) and influence in your community. Encourage you to memorize Proverbs 11:30 "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives." Soul-winners are very wise. You might not be in that place, but that is your desire and the reason for taking these study guides. Soul-winning is the perfect way to stay on fire for God. Each of us want to return to our first love and fully commit to God in every area of our lives. If Christians do not tell the unsaved God's excellent plan for their lives, who will?
What stage are you? (Pause and think about it!)
Excuses We Use.
- Excited about sharing with a lot of zeal, but no knowledge.
- I want to share but not knowing how.
- Fearful of talking to others and being rejected.
- A longtime Christian knowing the Bible well, involved in a local church, well respected in the church community. Knowing the command of God but makes excuses or it becomes a commonplace not to share. Rationalizing our situation. We say to ourselves, "no one else shares their faith in my circle of friends, and my pastor hardly ever mentions evangelism." This results in a lack of interest, complacency, and a carelessness demonstrated in our conversation and lifestyle.
The best adventure is sharing the Gospel and leading non-Christians to having faith in Christ. Deep down, we all want to be infectious Christians to share and see someone come to a"born-again" experience with Christ. Yes, many of us are unsure about how to be a soul-winner with all the fears and risks involved. But in our heart of hearts, we want to have a spiritual impact on the world around us. It is never too late, no matter what stage you are in to get started.
Many years ago, God sent a native Christian man that I never met before to share the Gospel message and give me a Bible. What about you, God loved you so much He sent someone to share the Good News with you. It is now your turn to be used to bring non-Christians to the Lord. My prayer is you develop a hunger for winning souls as you read the next few study guides. Look for methods that work for you. There is nothing more exciting in life than showing Christ's love to the lost and leading a wayward person towards and accepting Christ. Just make yourself available to the leading of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2;4-5 says, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power." Start believing God for souls today, and as you share the Gospel message, God by His Holy Spirit will use your words with His Power. (Pause and think about it.)
The question is, where do we start?
"LORD GIVE US A BURDEN, A ZEAL FOR LOST SOULS, AND RETURN OUR FIRST LOVE." Yes, we can gain knowledge of God's Word, but we have to share that knowledge with those we come in contact with. As in Mark 16:15, the biblical command is to tell others about Jesus Christ. We need to be enthusiastic and passionate about all the things of God as when we were first saved. Every day in our spiritual walk will be brand-new, challenging, and an exciting adventure. God will use your inadequacies and personality to reach the right person in need. God is not looking for exceptional abilities, intelligence, and talent, just AVAILABILITY!
So Let's Start
First, we have to learn and put in action these first steps of evangelizing (sharing the Gospel.)
1. PRAYER - Ask God for openings to share not in our own power, but God-given opportunities to share.
2. KNOWING - We do not share because of a lack of knowledge and understanding. As you take these study guides, you will find many different methods, find different approaches that works for you.
3. PLANNING - Plan to make time to talk with non-believers. Make plans to share each day or start with one person a week. We plan for most other things that are less important.
4. BE DEPENDABLE - Be faithful to what God wants for our lives instead of being concerned about people's responses. Fear is a negative belief, while faith is a positive belief.
5. BE BRAVE - Use the opportunities given to share even though you do not know the outcome and leave the results with God.
6. BE PREPARED - We do not share as we are afraid of failure. Preparing and finding different methods that work for you on how to share the Gospel.
7. BE AWARE - Recognize and look for opportunities to evangelize. Have our eyes and heart open to the non-Christian reality and finality without Christ that we meet. Aware of the occasions even if it inconvenient and tiresome. Each day make a conscious decision of those God places in your path and choose to share in those "God moments."
8. LOVE - If we shared the Gospel more, we would love people much more. If we do not share the Gospel message, do we love people less? We share the "good news" because we love people.
9. CONTEMPLATE - The high cost of what Jesus has done on the cross for us and showed His love for us. If we do not share our hearts and minds go cold. Hebrews 12:3 says, "Consider him who endured such opposition from siners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
10. HEART SEARCHING - The hard discipline of digging out sin in our hearts. "Search, me God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24.)
11. CLAIMING VICTORY - Go beyond limited victories by reading the God-stories in the Bible. Building your faith upon faith, victory upon victory, and hungry for God to act. Never becoming comfortable and content. Recognizing that God doesn't give partial victories but total triumph. What is your God-story?
12. VERY IMPORTANT - ALLOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT TO HAVE IT'S RIGHTFUL PLACE IN OUR LIFE.
In the twenty-first century churches, the Holy Spirit is often under preached and under-appreciated. In today's church, there are two sides. One side stresses the importance of the Word of God with sometimes disconnecting from any emotional zeal and extremism. The other side emphasizing the power of the Holy Spirit at times can stray away to questionable emotions and teachings.
Like many things in life, the answer is somewhere in the middle, as taught in the Bible. The Word of God is the authority and honored as we have a childlike dependency and openness to the Holy Spirit. It is only the Holy Spirit that can make the things of God real to us and alive to people. The more we realize this and depend on the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in all things, we will be obedient to our calling in Jesus Christ. 1 Samuel 15:22 (KJV) says, "...Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice," and verse 23, "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry..." (Pause and Think About It.)
John 7:37-39, speaks of powerful, widespread currents of life that flow out of the Holy Spirit to us to bless others. Our prayer is the Holy Spirit will come down on you, for we are truly helpless without Him.
CONCLUSION
So during a crisis, trials and pandemics, let’s be different from those who have no hope. Let’s be firm together in our conviction of the goodness and power of God. Let’s be steadfast as we trust God and not run in fear. People will see it, and some may ask why. Ask yourself what’s the worst that could happen? Answer that as a committed Christian who knows he or she is loved by a good and all-powerful God, who sees the beginning from the end, and does all things according to the counsel of His will.
God has surrounded you, and the forces of heaven are at His disposal to protect and provide for you. May God stir up your faith so that you will depend on Him every day all day with a conviction and trust in the Holy Spirit. And remember that every trial you endure is an opportunity for the world to be transformed by your God-story.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND, "WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?"
In a Nutshell, the Gospel is the most important question any person can ask. The word Gospel literally means "Good News." It is the plan that God has created to save sinful people from eternal separation from Him. The term "Good News" refers to the story of Jesus Christ's birth, death, and resurrection and message of salvation, justification, and sanctification.
Foundation One: God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. (John 3:16.)
Foundation Two: All of us sin and our sin has separated us from God. (Romans 3:23, Romans 6;23.)
Foundation Three: Jesus Christ is God's provision for our sin. (Romans 5:8.)
Foundation Four: We must individually accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. (Ephesians 2:8-9.)
More details on our sister website, "What is the Gospel?" here.
In one sentence, "The Gospel" is the account that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again, forever victorious over all His enemies, so that now there is no condemnation and judgment who accept and believe on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Paul said in Romans 1:15, he was " . . . Eager to preach the Gospel . . ." To be ready and eager to preach the Gospel that will answer people's questions. This will require you to MEMORIZE and STUDY Scriptures. In the next few days we will look at many different methods of presenting the Gospel, using simple ways as one Bible verse, tracts, and more extensive means.
Here is one classic suggestion to memorize and study the plan of salvation in a concise outline form that goes with the four foundations above.
1) All sinners - Romams 3:23
2) Result - death - Romans 6:23
3 ) Heaven perfect - Revelation 21:27
4) Cannot earn - Ephesians 2:8-9
5) Christ paid and gives righteousness - 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9
6) Only believe - John 3:16
7) Know you have eternal life - I John 5 13
Memorizing the main points of what one wants to cover has been a successful sales procedure in secular businesses where person-to-person contact is required in sales. The soul-winner also should use any Scriptural methods and techniques that work as an aid to their witnessing.
"Committing to memory" and "knowing by heart" will be immensely valuable when you share, not that you will cite it word-for-word as you witness, but you will then be free to start sharing, even when you are unsure and may perhaps be nervous about what to say.
PLEASE TELL YOUR STORY
Pray for opportunities and share your story with those individuals this week.
Next Study Guide - Chapter 17 - WHAT IS THE GOSPEL IN A NUTSHELL?
Fun Contest: we will pick one testimony to win a free Bible once a month.
Your testimony will be judged by its sincerity and thought that went into it. Everyone's story is important to God and us.
Join the Contest here.
See you tomorrow. We will be looking at sharing your testimony in more detail.
RECOMMEND:
PRAYER BOOKMARK IN SHARING THE GOSPEL PDF DOWNLOAD
( Recommend Printing Bookmark PDF To Use In Your Bible - Makes 4 Bible Bookmarks.)
PRAYER GUIDE IN SHARING THE GOSPEL PDF DOWNLOAD HERE
(Keep a copy in your Bible.)