How to Witness

Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 29 views
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →

HOW TO WITNESS

            “Witnessing is taking a good look at the Lord Jesus Christ and then telling others what you’ve seen.”  - Lorne Sanny

            Witnessing is one beggar telling another beggar where he can find bread.

            One of the most exciting and spiritually rewarding experiences in the life of any Christian is being used by God to share Christ with another person.  Inspite of this fact and emphasis in the Bible about the importance of sharing Christ, very few Christians ever experience the joy of leading another person to a saving knowledge of Christ.

            The purpose of this lesson is to help us understand some essential prerequisites to becoming an effective witness and how witnessing can become a natural part of our lives.

ESSENTIAL PREREQUISITES

1.      Be sure you’re a Christian. 
A.  How can a person know they are a Christian? __________________________________________
B.  Do you personally have an assurance of your own salvation? ______________________________

2.  Recognize your responsibility. 
      A.  What instruction did Jesus give in Mark 5:19 to the man He had just healed? _________________
            _______________________________________________________________________________
      B.  What was Peter’s response when they were told not to speak about Christ?
            Acts 4:18-20 ____________________________________________________________________
      C.  Based on Jesus’ past words to His disciples, what do you think He expected them to do?
            Acts 1:8 _______________________________________________________________________
            Matt. 28:18-20 __________________________________________________________________
      D.  What do you think He expects you to do? _____________________________________________

3.       Be available and willing to obey.
A.  God has not called us to be successful as witnesses, only to be faithful.
B.  When you think about witnessing to another person about Christ, how do you respond?
_____ I find it very difficult.
_____ I feel most people really aren’t interested in spiritual things.
_____ I do not speak unless someone asks me.
_____ I find it easy to talk to friends about Christ but not to strangers.
_____ I can speak to strangers about Christ, but not to my close friends or family.
_____ I enjoy talking to oth4ers about Christ and do so often.
_____ I would like to share about Christ, but don’t know what to say.
C.  Why do you think you respond this way? _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
D.  In 2 Cor. 5:9-14 Paul shares reasons for witnessing.  See if you can discover at leas 5 motives.
      1) _____________________________________________________________________________
      2) _____________________________________________________________________________
      3) _____________________________________________________________________________
      4) _____________________________________________________________________________
      5) _____________________________________________________________________________
E.  Do you believe you are willing to become an effective witness for Christ? ___________________

HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE WITNESS

            “It is the Holy Spirit, not we, who converts an individual.  We are the privileged ambassadors of Jesus Christ to communicate a message.  We demonstrate through our personality and life what the grace of Jesus Christ can accomplish.  But let us never naively think that we have converted a soul and brought him to Jesus Christ.  No one calls Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”  - Paul Little

1.      Be prepared.  Witnessing is not merely an activity; it is a way of life.  Christians don’t do witnessing; they are witnesses – good or bad.  Concentrate on improving your witness for Jesus Christ.

A.     What can we learn from 1 Tim. 2:4 and 2 Pet. 3:9 about God’s will for man? _________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

B.     1 John 5:14-15 gives a very important promise regarding prayer.  What is it? _________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

C.     Based on these verses, what assurance can you have as you pray for non-Christians? ___________
_______________________________________________________________________________

D.     Some people are reluctant to share with another person because they don’t know enough.  How much do we need to know before we can be a witness?
1 Jn. 1:3 _______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
“You are writing a gospel, a chapter a day, by the deeds that you do and the words that you say.  Men read what you write – distorted or true.  What is the gospel according to you?”  - Anon.

E.      Why is your life so important to an effective witness?
Matt. 5:16 ______________________________________________________________________
John 13:34-35 ___________________________________________________________________
1 Pet. 3:15-16 ___________________________________________________________________
Some people you know never read the Bible and seldom attend church.  If you want them to know what Christ can do for them, let them see what Christ has done for you.

2.      Focus on Jesus.  A witness in the courtroom is expected to tell what they know about a given situation.  The Christian witness is to tell others what they know about Jesus Christ and what it means to have personally trusted Him.

A.     What was the content of Paul’s message?
1 Cor. 15:3-4 ___________________________________________________________________
1 Cor. 2:1-2 ____________________________________________________________________

B.     1 Cor. 2:4-5 gives some very important facts about witnessing.  Summarize what you think these verses mean. ____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
How could these verses be applied to your witness? ____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

C.     What was the goal of Paul’s life as He spoke to people about Christ?
Col. 1:28 _______________________________________________________________________

An effective witness in one who recognizes the responsibility has been given by God to share the message of Christ with other people.  They recognize that only the Spirit of God is able to draw men to Christ, and so spends much time in prayer for people.  Through their obedient life and consistent verbal witness, they are drawing attention to Jesus Christ that others might trust in Him as their Savior and Lord and are brought to maturity in Him.

Success in witnessing is simply sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.

Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more