Introducing people to Jesus

When you go somewhere for and event, a party, dinner or something else like that you probably do something without even realising it. You introduce people. Saying things like: “Can I introduce you to ….” Or, “This is …” or even, “Meet ….” The point I am making is that it is a perfectly natural thing to do. Isn’t that how we should be when it comes to letting people know about the Saviour of the world?

I was at a recent outreach with the School of World Evangelism. During a break for lunch an African lady that was living in Kent passionately shared about how we as Christians should introduce people to Jesus. The point being that God could use the person that we introduce mightily, just as He did with the Apostle Peter who led 3000 to Christ with his first sermon.

“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter)” John 1: 40-42

Peter was introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew who is mentioned only a few times in the New Testament. The point to note is that on the occasions we do find him, he is actually doing what Jesus commanded us to do. That is introducing other people to the Lord Jesus Christ.

First of all he introduced his brother Peter to the Lord in the scripture above; then he introduced the boy who had the five loaves and two fishes:

“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6: 8-9

Then finally, along with Phillip he introduced the Greeks to the Jesus. I believe that there is no more important work in the world than introducing other people to Jesus.

“Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus” John 12: 20-22

Key Point: We may just be ordinary people; like Andrew however Jesus wants us to introduce people to Him

We may well be very ordinary people, just like Andrew, but the Lord desires to use us to bring others to meet Him. We know that Andrew is not really viewed in the same way as Paul or his own brother Peter and there are no records in scripture that he ever preached a sermon. But wow! He introduced Peter to Christ.  As a result of that introduction Peter preached many sermons.  Some could argue that there would have been no sermons from him had it not been for the faithful, personal soul-winning heart of Andrew. 

Looking at the scripture we can see that Andrew is a very good illustration of how we should be as Christian witnesses for Christ because we read that “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother…”

There are three points that stand out here:

The word “first”: There is probably no doubt that Andrew won many others to the Lord after he himself came to Christ, the first thought he had was of his own brother.

It is interesting to note that immediately he found Christ he became concerned that others should find Him. When we are born again the impulse to win someone else is born within us. We should nurture this and recognise that witnessing is a matter of very great importance. 

The word “find”: We have no idea of how far Andrew needed to search for Peter, but we do know that those whom the Lord would have us “find” are “lost”, and for this reason they need to be “found”. As believers who have been transformed by Jesus, we should be doing the finding.

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” Luke 15: 4-7

The simple fact that cannot be ignored is that all the people around us who are without Christ are lost? There is no way to receive forgiveness and eternal life without accepting Jesus as Lord. Once this fact is in our hearts we should all feel that the most important thing is to introduce them to the only One who can actually save them from a lost eternity. If there is any doubt, it is made as clear as crystal in the following scripture.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” Acts 4: 12

Then, Andrew first found “his brother”: It’s important to note that the scripture says “his brother” and not someone else’s!  The truth sometimes is that it can often be much easier to speak to someone else’s brother, but we must be concerned for those who need salvation in our own families that don’t know Jesus. 

Do you have loved ones who are not Christians? Are you doing anything to introduce them to the Lord Jesus?

Will you listen?

 

I was on an outreach recently with the School of World Evangelism in a town in South Wales. Part of the day involved conducting an open air service in the town square. Many of the students were fairly new to this, so before we commenced some time was spent going through how to complete questionnaires that are used on the streets. One major part of the advice given to everyone was simple and to the point: “Ask the question and then listen to the answer”.

That statement may seem quite obvious to you as you read this, but the art of being a good conversationalist is (actually) through being a good listener. It’s not just about being a good talker, but rather it’s about interaction. As a young sales person I was told that “Telling is not selling”, because it is possible for a sales person to talk themselves out of a sale by not allowing a customer to speak.

It can be the same with one to one evangelism. I have witnessed Christians on outreaches that are so desperate to win a soul for Christ that they literally talk the person to death. Then they are left wondering what on earth happened that caused them to lose the person. The art of one to one conversation is of course about talking, but it is about listening as well.

Jesus said this when He was referring to John the Baptist:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear”! Matthew 11: 15

We can also apply the “Let him hear” part to when we witness and evangelise. It is so important that we explain the Gospel clearly and then ask questions about what we have said. Then, most importantly, we must listen to the answers we receive.

Key Point: Ask your question, wait and listen to the answer

I teach adults on a part time basis. One of the subjects that I cover is helping individuals who lack confidence. People can suffer with this for a wide range of reasons, such as stress, childhood problems, relationship breakdowns, trauma, illness, long term unemployment, situations of violent abuse and much more. In these classes a whole session is devoted to the subject of communication, particularly the art of listening. I go through techniques that can be used to improve listening skills, which in turn help to build rapport with people.

When someone realises that you are a good listener, they will warm to you very quickly. My wife Desiree is an expert at this; in no time at all complete strangers are telling her their darkest secrets! This happens because when they speak, she listens. The person can see she is listening because she nods, makes listening noises like “Hmm” and “Oh”. She also looks at them as they are speaking and then asks questions that demonstrate her interest in them.

The same goes for us as we witness for Christ. If you apply the three points below that relate to effective listening when you share Jesus, you will soon start to have better and more productive conversations.

Don’t be an interrupter: Have you ever had a conversation with a person who asks you a question but as you start to answer, they begin speaking again over what you are saying? It can be very frustrating talking to an “interrupter”. They want to be heard and perhaps are not really that interested in your answer anyway.

If you have this tendency, discipline yourself not to speak when you have asked a question. Bite your tongue or count to three if you have to. Make sure that you give the other person a chance to reply. Remember the best conversationalists are the people who REALLY listen!

Maintain good eye contact: Practice giving your listener your complete attention. If you are not looking into the eyes or face of the person who is speaking, you are much more likely to become distracted, and they will feel you are not really listening.

Don’t stare at the person like a boxer does aggressively before a fight. Just maintain relaxed eye contact.

Pay close attention to what is being said: Maintaining good eye contact helps keep focus on the conversation, preventing distraction. Perfecting this skill helps in ‘reading between the lines’, when feelings are often conveyed in a deeper way than the words which are spoken. It is a well known fact that 93% of communication is nonverbal - meaning that only 7% revolves around the actual words used.

This means listening for voice inflections and the speed of speech, as well as reading body language clues and facial expressions.

There may be occasions when you will need to ask questions to clarify a person’s feelings. Paraphrasing what you have heard back, for example by asking  ‘do you mean that….’ to discern a person’s true feelings demonstrates that you are listening and that you care.

You may have explained, for instance, this scripture:

 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6: 23

You could than ask, “What do you think of that”? or “Does that make sense to you”? or “How does understanding that make you feel”? Make sure you listen to their answer, then you will need to respond accordingly.

When you need to explain something in greater detail the person will listen to you more readily because they have realised you are a willing listener, by not interrupting them, in paying attention to their reply and maintaining healthy eye contact.

This works effectively when put into practice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leading someone to Christ using F.A.I.T.H.

There are a number of different frameworks or methods that churches and organisations use in order to explain the Gospel. In a previous blog I have gone through the “Roman Road” method which is extremely effective. It helps to keep a person on track and ensures that all of the important areas are covered.

Recently the Southern Baptist Church in America launched a new evangelism program that uses the acronym F.A.I.T.H. to help a person share and explain the gospel. Here are the points and the scriptures they link to them. It is very simple to follow.

F – Forgiveness:  We cannot have a relationship with God without receiving forgiveness from Him. We have all sinned and there is nothing that we can do to earn or merit our entry into heaven. As the scripture below states, it is all about the grace of God. Where would we be without it? The shedding of His blood makes a way for anyone who wants to receive Him as Lord and Saviour. Put simply - if there was no cross and no blood sacrifice, we would all be finished.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Ephesians 1:7

A – Available: Forgiveness is available for all who call on the Name of Jesus. It is not saying His Name like someone who says a prayer religiously, just repeating words – it’s about believing, trusting, accepting and having faith in Him and Him alone to save a person from a lost eternity. He gave up His own life to save us; we must ask for forgiveness, then believe we receive it and accept it in our hearts. When that happens a miracle takes place –we go from being dead in sin to alive in Christ.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

I – Impossible: It is impossible for God to allow sin into heaven; being the Holy God that He is makes Him unable to look upon sin. When the sin of the world (our sin) was placed upon Jesus, who was the spotless Lamb of God, He had to look away (my own words). It must have been awful for God to do that for us. It is what makes the message of the cross so incredible. God let His son pay the death of a common criminal by laying our sin upon Him. 

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 5: 21

God allowed all of that to happen to pay the price for us to have eternal life. Incredible, isn’t it? That is why we should be witnessing for Him. It really is the least we can do!

 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

T - Turn: A person must turn away and repent from sin and follow God. This is fundamental. We must repent of our sin and wrong-doings. I know that some people like to cover this at a later date hoping to bring a person to the realisation that they need to repent later. However, the Bible says:

“I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Luke 13:3

Key Point: Don’t gloss over repentance, it’s a fundamental

I always include repentance in a prayer when I lead someone to Christ. I read this statement the other day. “Repentance is when we agree with God about our sinfulness”. What a terrific description!

When a person repents it means they are sorry for their sin and turn away from it and then start living their life in a way that pleases God. They stop doing stuff that is wrong and try to do the right thing. Like not lying, stealing, lusting and so on. We must repent and turn away from sin!

H – Heaven: Heaven is the gift of eternal life now and then in the hereafter. That means that we can have a blessed life now and an incredible time when we finally end up in Glory with the Lord. After being in heaven for a while we will one day return with Him when He comes to rule and reign.

He made a way for us go to heaven, a place which will be more wonderful than we can ever imagine! It is all about His sacrificial death on the cross. We need to explain it in a way that is simple and easy to understand.

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10: 10

“Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.” John 13: 3

I like this method because it revolves entirely around scripture, which is truth. It is the word of God that convicts hearts, the gospel’s power that leads to a person’s heart being convicted of sin.

Once you have led someone through these points, you can use the acronym F.A.I.T.H.  to help someone give his or her life to Christ. 

Forsaking All I Trust in Him

Heaven is a great place

I wrote this for the blog site www.baaaa.com 

Heaven is a fantastic place that is quite beyond our imagination. It’s eternity spent with God—the ultimate hope for Christians. Heaven has many descriptions, like:

• The perfect unseen world
• The dwelling place of God
• Where Jesus sits at the right hand of God
• It will be the dwelling place of the saints
• The city shines like a great stone, clear as crystal
• The streets are paved with transparent gold

In the Old Testament God used to meet His people in the tabernacle. That was where they knew He would dwell amongst them. Well when we get to heaven, there will be no need for us to go to a specific place because there, God’s Glory will be everywhere.

In heaven Satan will no longer be able to attack and torment people. There will be no remembrance of former sorrows; we are just going to experience pure joy. We will be given new names; new imperishable bodies and we will be clothed in the white robes of righteousness.

Nothing on the face of this earth can even compare to the beauty of heaven. The truth is though, many people mistakenly believe that they are going to end up in heaven one day.

People believe and convince themselves of all manner of things about heaven and tell themselves exactly how they are going to get there. They convince themselves that they will go there for many reasons like:

• They went to a church
• They come from a Christian family
• They were Christened as a baby
• They were married in a church
• Because everybody goes to heaven

The parables of Jesus tell us that He is going to separate the sheep from goats and the good from the bad fish. It will be this way because many people have made wrong choices, and have not believed the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In other parables Jesus spoke about the 10 Virgins at the wedding feast, the people who didn’t come to the banquet, the narrow and wide gate and those who put their trust in money, like the rich fool who stored up his wealth. In fact it’s not really any different today. When the time comes for judgement, there is going to be an enormous separation of those who know Jesus and those don’t.

If you know Jesus as your Lord and saviour, one day soon you are going to be there, praising God along with the multitudes, shouting HOLY HOLY HOLY IS THE LORD!

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ~ Romans 10:9

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. ~ Acts 4:12

We should not want to go to heaven on our own. 

Like me I am sure that you are looking forward to heaven, but the very important point is that we shouldn’t want to be going there alone. We all know people who hope, believe or have convinced themselves that they are going to end up in heaven. They need to understand the fact that there is only one way that is sure and certain, which is through Jesus Christ. No one else—no method, works or worldly belief system—will get anyone into heaven. It is a fact!

We need to share the gospel with those that don’t know Hesus and pray for people because the simple fact is that in general terms the lost aren’t going to be praying for themselves.

We need to ensure that we are walking right with God and we need to be living righteous and holy lives. Our lives need to be walking testimonies.

Another amazing point to consider is the fact that all those who go to heaven will one day return to the earth when Jesus returns. At that time the earth will an amazing place as well. But that part will be for another blog.

Will you be there and are you going to take people along with you?

When I evangelise, when do I throw the net out?

When we witness to those people who don’t have a personal relationship with Christ, we must always remember that it really doesn’t matter how great at communication we can be, or how charismatic we can come across to our hearers. We aren’t the influence that actually leads a person to make the most important decision ever in their lives. 

It involves the gospel message in explaining about the life of Jesus or by explaining what Jesus did for you through His atoning sacrifice. Upon hearing the message the convicting power of the Holy Spirit goes to work.

Yes, He will use us to share the message of salvation, but it is by revelation from the Holy Spirit that a person realises their state before the living God, which produces repentance and a willing submission to the Lord. He opens the heart, He opens bind eyes, He brings the revelation of who He is and what he has done for us. We can talk until we are blue in the face, but it is only the Holy Spirit that saves a person through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or by a personal revelation when God chooses to speak directly to someone. He has His ways of reaching people and I am always grateful that He would use people like me.

It is always God that that does it, and only Him. He adds to the church, by using us when we are willing to be led by Him. “So then neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase”. 1 Corinthians 3: 7

The point I am making here is that it is an incredible privilege to be used as a vessel for the Lord, always remembering the fact that it is Him that does the saving, not us. We need to make ourselves available to do the Lords bidding when He directs us. When we are obedient, He will send us to the right person and He will tell us the right time exactly to throw out the nets. The scripture below demonstrates this.

“When he had finished speaking, he (Jesus) said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Luke 5: 5-6

This story of Peter and the catch of fish is a fantastic example of how we should be when it comes to sharing our faith. Peter was obedient when Jesus told him to go back out on the water and cast out his nets. Jesus knew the fact that he had worked hard all through the night catching nothing. It was Peter’s willingness to do what the Lord had commanded that was the answer. 

By following the command of the Lord an amazing miracle happened. The Lord got a huge shoal of fish to swim up to the boat, which is amazing on it own. He didn’t stop there; He got them to wait right underneath it.  The obedience of Peter resulted in him making a catch that was probably like no other in his life as a fisherman. We serve an amazing God. The incredible fact is that He chooses to use you and me to fish for souls. Knowing that we are far from perfect, how we often fail Him and how we can sometimes be disobedient. He still wants to use us. Praise Him.

As Christians we must be as ready follow the commands of Jesus, just as Peter was when it comes to fishing for souls. We must be tuned in, listening to the Lord, waiting for him to say, “Go there”, “Speak to that person” or “Cast out the net”. I believe and know from experience that when we do, we will catch fish in the form of souls ourselves.

Are you ready and willing? What about the occasions when you are tired from a hard days work? Have you made yourself available to the master?

We must always be ready. “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”. 1 Peter 3: 15

Witnessing: God can give you the keys to reach a persons heart

When we step out in faith to witness for Jesus, the Holy Spirit will bring scriptures to remembrance, which is incredible when you think about it. I believe that He does something else as well. That is, if you rely on him to guide you as well as listen to him. He will give you a key to present the gospel in a way that will open a person’s heart.

This is an excerpt from my new book “A Fall From The Top”, which is available in the next few weeks. Have a read to discover exactly what God did.

I have been very blessed, over the years to lead a number of work colleagues to Jesus. I am certain that anyone who has ever worked with me would confirm that I never hid the fact that I am a follower of Christ. I tried to bring Jesus into my conversations during the working day in one way or another.

When I sold my Financial Services business I was retained as the branch manager of the office in Swansea. We were on a recruitment drive and I contacted an applicant called Peter. We had a chat on the phone and I invited him into my office for an informal interview. He was in his late forties and had recently moved back to Wales after a very successful career in the City working as a Marketing Director for a very large pharmaceutical company. He came across very well during our meeting when we got onto the subject of Tenby where he lived. He told me that he owned a small guesthouse there that his wife managed.

He said, “Have a look at our web site when you are online”. I put his address in my search engine and within a few moments I was looking at his web pages. The site had a bold heading, which read “Christian Run, Family Guesthouse”. I said “Hey, that’s fantastic I am a Christian as well, how long have you been following the Lord?”. He said, “I go to church with my wife in Tenby. I’m a Methodist”. “That’s terrific” I replied, “When did you decide to follow Jesus?” He replied “Follow Him?” I said, “You know what I mean, I made a decision some years ago to follow Jesus and became a Born Again Christian and have never looked back”. He looked at me a little awkwardly and said, “Oh no, I don’t think that I’m Born Again”. I replied, “Well, if you don’t think you are then you are probably right, you are not”.

We met on two more occasions and he joined the company. He was an extremely professional adviser. Over the months I worked with him I introduced the Lord into conversations, and we had some in-depth discussions. He believed that you didn’t need to be born again to go to Heaven. I asked him as I have done with many people, “Tell me Peter do you believe that Jesus Christ is exactly who He said He is?” “Yes of course” he replied. I then asked, “Do you believe that the Bible is true?” “Yes of course I do” he replied. I continued “Do you think that Jesus would tell a lie then?” “Definitely not” was his answer. I then quoted John 3:5 ““I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “What do you think of that then?” I asked. His answer like many others was “Oh I don’t believe that is true”. I replied “Well you just said that Jesus wouldn’t say something that was a lie”. I could see that he was irritated so I stopped there.

  

The discussions continued over a period of months. Sometimes we talked for an hour or two in the evening when the other staff had gone home. We agreed on many points except this fundamental scripture and others like it.

One day after another heated dialogue I said “Peter, I have got to say that based on all of our conversations I believe you are so close to the truth. Peter you are almost a Christian”. I could see that what I said annoyed him a little, so we left the matter there. I knew that what I had said was confrontational but sometimes I believe you just have to speak out in truth. The famous Evangelist Smith Wigglesworth who I love to read about once said that when you preach the gospel you would either make the listener mad or glad. On that day I suppose I made Peter a little mad with me. I left the office in a hurry that day for a meeting and forgot all about what had happened between us.

The next week he sat at my desk with a very serious look on his face. He said that when he went home (on the day I made him mad) he decided to go on the Internet to see if he could find anything in the Methodist Church web site about being Born Again. He eventually came to a site that contained a number of sermons by John Wesley, the famous Methodist preacher. When he preached the Gospel many people would turn their lives over to Christ there and then. Peter said, “I found this sermon by John Wesley called ‘Almost a Christian’. I read it and it has really disturbed me. I would like to have a meeting with you to discuss it”. “No problem” I replied with great enthusiasm. We arranged to meet in a couple of days in the early evening when everyone had left the office. I visited the Wesley web site and printed off the sermon and read it thoroughly. The message was preached in the year 1741 and was very much clear. It explained that acts like going to church, being a good person, singing in the choir, giving money and even praying didn’t matter at all. None of that would get you to Heaven unless you gave your life to Jesus Christ. It is a wonderful sermon, which I recommend.

I had explained to Peter on a number of occasions what the sermon contained. The decision to follow Jesus, to make Him Lord of your life, to repent of all of your sin and to turn from self-will to God’s way. I had explained when someone does that and means it from their heart then a miracle happens and they become Born Again by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit literally dwells in them and their lives are never the same. The only way into Heaven is just as Jesus says: - “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. (John 14:6 NIV)

I looked forward to the meeting with Peter and prayed to the Lord to give me guidance. We discussed the Wesley message at great length and I even shared part of my own journey to faith in Christ. But I still couldn’t get Peter, a well-educated and intelligent man, to understand what the message truly meant. As a result we kept getting stuck on the same point. I went over it again and again but he just didn’t understand. I prayed silently “Lord please guide me”. I looked at my watch and realised that we had been talking for two hours. I asked him “Can I explain simply to you why Jesus died on the Cross?” He agreed and I went to the corner of the office and brought over a stand up flip chart. I said “Let me show you something that was in a little tract that was given to me, that both challenged and annoyed me years ago”. “Sure” he replied.

I spent the next five minutes talking about the tract that Mike had given me and did my best to draw the simple diagram on the pad that explained the Fall of Man and the reason that Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. I was concentrating on what I was saying and drawing and so didn’t notice what was happening with Peter. After a little while I looked at him to see that his eyes were full of tears. I asked “Peter, do you believe that is true”? “I do,” he said. I continued, “Would you like to say a prayer with me and ask Jesus to come into your heart?” Yes please” he replied.

We sat in the office and I led him through a simple prayer where He asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins, and made Him Lord of his life. I suppose the way that I got through to Peter was by communicating the message in a way that he could relate to. He had been in many meetings over the years where a flip chart had been used. My drawings were not exceptional but the Holy Spirit used those simple sketches to open Peter's heart. He was transformed and is now bold in proclaiming his faith in Jesus Christ and is even a volunteer for the Bible Society. Praise God!

Is there anything you can do to witness for Christ?

The Lord hasn’t called every believer to be an evangelist; but Jesus clearly commanded all of us to be witnesses for Him. It’s in black and white, (or red) if we read the gospels. Jesus wants us to share the good news.

It’s simply a fact we can’t get away from. I would like to challenge those readers who are reluctant to share the gospel, for whatever reason, to step out your comfort zones and do what the Lord has commanded. People hold back for many reasons, often fearing rejection: but when you speak out, relying on the Holy Spirit, amazing things start to happen!

Key Point: When you rely on the Holy Spirit, amazing things will start to happen

The instructions that we were given by Jesus regarding being a witnesses are indeed very clear:

"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" Matthew 28:19-20

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” Mark 16: 15

It has been my experience that many Christians can get into the I will it leave to others type of mentality. In fact that’s not just for witnessing, it can be for many other things, like attending church prayer meetings, giving finance to the church as we should and serving in the church in some capacity. The list can go on and on as there is much that we can do. James, the earthly brother of Jesus, described very clearly in his book how we should be.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” James 1: 22-24

We are called to be ‘hearers and doers’. It’s important that we all ‘all’ try to do something out of obedience to Christ. Yes, out of obedience. Not because He was ordering us to do a chore, but rather that we obey out a love and gratitude for what He went through for us to purchase our forgiveness on the cross.

When people give their last words on their death beds, they are usually important and therefore remembered. These are the last words that Jesus gave His disciples before ascending to heaven, so we have to consider that they were of great importance to Him (and to us. Yes, Jesus does command us to tell others about Him. There is no hiding the fact. Now you may ask, "Why me, surely there other people who are more equipped than I am to do that? After all I am not a pulpit or Gospel preacher”. In reality the number of people who preach from the pulpit is very small. However, Jesus desires to use you ‘you’ for His glory. He has an amazing plan for your life ‘your life’ and part of that involves sharing the message of salvation.

Telling others about the Lord Jesus gives you the wonderful opportunity, through the Gospel, to affect the lives of others for good! Honestly, what could be better?  There are many ways that you can do this.

The fact is that we must do something in one way or another. Let me ask you a question. If you haven’t been sharing Jesus for any reason, it’s not a problem, because we can change that today. I ask you this. What is there that you can do?

Stepping out as a witness for Jesus involves putting your faith into action. Remember that you don’t need to stand on a street corner for hours with a megaphone and a sandwich board. Everyone can do something that will forward the kingdom of God. We just need to be willing, make ourselves available to the Lord and He will do the rest.

We have the Holy Spirit who will always accompany us when we do something for the Lord. He will empower you and help you. He will give you the boldness to share if you ask Him.

Listed below are a few ideas that you could use in order to follow the commands of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They are all quite simple to do.  Using any of them will give you an opportunity to chat to people and show the love of Christ.

• Tract distribution.
• Organise a meal / barbeque for friends and unsaved neighbours.
• Help at the local supermarket carrying shopping to cars.
• Get together with a team of people and offer to help people with their gardens and lawns.
• Hand out Christian newspapers on the streets.
• Complete some Christian street surveys with the public. These are non confrontational and fun to do.
• Hand out free hot dogs near the colleges at lunchtime. Free food will guarantee that you will have people to talk to!
• Distribute leaflets door to door for your church.
• Feed the poor and needy.
• Get out with an evangelistic team as a support. You will find yourself getting involved very quickly.
• Help out at ‘young mothers’ groups run at your church.

These are just some thoughts. Remember, Jesus wants our obedience. We follow His commands because we love Him so much because He gave everything for us.

What can you do for Him?