September 24, 2005

• We had discipleship Friday and were given an interesting assignment, one that I am beginning to work out in mind. I thought it would be an interesting challenge for you as well.

  
  

  We were talking this week about evangalism. Not everyone is an evangalist, but at times everyone will be asked by God to share our faith with someone else.

  
  

  In reaching out to other people a few points are really important. One is to listen to the person. For us it is often hard to listen. I know that sometimes when I am listening to someone my mind is working overtime trying to figure out what I am going to say in response to them. But that is not REALLY listening to what they are saying.

  
  

  When we talk about Christ to others, we also have to be careful that we are speaking in a language that they will understand. If a person is not a believer, some of the things that we say as Christians can be very puzzling to them. Examples might be going into one’s prayer closet, being washed in the blood, standing in faith for you, etc.

  
  

  The other thing to remember is that when you are sharing your testimony, the other person does not always have to know the depth of the sins you committed, for they may then compare themselves with you and decide that they are not nearly as “bad” as you, so therefore they do not need to listen to you about Christ. Way better to talk about the feelings that got you to the depths of your sin, because everyone can understand those kinds of feelings. We are to be able to answer the question “Why are you a follower of Christ?” in plain English without using religious terms.

  
  

  Then we learned more about what makes a great testimony.

  
  

  1. a broad view (the world) – to locate where the person is coming from, their point of view, how they look at the world. Because while your testimony must be the truth (not fabricated or made worse or better), it need not be told in its entirety. But it is better to pick some part of your testimony that can touch on a point that your listener has experienced and can relate to.

  
  

  2. personal goals that you have.

  
  

  3. how you looked at religion before you changed.

  
  

  4. and then we talk about what led to our Jesus moment, where you realized that something had to change, where you knew that you couldn’t keep doing what you were doing.

  
  

  5. That then leads to the point where “I realized that there was a change.” That is kind of the Prodigal Moment, like in Luke 15:17 when the prodigal son came to himself, where a life is changed.

  
  

  6. then after you share that, you are checking to see if the person you are sharing with has felt similar situations, and if they have, then you can ask them if they want us to tell them what else happened.

  
  

  7. That leads to sharing the Gospel, and ultimately you find out if they want Jesus to do this for them. If the answer is I have questions, answer their questions or find someone who can answer their questions. If it is No, but thanks, end the discussion. It is not a failure because you have still planted a seed that someone else may water. And if the answer is yes, then we lead them in a simple prayer of repentence, and asking the Lord to come into them, and dedicate their lives to the Lord.

  
  

  This is what we discussed in depth this Friday in discipleship. Now here is the assignment we were given. I will share what I come up with with you, and I would love to hear what you come up with for this assignment if you care to share your response to the assignment.

  
  

  We are to be ready to share our testimony. We should have a 2 minute testimony, a 5 minute testimony, a 15 minute testimony, and for those rare instances an hour testimony, sort of planned out in our head. That way when the opportunity arises we are prepared.

  
  

  Now most of the time all you have is 2 minutes to share your testimony. Given the guidelines above, our assignment is to pick one of these imaginary people and prepare a 2 minute testimony that reaches them where they are:

  
  

  1. An IBM employee whou earns 100,000 a year, has everything they want, and doesn’t need anything.

  
  

  2. A bored housewife with three kids

  
  

  3.A homeless guy who has nothing, and is happy about it.

  
  

  Our testimony should include our Jesus moment and our prodigal moment.

  
  

  We are going to give these testimonies at our next discipleship class.

  
  

  I am already figuring out what to say to the bored housewife.

  
  

  Have fun with this assignment. It really opened my eyes that it is not necessary to give your entire testimony, that a piece of it that really fits the life of the person you are sharing with can make a greater impression.

  
  

  Have a blessed weekend.

  
  

  Heather

  • 10:15 am
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