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Sharing faith
- Making contact with others

Hopefully you have not lost touch yet with all your friends and acquaintances you had before you became a Christian. Often, though, Christians end up with only Christian friends. That is because we enjoy friendship and fellowship with like-minded people.

This thread (Sharing faith):
  1. Why bother?
  2. What is my story?
  3. Making contact with others
  4. Sharing my story
  5. Nailing it down

Earning the right to speak

Occasionally people have been challenged to give their life to Jesus by hearing a speaker on a street corner. However, that is very much the exception rather than the rule. Most Christians have come to Jesus through a friend.

We need, therefore, to earn the right to speak, by befriending over time. Look at Acts 19:8 -

Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.

It may not have exactly been classic friendship, but Paul stayed 3 months to establish his right to persuade people.

 

Mixing with the 'right' people

In sharing our faith, the 'right' people are non-Christians. Read Luke 5:27-32 -
27After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me", Jesus said to him, 28and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 29Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?" 31Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Jesus got into trouble for mixing with non-religious people. But he knew they had the greater need of Him. We don't necessarily need to mix with people who are not respectable, but we do need to keep non-Christian friendships - in the hope they will rapidly become new Christian friends!

 

Making purposeful friendships

If we have got into the habit of meeting only with Christians we need to be purposeful about new friendships. We need to be willing to go where folk are. Our friendships need to be purposeful (to introduce people to Jesus), but not cynical. We need to make genuine friendships, but always be looking to introduce Jesus, once we have earned the right to be heard.

 

In the world but not of it

Read John 17:14-18 -
14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
Jesus prays that we may not be sucked back into the ways of the world, but that we will be around in it to witness to Him.

 

Who do I know?

Think, or if you are with someone else then discuss together, and jot down all the people you know and meet with any regularity, who are not yet Christian. Include people you know slightly (the postman, the paper shop lady, etc), those you work with, and those who are friends or family. You will probably be surprised how many there are on the list.
Ask God to help you make a conscious decision about who you might witness to, and how you might develop the friendships. As friends, you get opportunity to speak naturally - either over a meal, or fishing, or at the football, or at the gym, or whatever.

 

Praying

Having noted a name or names down, now pray for them. Constantly. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

 

Then what?

Then comes the Andrew factor. Read John 1:40-42 -
40Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, We have found the Messiah (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Andrew was Peter's brother. He was a 'back-room' disciple. The first thing he did when he had met Jesus was go and fetch Peter to meet Him too.

Once you've begun to witness, or in parallel to it, bring your friend to a church fellowship event where we just have fun. Bring them on an Alpha course. Make some sort of connection to other Christians who can also help in witness.

 

Any questions?

If you have any queries, or comments, then e-mail us and we'll get back to you

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