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Monday, 1 December 2008 @ 23:04

Christian Living. Sharing The Gospel- 13 Dec 2007

Now, today Pastor How preached a great sermon on one of the topics of the Christian Lifestyle. Now, there are many many Christians who genuinely love God and desire to spread the Word, but they have no idea how.

PERSONAL TESTIMONY

OK, the best thing that you can do before you share the Gospel is to share your personal testimony. Well, the story of your conversion is your testimony. According to Revelation 12:11, "And they overcame (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to death."

Now, as you share your testimony, remember to divide it in to 3 important parts:

1. BEFORE Your life before Christ!

2. CONVERSION How you came to Christ!

3.AFTER Your life after Christ!

BEFORE ( YOUR LIFE BEFORE CHRIST)

For example, Inward needs- Rejection, lonliness, emptiness, bitterness, pride, low self-esteem, an absence of purpose and meaning in life, insecurities and so on.

And not forgetting, Outward Sins- Unmet inward needs caused you to make some bad decisions leading to the outward expression of sin and other problems.

CONVERSION (HOW DID YOU COME TO CHRIST?)

So, when did you first hear and understand the Gospel? What lead you to accept Christ as your LORD and Saviour? And how did you receive Him? These are some questions you can ask yourself and put it in your testimony.

AFTER (YOUR LIFE AFTER CHRIST)

After talking about the conversion process, you then go on to share about how much your life has changed and improved tremendously after accepting Christ. For example, your inward needs are met by Jesus, giving rise to good decisions which allowed you to overcome your bad habits. And ultimately, your character is changed for the better, in terms of attitude and mindset.

AND ALSO, HERE ARE SOME PRACTICAL TIPS WHEN GIVING YOUR TESTIMONY:

Be careful not to offend people. Do try to be sensitive. Secondly, your testimony should be around 3-5 minutes long, as people get bored listening to long stories.

JOHN 3:16
After you've shared your testimony, its a good time to start sharing the Gospel.

1.God created man and wants us to have an abundant (Great) life on earth and an eternal life in Heaven.

We are created by God. The universe, the planets and man are definitely not the products of the big bang.

We are not accidents, not products of evolution.

Its like saying you take a BMW, a Mercedes and a Ferrari and crashing them together to get something better, say , a Rolls Royce?.

The 2nd law of thermodynamics states that " Every system left on its own will always move from a condition of order to disorder."

So if God didn't create us, we would never have actually existed.

Now, we are a 3 part being, made up of the body, soul(heart, mind and will) and spirit.Animals don't have a spirit. We are different from animals, because of our intelligence and our ability to pray. We have a spirit and thats why we can worship God.

2.God wants you to have a relationship with you and I.

Christianity is all about having a relationship with God, and its not a religion. Referring to John 17:3 ,"And this is eternal life, that they may know you , the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

Eternal life is about knowing God and having a relationship with Him.

3.However, we have sinned against Him.

Romans 3:23 ," for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...". We are all born sinners, whether we like it or not. Even children, in all their "innocence", sin. For example, if a child breaks a vase, and his parent asks him if he did it, he will naturally say no to protect himself. No one taught him how to lie, and yet he instinctively knew. Therefore we are all born sinners, because we have the potential to sin.

4.As man has sinned, our relationship with God is broken and we are seperated from Him. As a result, man is now walking towards eternal death. Refer to Romans 6:23.

5. We try to do things to get back to God. So man tries to earn salvation and blessings by good works- charity, donations, being good and helping others.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ," For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Therefore, we cannot be saved by ourselves or our own efforts, and it is not be good works, but by repentance that brings us back to God.

6. Others try to connect back to God through rituals or philosophies.

John 14:6 ,' Jesus said to him, " I am the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." '. There is no other way back to God except through Christ.

7. All these good works and philosophies cannot bring us back to God. So God sent His own Son Jesus Christ to save us. He bacame our scapegoat, and died for us on the cross to pay the penalty of our sin.

John 3:16, " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

8. Now the way to salvation is open and man can be reconnected back to God through a genuine relationship with Him. At this moment, you and I must make a decision whether we want to ask God for forgiveness and believe in Him OR to reject God as your Saviour and LORD.

Now the choice that will affect your eternal destiny is yours.

Well, we are called to be witnesses. After a person has listened to you, but still chooses not to accept God, it is not your fault. The decision is up to that person. You however, have been a good witness. Although you have tried to save a soul but failed, God knows that at least you tried, and you will not be judged for it.

So all you Christians out there, let me challenge you today, why don't you take a step of faith and try reaching out to your friends today?