Explore new horizons of a living faith
These pages are designed to aid study or investigation for Christian discipleship through individual Bible study, Cell groups, Home groups, or meeting one to one. The questions could be used alone allowing each person to use their own Bible.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 2 Cor 5:17
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Introduction
One of the great privileges Jesus has given to us, is that of sharing what He has done in our lives with those who do not yet know Him.
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In the Bible we see the examples of people who have been touched by Jesus. How they responded to having received His message. The Bible also gives helpful instruction on how to go about telling others.
- Motivations to share - The power of God for salvation is good news.
- Tell your story - Jesus asking a man to tell his story to his family and friends.
- Explain the hope - Be ready to answer those who ask about your hope.
- Care with family - Some advice about sharing with family.
Having received freedom, hope and forgiveness we want to share it with others. God has made a complete difference in our lives and it would be sad to keep it all to ourselves.
Paul expresses His heart for the message of Jesus in Romans 1
- What is good about God’s good news?
- In what way might we be made to feel ashamed about it?
Romans 1:16-17 16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.*17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."*
A great way of doing this is to tell our story. Here is an example of one person who was sent to a place where Jesus could not go.
- What did Jesus ask him to do?
- What was the content of the man’s message?
- How much training had he received to do this?
Mark 5:18-20 18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him.19 But Jesus said, "No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been."20 So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns* of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.
The essence then is summed up in two points
- How much God has done for us.
- How He has had mercy on us.
Your experience is real and powerful. Maybe you could think it through in terms of some bullet point ideas -
- What were the issues that I was facing before I met Jesus?
- How did I come to understand about Jesus?
- In what way did I make a commitment to Him?
- What difference has He made to my life?
It is good to be careful not to bore people. Your story is incredibly important to you, but maybe less so to them. Try and keep your story to about five minutes. (Harder than you would imagine!). Here is my story to give you an example.
There are those who want more information, they don’t just want to hear a story, but also an explanation. 1 Peter 3:15-16 gives some hints at how to go about doing this.
- What must our attitude be to Jesus in talking to others?
- How might this attitude towards Jesus affect the way we speak?
- What should we be ready to share?
- With what attitude do we share?
- What has happened when you have shared on this level, how could you improve?
1 Peter 3:15-16 15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way.* Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.
The Bible asks us to be ready to answer when people ask us to explain the hope that we have. We can be caught out the first time, but use the site to look for answers then hopefully, the second time round you would be better prepared. One thing that can be helpful is to know how to share either the Bridge or Journey illustrations, since these do a good summation of what it means to be a Christian.
One last comment concerns those who know and love us the most - our family, especially parents. Family will be with us always and have a deep interest in our welfare. They can become concerned about this discovery of Jesus. Equally they can be dismissive and patronising - ‘it is just a phase’, they might say. It is good to be patient and wait for them to ask questions. As Jesus works in you, your life will be changed. It will not just be the activities, there will be a change in character. They will wait for you to revert to your old ways. If after some extended time you don’t they start asking questions. These may take some time to come. If one speaks in an insensitive manner early on, one can cause so much damage to the relationship that no one is ready to broach the subject later.
Page appears in Bible Explorer titled - Tell Others
HOW DO I TELL OTHERS?
