Soul winning for the average Joe

A personal evangelism course for those who feel

incompetent, shy or intimidated.
 WHY SHOULD WE BE ACTIVE WITNESSES FOR CHRIST?

1. Love

“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be
condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

“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. For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him
is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the
light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his
deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be
clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:16-21)

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god
of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ
Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who
commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Cor 4:3-7)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say
to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and
pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father
in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just
and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the
tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than
others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your
Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt 5: 43-48)

“We are called to love others. We share the gospel because we love people. And we don't
share the gospel because we don't love people. Instead, we wrongly fear them. We don't want
to cause awkwardness. We want their respect, and after all, we figure, if we try to share the
gospel with them, we'll look foolish! And so we are quiet. We protect our pride at the cost of
their souls. In the name of not wanting to look weird, we are content to be complicit in their
being lost. As one friend said, "I don't want to be the stereotypical Christian on a plane." That
attitude too often characterizes me. My heart is cold to other people. I have a distorted self-
love and a deficient love for others.” – Mark Dever

2. Obedience

“And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark
16:15)

“For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’ How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they
are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Rom 10:13-15)

“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is
me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my
will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.” (1 Cor 9:16-17)
 3. Rewards

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” (Prov 11:30)

“Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn
many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” (Dan 12:3)

4. Faith/Joy/Curiosity/Zeal/Boldness

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Rom 1:16)

“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is
me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my
will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship.” (1 Cor 9:16-17)

“Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not
keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people
in this city.’” (Acts 18:9-10)

“Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the
Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Luke 10:2)

WHY DO MANY OF US STRUGGLE TO BE FRUITFUL WITNESSES FOR CHRIST?

Excuse #1: Evangelism could cause problems at work, school or varsity.

Excuse #2: Other things are more urgent. I’m just too busy.
Excuse #3: I don’t know many non-Christians.
Excuse #4: This is the wrong moment.
Excuse #5: I fear they will not respond well to this!
Excuse #6: I don’t know how to share the gospel.

How well are you practicing the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20)?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

WHO CAN I WITNESS TO?

It is helpful to make a rather obvious distinction between two general groups of people we can
find ourselves witnessing to:
1. GROUP A: People with whom we have the potential to build an ______________ relationship.
• Examples: family, unsaved friends, fellow students, work colleagues, teachers,
other parents at our children’s schools, etc).
2. GROUP B: People with whom there is likely to be no ongoing relationship and whom we
assume we will ______________ ______________ again.
• Examples: The person next to you on a train or airplane, a waiter in a restaurant,
etc.

One must always be led by the Spirit in these matters but a general rule is that the closer
someone is to being in GROUP A, the more patient and sensitive you should be in witnessing to
them. Conversely, the closer someone is to being in GROUP B, the more direct and immediate you
can be with the gospel. Both approaches are biblical and can be fruitful.

It is also probably accurate to say that witnessing to GROUP B requires more immediate boldness
and evangelistic ______________.
BUT the facts tell us that most people who get saved are in GROUP A, which requires less
evangelistic gifting from us. ______________ can be fruitful as a witness in their GROUP A
relationships, even the ‘average Joe’ like you and me! Isn’t that great news!

HOW CAN I BEGIN TO BE A WITNESS?

The rest of this course will focus on witnessing to GROUP A people, and yet the skills we will
learn in STEP #4 below can be used immediately with GROUP B people as your confidence grows.

Your first step is to make a list of six unsaved “Group A” people or couples with whom you
believe you can build an ongoing relationship. We will call this your “A-List”.

Your “A-List”

1. _________________________________________ 2. _________________________________________

3. _________________________________________ 4. _________________________________________

5. _________________________________________ 6. _________________________________________

In Luke 10 Jesus sent out 70 unnamed disciples to go ahead of Him to preach the gospel. As we
seek to win the people on our “A-List” to Christ we will follow the 70 disciples’ example, just as
Jesus instructed them:

After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before
His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them,
“The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to
send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among
wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But
whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your
peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and
drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house
to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.
And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
-- Luke 10:1-9

What strikes you most about this passage?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Four steps can be extracted from Jesus’ commands to these 70 disciples which help the average
Christian to begin being a fruitful witness of the gospel:

• STEP #1: ______________ for God’s blessing upon them.

• STEP #2: Build relationships with them through ____________ ___________ _____________.
• STEP #3: Identify ______________ and meet them with acts of kindness.
• STEP #4: __________________ to them the good news about Jesus Christ.

The beauty of this strategy is that EVERYONE can do it! It does not require a special gift of
evangelism because even STEP #4 allows for many different options, which we will discuss
below.
STEP #1: Pray for God’s blessing upon them
You should certainly pray for specific needs for the people on your “A-List” that you are aware
they have, yet your primary request of the Lord will be to grant them _____________________.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up
on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone
who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me… And he said, “This is why I told
you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” (John 6:44-45; 65)

A suggested daily prayer for the people on your “A-List”:

“Father I pray for these people on my A-List. Please bless my relationship with them, please use me
as You draw them to Christ. Lord, please provide opportunities for me to show them your love and
kindness, and show me how best to witness to each one of them. And when that time comes, my God,
please do what only You can do: please open their hearts to respond the gospel.”

Can you do Step #1? ________________

STEP #2: Build relationships with them through spending time together
There’s no rocket-science here! This step is simply about befriending the people on your “A-List”.
Building friendships takes time and it requires your being friendly:

“A man who has friends must himself be friendly.” (Proverbs 18:24a)

A great example of evangelistic friendship building is found in Acts 18:

“After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of
Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all
the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he
stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.” (Acts 18:1-3)

Paul met Aquila and Pricilla at the synagogue in Athens, got their address and he went to visit
them. They became Christians through Paul’s friendship and they served mightily in the early
church thereafter.

EVANGELISTIC POP-BY TIPS:

A short visit to someone’s home or office can be a great way of maintaining meaningful contact
with them:
1. Call beforehand.
2. Stay no longer than 5 minutes.
3. Take a gift that demonstrates care.

Inviting people round for a meal is always a great way to build friendships. Also, listen carefully
and make a note of their specific interests and passions. This will help you identify ways in which
you can demonstrate personal care.

OUR NEED FOR PERSONAL HOLINESS

As you seek to build friendships with unbelievers there are two specific things the Bible
encourages us to remember:
1. Letting your light shine and being salt requires that they know about your faith. So, early
on in the relationship, let people know that you are a Christian, but do it in a low-key
way. E.g. mention something you did “after church last Sunday”. Leave it at that for now.
2. 1 Peter 2:9-12. Clean and ethical living in your life will prepare unbelievers for a day of
visitation from God. Your life must be a model of integrity to the people on your “A-List”.
 Can you say that those who know you best would testify to your integrity and holiness? Is
there any particular sin or compromise that you need to deal with in order to make your
gospel witness effective?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Can you do Step #2? ________________

STEP #3: Identify a need and meet it with acts of kindness

A demonstration of unselfish Christian love. The more sacrifice the act of kindness requires from
you, the more powerful the witness and the more trust it will establish between you.

For the six people/couples on your “A-List” seek opportunities to bless them unselfishly with
your:
• time
• talents
• money (but don’t overdo it)
• emotional support
• prayers

Prayer can be a particularly powerful part of demonstrating your love for unbelievers. In STEP
#1 above you pray for the people on your “A-List” without their knowing about it necessarily. But
here in STEP #3 you can move to two higher levels:
• Ask the person what they would like you to be praying for. Then faithfully pray for this
each day and from time-to-time tell them you are doing so and ask them how it’s going.
• Ask them for permission to pray with them. This will normally need to be in a private
location to avoid making them feel uncomfortable.

You will be amazed how many unbelievers will say yes to a simple offer: “Do you mind if I pray
for you?” Bow your head and pray a short heartfelt prayer for them, and pray in Jesus’ Name.

Can you do Step #3? ________________

STEP #4: Communicate to them the good news about Jesus Christ
Before we discuss the multitude of ways you can share the gospel with the people on your “A-
List”, we need to understand what the gospel is and what it is not.

EVANGELISM IS NOT…

• Evangelism is not coaxing believers from another ______________ to join your own.

“We do not regard it to be soul-winning to steal members out of churches already

established, and train them to utter our peculiar Shibboleth: we aim rather at
bringing souls to Christ than at making converts to our synagogue.”
-- Charles Spurgeon

• Evangelism is not an imposition of ______________ ideas upon others.

• Evangelism is not merely personal _________________.

• Evangelism is not merely ______________ ______________.

 • Evangelism is not merely challenging people on their ______________ or lifestyle.

• Evangelism is not inviting someone to a “biblical ______________ course” (e.g. a parenting

course, an anti-natal course, a divorce workshop, a biblical stewardship business course,
etc).

• Evangelism is not ______________.

• Evangelism is not ______________ preaching.

• Evangelism is not the same thing as the ______________ of evangelism.

EVANGELISM IS OFTEN NOT A ____________ -____________ EVENT:

The need for multiple touches

Research by Peel and Larimore shows that 75% - 90% of people who come to Christ do so as
a result of ongoing interactions with Christian friends or relatives. This research showed that
unbelievers move through at least 18 micro-decisions from being anti-Christian to being
committed disciples.

EVANGELISM IS…

• Heralding the Gospel (the good news) of Jesus Christ to those who are lost.

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL MESSAGE?

“The Gospel is Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the
Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the
liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe.” – Mark Dever

THE GOSPEL AS A SET OF HISTORICAL FACTS AND THEIR MEANING

The Gospel is ______________ – good news to be sure – but it is news. It is the communication of a set
of historical facts and how those facts relate to a person’s life today and in eternity.

“One of the main operations of the processes by which a soul is led to God and to salvation
consists in instructing a man that he may know the truth of God. Instruction by the gospel is
the commencement of all real work upon men's minds.” – Rev. Charles Spurgeon

The historical facts of the Gospel according to the Apostle Paul

[3] For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures,
[4] and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
[5] and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
[6] After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part
remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
[7] After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
-- 1 Cor 15:3-7
 “The Christian movement at its inception was not just a way of life in the modern sense, but a
way of life founded upon a message. It was based, not upon mere feeling, not upon a mere
program of work, but upon an account of facts. In other words it was based upon doctrine…
Certainly with regard to the fundamentally doctrinal character of Christianity Paul was no
innovator. The fact appears in the whole character of Paul's relationship to the Jerusalem
Church as it is attested by the Epistles, and it also appears with startling clearness in the
precious passage in 1 Cor 15: 3-7, where Paul summarizes the tradition which he had
received from the primitive Church. What is it that forms the content of that primitive
teaching? Is it a general principle of the fatherliness of God or the brotherliness of man? Is it a
vague admiration for the character of Jesus such as that which prevails in the modern Church?
Nothing could be further from the fact. “Christ died for our sins,” said the primitive disciples,
“according to the Scriptures; he was buried; he has been raised on the third day according to
the Scriptures.” From the beginning, the Christian gospel, as indeed the name “gospel” or
“good news” implies, consisted in an account of something that had happened. And from the
beginning, the meaning of the happening was set forth; and when the meaning of the
happening was set forth then there was Christian doctrine. “Christ died”—that is history;
“Christ died for our sins”—that is doctrine. Without these two elements, joined in an
absolutely indissoluble union, there is no Christianity… Yet those same weak, discouraged
men, within a few days after the death of their Master, instituted the most important spiritual
movement that the world has ever seen. What had produced the astonishing change? What
had transformed the weak and cowardly disciples into the spiritual conquerors of the world?
Evidently it was not the mere memory of Jesus' life, for that was a source of sadness rather
than of joy. Evidently the disciples of Jesus, within the few days between the crucifixion and
the beginning of their work in Jerusalem, had received some new equipment for their task.
What that new equipment was, at least the outstanding and external element in it (to say
nothing of the endowment which Christian men believe to have been received at Pentecost),
is perfectly plain. The great weapon with which the disciples of Jesus set out to conquer the
world was not a mere comprehension of eternal principles; it was an historical message, an
account of something that had recently happened, it was the message, “He is risen.”… The
primitive Church was concerned not merely with what Jesus had said, but also, and primarily,
with what Jesus had done. The world was to be redeemed through the proclamation of an
event. And with the event went the meaning of the event; and the setting forth of the event
with the meaning of the event was doctrine. These two elements are always combined in the
Christian message. The narration of the facts is history; the narration of the facts with the
meaning of the facts is doctrine. “Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and
buried”—that is history. “He loved me and gave Himself for me”—that is doctrine. Such was
the Christianity of the primitive Church.”
-- John Gresham Machen (“Christianity and Liberalism”)

BOLDLY CONFRONTING THE AWKWARD MATTER OF SIN

In interpreting the facts of the gospel we must speak plainly about sin, its total corruption of man
and its dreadful consequences.
“In many ministries, there is not enough of probing the heart and arousing the conscience by
the revelation of man's alienation from God, and by the declaration of the selfishness and the
wickedness of such a state. Men need to be told that, except divine grace shall bring them out
of their enmity to God, they must eternally perish; and they must be reminded of the
sovereignty of God, that He is not obliged to bring them out of this state, that He would be
right and just if He left them in such a condition, that they have no merit to plead before Him,
and no claims upon Him, but that if they are to be saved, it must be by grace, and by grace
alone. The preacher's work is to throw sinners down in utter helplessness, that they may be
compelled to look up to Him who alone can help them. To try to win a soul for Christ by
keeping that soul in ignorance of any truth, is contrary to the mind of the Spirit; and to
endeavour to save men by mere claptrap, or excitement, or oratorical display, is as foolish as
to hope to hold an angel with bird-lime, or lure a star with music. The best attraction is the
gospel in its purity. The weapon with which the Lord conquers men is the truth as it is in
Jesus. The gospel will be found equal to every emergency; an arrow which can pierce the
hardest heart, a balm which will heal the deadliest wound. Preach it, and preach nothing else.
Rely implicitly upon the old, old gospel. You need no other nets when you fish for men; those
your Master has given you are strong enough for the great fishes, and have meshes fine
enough to hold the little ones. Spread these nets and no others, and you need not fear the
fulfilment of His Word, "I will make you fishers of men." – Rev Charles Spurgeon
 Commenting on Gen 3:13, “Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you
have done?", George Whitefield preached the following:
“What a wonderful concern does God express in this expostulation! "What a deluge of misery
hast thou brought upon thyself, thy husband, and thy posterity? What is this that thou has
done? Disobeyed thy God, obeyed the devil, and ruined thy husband, for whom I made thee to
be an help-meet! What is this that thou hast done?" God would here awaken her to a sense of
her crime and danger, and therefore, as it were, thunders in her ears: for the law must be
preached to self-righteous sinners. We must take care of healing before we see sinners
wounded, lest we should say, Peace, peace, where there is no peace. Secure sinners must hear
the thunderings of mount Sinai, before we bring them to mount Zion. They who never preach
up the law, it is to be feared, are unskillful in delivering the glad tidings of the gospel. Every
minister should be a Boanerges, a son of thunder, as well as a Barnabus, a son of consolation.
There was an earthquake and a whirlwind, before the small still voice came to Elijah: We must
first show people they are condemned, and then show them how they must be saved. But how
and when to preach the law, and when to apply the promises of the gospel, wisdom is
profitable to direct.”

WHERE TO BEGIN AND HOW TO PROCEED

When our moment comes to share the gospel with someone our role is to ___________________ the
facts of the gospel to them, explain the meaning of those facts, and then trust the Holy Spirit to
open their heart to the message.

This communication of the gospel will normally require repetition involving multiple and diverse
exposures to the message. If you simply cannot communicate this yourself, don’t worry, there are
countless other ways to do it!

WAYS TO COMMUNICATE THE GOSPEL

• Share the gospel message with them ourselves (see the “Give Them a Hand” presentation
below for HOW to do this).
• Tell them your testimony (being sure to include the gospel message).
• Invite them to church on a Sunday.
• BE AWARE OF UPCOMING EVANGELISTIC EVENTS AND INVITE YOUR “A-LIST” WELL IN
ADVANCE.
• Invite them to study the Bible together with you (one-on-one, or couple-to-couple). Use a
tool like Christianity Explored or Christianity Explained or simply begin going through one
of the gospels or Romans with them.
• Invite them to join a group (evangelistic) Bible study course (like Alpha or Christianity
Explored).
• Invite them to your home group.
• Give them an evangelistic book together with a handwritten note. Examples of good
evangelistic books:
______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________
• Give them a CD or DVD of a sermon which clearly presents the gospel.
• Email them a link to a gospel sermon (audio or video) or an article online.
• Give or e-mail them a gospel tract. “I thought you might find this interesting…”
• Email them a personal message from you with the gospel in it (perhaps your testimony).
• Write them a letter.
• Follow up a couple of weeks after delivering a book/CD/sermon/tract/etc and see if they
have any questions.
• Combine any number of the above efforts over time.
• Other ideas:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Using at least one of the suggestions above, can you do Step #4? ______________
 “GIVE THEM A HAND” – AN EASY WAY TO EXPLAIN THE GOSPEL
Using the five fingers and palm of your hand you can very quickly memorize a powerful and
biblical 7-step presentation of the gospel. It takes about 15 minutes in total. Once you’ve
memorized and practiced it, it will be an asset you carry with you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
for the rest of your life.
 A COMPLETE SCRIPT FOR THE “GIVE THEM A HAND” PRESENTATION

Mary, may I ask you a question?

Have you come to a place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die
tonight you would go to heaven?______

Okay, may I ask you another question then, because I find that this question often gets to the
heart of the matter: Suppose you were to die tonight (which I really pray doesn’t happen!) and
you find yourself standing before God and He were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into my
heaven?’, what would you say?______

Well, I have some incredibly good news for you! Can I share with you how I came to know I
have eternal life?

The good news is that eternal life is a free gift. The Bible says, “. . . the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord”. It is not earned or deserved in any way. There’s another verse in
the Bible that says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

We see this more clearly if we understand what the Bible says about man…

Man is a sinner. The Bible says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. And man
cannot save himself. In fact, Jesus said if you want eternal life, “You therefore must be perfect, as
your heavenly Father is perfect,” and which of us can say that we have lived up to that?

We can understand this better when we see what the Bible says about God…

The Bible says that God is merciful and does not delight in punishing us. The Bible says that “God
is love”, and yet it also says that God is perfectly just, and His justice demands that He punish our
sins. The Bible puts it like this: “The LORD God…will by no means clear the guilty…” So we have a
problem! God in His love doesn’t delight in punishing us, but in His justice He will do exactly that.

But the good news is that God satisfied His justice and proved His love for us, in the person of
His Son Jesus Christ…

Christ is both God and man. One of the most amazing verses in the Bible says that “In the
beginning was the Word (speaking of Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory (said John), glory
as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1,14). And Jesus died to pay the
penalty for sin. Then God raised Him from the dead and He gives a place in heaven to all who will
receive Him. 700 years before Jesus was born the Jewish prophet Isaiah speaking of our
sinfulness, prophesied about the death of Jesus and he said this, “All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of
us all.”

But like any gift, this gift of eternal life must be received, which we do by repentance and
faith.

When Jesus began His ministry in Galilee the Bible says He “came into Galilee, proclaiming the
gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and
believe in the gospel.” Later, a certain jailor in Philippi asked the apostles Paul and Silas “What
must I do to be saved?” “And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and
your household.’”

Repentance is admitting your guilt, and asking for forgiveness and turning your back on your life
of sin. Then faith is not head-knowledge, nor temporal. The Lord’s half-brother, James, warned
people against a simple intellectual belief in the Gospel. He said, “You believe that God is one; you
do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” So rather than that, saving faith is believing and
trusting in Jesus alone for eternal life.

Mary, does this make sense to you…? Well, now that you understand the gracious offer of
God in the gospel, and God’s call upon you to repent of your sins and believe in Jesus, would
you like to receive this gift of eternal life?

“YES, I WOULD.”

Great! Let me read a portion of the Bible to you that talks about how to do that (Romans 10:8-
13):
“The word (of the gospel) is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of
faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the
heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the
Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no
distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on
all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Isn’t it
wonderful!

“If this is what you really want, I can lead us in prayer and we can tell God what you just told
me. Would you like to do that?” (Pray a simple prayer of repentance and faith with them
repeating after you.)

Mary, our first response to having received salvation is to join a local church and be baptized in
water. Let me show you that from one last verse from Scripture.
“And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the
promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord
our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to
exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received
his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”
(Acts 2:38-41). I’d like to help you do this…

FEEDBACK

‘The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your
name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given
you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and
nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy
Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these
things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for
such was your gracious will.”’ (Luke 10:17-21)

What do you notice in this passage that could also be a source of encouragement and joy to you
and your partner?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 IN SUMMARY

1. Accept responsibility and decide to stop avoiding it. Faithfulness requires our witness over
our sensitivity to people’s responses.
2. Understand the truth of their situation.
3. Draft your “A-List” (six people or couples you commit to praying for daily).
4. Pray for them daily. Pray for God to bless them. Pray for opportunities to serve them. Pray
for opportunities to share the gospel. Pray for opportunities to invite them to something. Ask
God for wisdom regarding how to proceed with them.
5. Seek fellowship. Invite them over for meals. Find out their interests and engage with them on
that level.
6. Early on in the relationship, let people know that you are a Christian. This can be done in a
low-key way, like mentioning something you did “after church last Sunday”. Leave it at that
for now.
7. Look for ways to serve them or to show kindness or meet a need.
8. Ask them if there is anything they would like you to pray for, and promise to do so. You can
even pray for them while you are with them if the moment is conducive.
9. Take your opportunities to communicate the gospel. This may mean that you actually have a
chance to share the good news with them yourself and so this requires you to learn and
practice the “Give them a hand” presentation above.
10. Understand your role.
11. Don’t be surprised if God adds a name or two to your “A-List”!
12. Don’t be surprised if you begin feeling more and more confident to share the gospel with
GROUP B people. This will begin to open a whole new field of harvest for you including
home-visitation of visitors to our Sunday services.
13. Hold your partner accountable to feedback in ____ days time. Diarize it now. Then continue to
support each other in the following way:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________