This week, we have worked hard on learning how to share the difference Jesus has made in our life with someone else. Hopefully, by now, you have written out your two-minute story, and you have emailed your story so we can help you fine-tune it.
I think it is great that you are working hard to share the difference Jesus has made in your life. It's important to share your story with others, but we also need to learn to share God's story with others as well.
People make this harder than it is. If you will take a little bit of time and practice what I am about to share with you, you will always be ready to share what God has done for us so that we can be forgiven of our sin and be made right with Him.
1 Peter 3:15 says, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."
The Bible says that we are to always be ready to share Jesus with others and that we are to share what God has done in our lives with gentleness and with respect. That means we are to never argue with someone over what God has done for them. You and I will never convince someone to follow Jesus if we are arguing with them.
I have never seen anyone trust Jesus to be the leader and forgiver of their life through an argument. I have seen thousands of people come to Jesus through a conversation.
What I am about to tell you to work on is found on our app as well. We put together a video of what I want you to learn, and I want you to watch it again and again. I want you to practice it until you can share these truths without a piece of paper and without a diagram. I want you to get this down so well that it is just something that you know, like the back of your hand, so when the opportunity comes, you will be able to share what God has done for us.
This is easy to do. Just grab a piece of scratch paper and sketch out this picture. Here's how it goes. Put the word "US" on one side and "God" on the other side. Then write the word "sin" between the two words. Explain that because of our sin, there is a separation between God and us. Now the problem that we all have, because all of us have sinned, is that we want to get to God, but we can't make it to the other side on our own. Some people think if they are a good person, they can make it to the other side on their own. Or they think, if I go to church and become a really religious person, I can make it to the other side on my own. The Bible says no matter how hard we try to get to the other side; we can't make it on our own.
Thankfully, God saw the mess we were in. And because He loved us so much, He sent His son Jesus to bridge the gap between God and us. (Draw the cross over our sin). Jesus died for all the sins that we have committed. You see, at noon, the sky grew dark as midnight as Jesus hung on the cross. It was at this time that all of our sins were placed on Jesus. When that happened, Jesus cried out, "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" God the Father is holy, and He cannot be in the presence of sin, so God the Father turned His back on Jesus as all of our sins fell upon Him. Jesus became the payment for our sin that we owed a holy God.
One of the last things Jesus said before He died was "it is finished." In the first century, that saying meant paid in full. Jesus paid in full our sin debt, and now we have access to God through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. You see, Jesus didn't stay dead, but three days later, He rose again from the dead. Jesus promises to those who put their faith and trust in Him that when we die because we have asked Jesus to take control of our life, we get to go to heaven to be with Him forever. Asking Jesus into your life is as easy as 1,2,3 or A, B, C.
After I share this, I always ask them, "Where do you see yourself?" Here at number 1, or number 2, or number 3? Most of the time, they say I am at number 2. I know that I am a sinner, and I believe that Jesus is God's son who died for me and rose again, but I have never committed my life to Him.
I look them in the eye, and I ask them, "is there any reason why you wouldn't want to commit your life to Jesus today?" If they say no, I pray with them right through the three steps.
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose again. I commit my life to You. Everything I am and everything I hope to be, I give it to You. I love You, and I thank You for forgiving me and loving me. In Jesus' name, Amen.
If they say I'm not ready, I leave it at that. I thank them for letting me share this with them, and I hand them the paper and say, "if you ever have any questions about this stuff, you know where I am at."
Years ago, there was this girl in my student ministry. Her name was Keri. She was in the 8th grade when she gave her life to Christ.
She was so concerned for her friends that she prayed for them and cared for them, and when she had the chance, she shared with them the difference Jesus had made in her life. Her friends wanted what she had found. This girl lived over 30 minutes away from the church, but she didn't let that stop her from inviting her friends to come with her to church.
One Wednesday night, I was greeting kids who were coming out in the parking lot when I saw this station wagon loaded with kids. It looked like a station wagon lowrider coming into the church parking lot. She got out, and I said, "Keri, you sure brought a bunch of people with you tonight." She said, "Yea, but I have a problem. We had to leave some of my friends behind."
I said, "That is a problem. Keri, the church has a van. Do you think you could fill up a van?" She said, "I think so," so the next Wednesday, Keri's mom came by the church and picked up the church's 15 passenger van.
The next Wednesday night, this lowrider van came onto the church parking lot. Twenty-four kids came out of that van. I said, "Keri, this is amazing." She said, "I know, but I have a problem." I asked, "What is your problem?" She said, "I had to leave some of my friends behind because they wouldn't fit in the van." I said, "That is a problem." I said, "Keri, the church has a bus. Do you think you could fill up a bus if I got someone to drive the bus out to your house?" She said, "A bus. I don't know about a bus." I said, "I'll send you a bus."
The next Wednesday, the bus arrived with over 70 kids on it.
Because Keri cared about those around her, over 35 of her friends trusted Jesus to be the leader and forgiver of their lives in a three-month period. Because of Keri's intensity, the baptismal was full for months to come. Every time one of her friends was baptized, she would be there in the front row with this huge smile on her face.
There is nothing like having someone say, "I was lost, but now I am found. I was blind, but now I see. I was squandering my life, but now it has purpose and meaning. I was searching, and now I am home."
And then they look at you and say, "and God used you to do it." Watch the video and start practicing today.
©2024 Sagebrush Church
