Print this pageLife Change | Mythbusters | April 5-6, 2008 |
THE MYTHS OF WITNESSING:
THREE KEYS TO SHARING YOUR LIFE:
IT TAKES SPIRITUAL PREPARATION.
Colossians 4:3-4 1 Corinthians 3:5-9
Pray for: Open Doors
ClaritySaving people is God’s work, not yours.
Colossians 4:3-4
And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. [4] Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. [NIV]
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. [6] I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. [7] So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. [8] The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. [9] For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. [NIV]
BE WISE TOWARD OUTSIDERS.
Colossians 4:5 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 1 Peter 3:15-16
It all starts with intentional relationships.
When opportunity knocks – Answer.
Create questions, not conflict.
Colossians 4:5
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. [NIV]
1 Corinthians 9:22-23
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. [23] I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. [NIV]
1 Peter 3:15-16
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, [16] keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. [NIV]
BEWARE, YOUR SPEECH WILL GIVE YOU AWAY.
Colossians 4:6 Matthew 26:69-75 James 3:9-12
Offer grace, not judgment.
People need an answer, not an argument.
ONE FINAL QUESTION:
Colossians 4:6
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. [NIV]
Matthew 26:69-75
Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. "You also were with Jesus of Galilee," she said.
[70] But he denied it before them all. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said.
[71] Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, "This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth."
[72] He denied it again, with an oath: "I don't know the man!"
[73] After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, "Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away."
[74] Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!"
Immediately a rooster crowed. [75] Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly. [NIV]
James 3:9-12
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. [10] Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. [11] Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? [12] My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. [NIV]