Text: Acts 17:1-15 | Listen to Message

Share Your Faith

 

Though most Christians will never preach in the technical or official sense, we’re all called to share the Gospel. But many believers are so intimidated by evangelism, they never really share Jesus with anyone. And, yes, it can be daunting to tell someone about the justice and grace of God, but it doesn’t have to be as intimidating as we make it. Here are five simple ways from our text that you can share the Gospel in everyday conversation:

Proclaim: This simply means to announce something. Think of how news was spread in the ancient world: a herald would enter the town square and proclaim a message. Well, you’ve got the best good news in the whole wide world: forgiveness and freedom and fulfillment are all 100% free in Jesus Christ. Go find someone who needs good news and announce this hope!

Explain: When you explain something, you open up its meaning to others. Many know the word “gospel” without having any real sense of what the Gospel is. For their sake, we should be clarifying and illuminating the history, context, and meaning of Jesus’ good news.

Prove: To prove is to establish evidence that shows the truth of something. It’s perfectly reasonable that nonbelievers would expect us to demonstrate that trusting in Jesus is not a blind leap of faith. So we should be laying out the evidence of Scripture that proves that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Reason: Our word “dialogue” comes from the Greek word translated “reasoning” here. This makes it clear that reasoning indicates an exchange of ideas and even the willingness to dispute and argue for the truth of something. In modern terms, you may think of this as apologetics: using history, science, philosophy, psychology, etc., to demonstrate the reasonableness and validity of the Christian faith.

Persuade: To persuade is to convince, specifically that the Gospel must be believed – and that it’s worth believing. We’re not announcing the good news with a “take it or leave it” attitude; we’re purposefully seeking to make followers of Christ.

One of the many benefits of using several methods of Gospel presentation is that it treats people as whole people, respectfully addressing their real questions and appealing simultaneously to their hearts, minds, and will.

Sermon Notes | Application Questions