Share Jesus without Fear
Optional
Conversational Joggers
New
Believer Questions and Directions.
Developing and Keeping Non-Christian Friends
This document is a supplement to the book Share Jesus without Fear. It summarizes the key points of this book. It is divided into the following:
Prepare to Share Jesus – This section contains some Bible verses and explains why we should share Jesus with others. It also contains the top six fears people have when it comes to sharing Jesus, and how to overcome these fears.
How to Share Jesus – This section is the meat of this document and should serve as a reference when sharing the Gospel. It contains ways you can bring up the subject, the five share Jesus questions, the Scriptures to share, commitment questions to ask, the sinner’s prayer, and new believer questions and directions.
Share Bible Directions – This section shows you how to mark your Bible so that you can be prepared to show the “Share Jesus Scriptures”.
Developing and Keeping Non-Christian Friends – This section emphasizes the importance of you not hiding yourself from non-Christians since they need you.
Common Objections – This section contains a list of the most common objections people have to receiving the Gospel.
Reference – This section contains information on the book where this information was taken.
Philemon is a letter from
Paul, written while he was in prison for teaching the Good News about
Jesus. It was written to convince
Philemon to forgive his runaway slave, Onesimus, and to accept Onesimus as a
brother in the faith. It is to Philemon
and all believers.
4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5
because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord
Jesus and all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your
faith may promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ.
Acts is a letter from Luke written to give an accurate account of the birth and growth of the Christian Church. It is written to Theophilus and all lovers of God.
14 And he said, 'The God of our fathers appointed you to know his
will, to see the Just One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for
you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sama'ria and to the end of the earth."
Mark was written by John Mark to present the person, work, and teachings of Jesus. It was written to the Christians in Rome.
15 And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
Peter denied Jesus three times. When asked, he said that he didn’t know Him. We also deny Jesus when we don’t share our faith – by the sin of silence.
Are you sharing your faith? Do you only hang around fellow Christians? Are you hanging around non-Christians?
The Bible says that either God is your father or Satan is your father. Either you are in a relationship with Christ or you’re not. Either you are born again or you’re not. Either you’re a child of God or you’re His enemy. There is no middle ground.
Sharing the Gospel is God’s command to us. It is for every Christian, not just those of have “the gift” of sharing. God will be with us when we share it – He will speak through us. We are His vehicles - we must let Him use us.
The top six fears that keep people from sharing their faith:
You cannot fail. It is not our job to “win” people to Christ. It is our job to be obedient and to share Christ with others. Success is sharing your faith and living your life for Christ. It has nothing whatsoever to do with bringing anyone to the Lord. We cannot “win” them – people do not put their faith in Christ because we force them to believe; they put their faith in Christ because God uses us to point out the truth.
When people reject your message, it is not you they reject; they are rejecting Jesus and God’s word. Therefore, you didn’t fail in your obedience. Even if the way you share the message is tactless or unloving, God can use it. What He can’t use is your sin of silence.
It takes people an average of 7.6 times of hearing the Gospel before receiving it. If they walk away when you share with them, you have not failed – you’re one of the 7.6 times and now they have less to go. Who knows, maybe that was the 6.6th time!
You can share your faith or be silent, loving your friends to Hell. Then what will they think?
How many of your friends know that you are a Christian but don’t understand the Gospel? The reason many of your friends have not received the Gospel is because they are waiting on you to explain it to them.
Yes, you need to share with your co-workers. However, sharing at work is not the right place in most circumstances. You can test the waters with the five “Share Jesus Questions” to see where they stand, but you should set up a time outside of the office to get deeper and to actually share the Gospel with them.
God can use anyone for His great works. It doesn’t matter who you are – He will give you the strength, power, and courage to share when you need it. Trust in Him.
When you surrender your life to Christ, it may cost you every relationship you have. You truly have to die to yourself and follow Christ. For example, if your mother said she’d disown you if you gave your life to Christ, you must do so and risk it. God will take care of you. Then you should try to bring your mother to Christ.
You will learn how to share in this lesson. It’s really easy. Ask God for the strength and courage when you need it.
How will we know when someone’s heart is at the 7.6 average? We won’t know unless we ask probing questions to find out where God is at work so we can join them.
The following questions can be used to spark up a faith conversation. If you are uncertain about someone’s faith, you can ask these questions. You can ask them in any order, and you don’t have to ask all of them. You can “throw one in” any conversation to get it going the way you want it to go. These questions kind of get your foot in the door. Once you get the conversation going, you can lead into the five Share Jesus questions.
As you ask these questions, do not respond to their answers immediately. You can just say “Hmmm” for now and continue on with the next question. This is important so that you don’t get in a religious argument – it’s hard for someone to argue with someone only saying, “Hmmm”. If you feel led to just go straight into asking the five questions below instead of using some of the conversational joggers mentioned above, go ahead.
1. Do you have any kind of Spiritual Beliefs?
Do
not ask someone, “Do you believe in God?” – many seem to find this
offensive. This is a good question to
start with – it sets the tone and you can move on to another question once the
ice is broken.
2. To
you, who is Jesus Christ?
This question separates the religious people from the relational people. Religious people’s answers will be something like “the son of God”, “a man who died on the cross”, or “the only begotten son”. Relational people will answer something like, “He is my Lord and my Savior”. Notice the word “my” – it shows that they have a relationship with Christ.
3. Do
you believe in Heaven or Hell?
Regardless of the answer you are given, ask the next question as well.
4. If
you died, where would you go?
You may want to follow this question up with, “Why would God let you in?” This brings you to where you want to go – the last question.
5. If
what you are believing is not true, would you want to know?
This is a crucial question. People fear missing opportunities because of not knowing the right information. There are only two possible answers to this question: yes or no. If the answer is “yes”, you have permission to go on to the next phase (Share Jesus Scriptures). Notice that they have now given you permission to continue. If the answer is “no”, be silent for a moment – they may change their mind. If they don’t, do not force it upon them. Just pray that God will open their hearts when He is ready.
This phase allows the Bible to speak. Have the person you are sharing with to read the verses out loud, and then ask them what it means to them (one exception – after the third verse, John 3:3, ask them why Jesus came to die). They read it out loud because faith comes from hearing (Romans 10:17). If they answer it correctly, move on to the next scripture and repeat. If they do not answer correctly, have them read it aloud again – they may need to read it aloud several times before the Holy Spirit gets to them. If, after reading the passage, they ask a question, don’t answer it, just ask them to read it again. The Holy Spirit will do the work of helping them understand.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
When you ask what the verse means to them, you are looking for an answer like, “Everyone has sinned”.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When you ask what the verse means to them, you are looking for an answer like, “The result of sin is death, but God gives life through His son.”
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
When you ask why Jesus came to die, you are looking for an answer like, “He came to die for sin.”
Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
When you ask what the verse means to them, you are looking for an answer like, “There is no other way to be with God except through Jesus.”
That if you confess with your
mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved. For it is with
your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that
you confess and are saved. As the
Scripture says, “Everyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.”
When you ask what the verse means to them, you are looking for an answer like, “If I believe God raised Jesus from the dead, I can be saved.”
And he died for all, that those
who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them
and was raised again.
When you ask what the verse means to them, you are looking for an answer like, “We should live for Christ.”
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
When you ask what the verse means to them, you are looking for an answer like, “If I ask Jesus to come into my life, He will.”
When the last Scripture question has been read aloud, it’s time to ask five more questions:
Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned. The Scriptures have prepared them for these commitment questions.
Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. Your friend should now know why he/she needs forgiveness. It is their choice. It is their choice to receive or not.
This is a key element in anyone’s decision because the cross is central to the Gospel. As Romans 10:9-11 says, it is with the heart man believes and with the heart a man is justified and with the mouth a man confesses.
This is important because it is important for them to count the cost of surrendering their life to Christ. Be sure they know they choose to receive God’s love, and they must choose to serve him willingly. We must not lead our friends into an easy faith that does not change their hearts or their lives.
John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” We need to invite, to receive, and to accept Jesus into our lives.
BE SILENT AND PRAY – Do not say anything after asking this question – just pray for them. Be silent as long as it takes.
If you receive “no” as an answer, ask them why? See the ways to handle common objections section on how to handle this.
Heavenly Father, I have sinned against you. I want forgiveness for all my sins. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again. Father, I give you my life to do with as you wish. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into my heart. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
It is important to ask new believers some questions to make sure they are on the right path:
All.
None.
Within me.
Tell them to say, “Heavenly Father,” then whatever is on their mind.
Most of the time they know. Then you can ask the next question.
This is asked to find out if their friend is a Bible-based Christian. If so, ask the next question.
You want the new believer to call so that you can give the joy back to Christ. Also, you want the new believer to share his/her faith in Christ with others (confess with your mouth).
Once someone accepts Christ as their savior, one of the most important things they need to do is become a part of a church fellowship. Not only is this important to the body of Christ, it is important for their own spiritual growth.
Give the new believer this assignment. Tell them that when they read it, it will seem different to them. To make sure they follow through with the assignment, tell them the next item.
Call them a couple of days later to see if they have fulfilled your request. Ask them if the Bible seemed different. When they say, “yes”, tell them that it may seem different, but the Book didn’t change, they did.
The following shows you how to mark your New Testament so that you can share the “Share Jesus Scriptures” easily:
Why should you reach back into the world to share your faith with non-Christians? You should do this because Christ died for them (Romans 5:8), He loves them too (Luke 9:10), they desperately need Christ, and Jesus called us to be “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
God called us to go into the world and to go into His harvest. Matthew 28:19 reminds us to “go and make disciples.” Not to mention the ripple effect – who knows who else may find the good news through the people you have shared.
Be looking for opportunities to share the Gospel. It is no coincidence who comes into our lives. God has placed many people in your path for reasons. Ask God to help you seek these opportunities.
Don’t forget to pray for non-Christians as well as for a chance to share Jesus with them.
The following is a list of common objections – the way to handle these objections can be found in the Share Jesus without Fear book.
Book: Share Jesus Without Fear
Author: William Fay
ISBN: 3433700999