Rapture Watch

What Is Witnessing?

a). An overflow. b). One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. c). "To witness is so to present Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit that men and women shall put their trust in God through Him, to accept Him as their saviour and serve Him as their King in the fellowship of the Church" (Archbishop William Temple).

How Can I Explain the Gospel?

1. The Bible tells us all men and women are separated from God because of their sin.
(Book of Romans Chapter 3 verse 23)

2. Therefore you are separated from Him

3. God wants to be friends with you so that you will no longer be separated from Him
because of your sin.(Book of Romans Chapter 6 verse 23)

4. Jesus came from Heaven to solve this separation problem and to offer you forgiveness for your sins.
(John's Gospel Chapter 14 verse 6)

5. Although Jesus was innocent of all sin, God allowed Jesus to die on the cross
for your sins, in your place, thereby solving the separation problem.
(Book of Romans Chapter 5 verse 8)

6. After his death, Jesus rose from the dead and is now alive forever.
His resurrection from the dead means you can put your trust in him as God's answer
to your separation problem.
(Colossians Chapter 1 verses 21-22)

7. Jesus is a friend of sinners. Therefore he is YOUR friend.
(Mark's Gospel Chapter 2 verses 13-17)

8. Jesus is now offering you forgiveness for all your sins and a place in God's kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven.
(John's Gospel Chapter 14 verse 6)

9. If you want to accept his offer, tell him so. He will not reject you.
(Book of Romans Chapter 10 verse 13)

Why Should We Do It?

a). It brings glory to God - John 15:8. b). We are commanded to do it - Matthew 4:19. c). People are lost without Jesus - I John 5: 11-12. d). The love of Christ constrains us - 2 Corinthians 5: 14. This love is expressed, not by the emotions, but by THE WILL. We should never wait for our emotions to make us feel like witnessing.

Why Might We Not Do It?

a). Embarrassment - if I talk about what I believe I will feel silly. b). Fear of rejection - I might be rubbished and rejected. c). Inadequacy - I'm afraid I won't know the answers to people's questions and I will lose out, let God down and wish I'd never started the conversation.

It's OK - Our Inhibitions Are Biblical!

a). Even the Apostle Paul shares our experience of feeling foolish - I Corinthians 4:10. b). Jesus' own neighbours take offence at him and reject him - Mark 6: 1-6. c). Jesus promised the disciples that if they trust God, the Holy Spirit will speak through them when they are tongue-tied.

We Need To Remember.....

It's possible to have faith without having all the answers. If we can have faith while still having problem areas, so can other people! Most people's faith is like a set of balance scales. Faith comes when the reasons for believing outweigh the problems. Like the blind man in John 9:25 we can say: " I don't know, but this I do know....."

We Need To Pray For People And Opportunities

God loves those He made more than you do and doesn't want any to perish. Someone once said "Prayer is not conquering God's reluctance but laying hold of God's willingness." We can therefore pray boldly and with assurance that God is with us in our witnessing. Having prayed, expect to see the opportunities that God will provide.

Make Sure There Is No Unconfessed Sin In Your Life

Repentance applies to Christians as much as to unbelievers. I need to take time before God to address those actions, attitudes and behaviour patterns in my own life that offend God. I cannot expect God to bless my witnessing or any other activities if I am knowingly disobedient to Him in some area of my life. Look at the promise in I John I:9.

We Need To Go Out In The Power Of The Holy Spirit

When you came to Christ you were sealed with His Spirit. To be effective witnesses, overcoming the hindrances of the flesh mentioned above, we need to go out in the power of the Holy Spirit. If we feel lacking in this area, we need to appropriate by faith the fulness of the Holy Spirit which is ours by right, by virtue of what Jesus' accomplished through his death and resurrection. Jesus promised "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem; and in all Judea and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Look also at the parable of the Friend at Midnight in Luke 11: 5-13, in particular the promise in verse 13. Finally, I John 5: 14-15 says :"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we ask of Him". It is God's will that we witness to Jesus, not in our strength alone, but drawing on the Lord's resources to enable us.

Part Two - Writing Your Testimony

Before You Start

Ask God to guide you in your preparation. Be honest in your statements and don't exaggerate either the positive or the negative aspects of your story. Don't criticise other people or denominations or make any other negative remarks in your story. God has lifted YOU up, so don't bring anyone else down. Don't use any religious jargon. Aim eventually to have two versions of your story; a two minute one and a ten minute one. You can than adapt to the circumstances, according to which version is appropriate for the occasion. Make sure both versions are concise and to the point! When you have written your story, practice reading it over in front of a sympathetic friend who can give you positive feedback.

Section One - My Life Before I Became A Christian

Some people have a sudden conversion experience. For others, it can happen over a period of time without a clear pinpointed date.Whichever way your conversion occurred, try and recall here what your life was like before. What attitudes did you display? What were your behaviour and feelings about life?

Section Two - How I Came To Realise I Needed Jesus

Include here what made you turn to Jesus. Did you have a need that Jesus met? Were you at the end of your tether and couldn't go on? Was the process a long or a short one? Make it clear in your story that becoming a Christian was entering into a relationship with Christ, not just subscribing to some set of principles or way of living

Section Three - How I Became A Christian

Explain exactly what brought you to the point where you gave your life over to Jesus. What specific step did you take to become a Christian? Was it a sudden transformation or was it a long process?

Section Four - What Being A Christian Means Now

What difference has becoming a Christian made to your life? What are the highlights? Has there been a price to pay in relationships? Based on your experience to date, explain why you would encourage others to become a Christian too.

When No News is Good News...

Ever feel as though life is full of nothing but 'bad news'? Interested in some 'good news'? Found yourself thinking "...there's gotta be more to life than this." There is! And that's where we begin the good news...

Good news is 'good' because bad news exists. Think about it: if there were no bad news, there'd be no need for good news; in fact, good news doesn't really make sense without bad news. The bad news here is that every person has a life-threatening illness which they can't fix on their own.

A helpful picture is to imagine you have cancer. And to make matters worse, you don't know you have cancer! So, no matter how many people tell you about a cure for cancer, if you don't think you have cancer, you don't care about its cure! You're not interested. Why should you care about something that has no benefit for you?

So What's the Cancer?

But the moment you discover you have cancer, you're listening! The cancer here is that people have "missed the mark" when it comes to meeting God's standards of goodness. None of us has "hit the bullseye", so to speak. Not one of us could ever claim to be perfect in everything we say and do. Not one of us could claim to have kept every one of the Ten Commandments All of us have fallen well short of the "Great Command":

Another word for "missing the mark" is sin, and sin is the cancer we're talking about.

Just as cancer of the body causes death: a separation between the body and the spirit, cancer of the spirit causes death: a separation between the spirit and God. Once this "spiritual death" takes place, there's nothing anyone can do to reverse it. No amount of time will dull the regrets, the remorse, and the "if only I had...". Sin is a fatal disease...and no-one on earth has a cure...

How About Some Good News...

But God who created this world and all of us, has chosen to offer us a cure for the cancer of sin. He didn't have to: He would have been perfectly fair if He decided not to, but He's not like that. He cares for us too much to leave us the way we are.

Here's What He's Done...

What if His solution was to hook us up with someone who was completely healthy, and had never been even slightly sick? It would work like this: this person would have the cancer completely transferred to his body, and we would be left with no trace of it. Not only that, but we would have this person's "clean bill of health" from that point on. Obviously, it would be our choice. No-one can force us to make a decision we don't want to, including God.

Alright...What Actually Happens?

This is a picture of what happens when we decide to follow God.

• We accept that there's nothing we can do to deal with sin by ourselves.
• We trust that God is willing and able to deal with our sin.
• We also accept God's solution: Jesus, his Son, will take away our sin and its consequences.
• God will transfer to us the good favour which Jesus has with Him.
• God will give us a changed life, and guarantees that we'll spend the rest of our existence with Him.

OK. But Exactly How Does Jesus Take Away Sin?

Jesus can take away our sin and its consequences (eg. spiritual death, guilt, bitterness, etc). How He does it is central to Christianity.

Sin came into the world when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. At that time, death also made its first appearance. From that point on, everyone was "born to die". It's like the problem we have when we button up a shirt, but get the wrong button in the wrong hole - every button from then on is out of alignment. In the same way, every one of us is born with an inclination to sin, and everyone will eventually die. But for anyone who has not "settled accounts with God", there is more than just physical death. That person will also die spiritually, when their spirit is forever separated from God.

What!? And God's Happy About This???

No! This is NOT what God wants! If He could have one person die a spiritual death in place of everyone who has ever lived, He'd arrange it! But three conditions would need to be met.

1. The person would have to be completely free from sin. If the person had sinned even once, his death would only "pay" for his own sin, and the plan would fail.
2. The person would have to be "infinite and immortal". Even if you or I lived a perfect life, and then died, we would only be able to substitute in the place of one other person, since we are finite and mortal.
3. The person would have to be a member of the race he was substituting for. In other words, an animal could not substitute for a human. An angel could not substitute for a human. The person would need to be a human.

So, is there someone who is infinite and immortal, as well as being a human who has never sinned? There's only one person - Jesus. Jesus is God's Son, and has always been God. About 2,000 years ago, He was born in the Middle East, and lived for about 33 years, until He was killed. During that time, he never sinned.

So Why Was He Killed?

He claimed, among other things, that He was indeed God. Even though this was true, it was too much for the religious leaders of the day, and they had Him convicted in a mock trial of claiming to be God. The sentence for blasphemy was death, and the death penalty at that time was done by crucifixion. Two beams of wood were nailed together to make the shape of a "t", or a cross. Jesus had nails driven through His wrists and feet, and soon died.

Not Exactly According To Plan, Eh?

Well, actually, it was just what God had planned. Remember that Jesus was going to die in place of everyone. His death on the cross showed that the problem of sin had been dealt with once and for all: for all time, and for all people.

Then, three days later, unlike anyone else who has ever lived, Jesus came back to life. And not just as a spirit - as a person with a physical body. This is what Christians mean when they talk of the resurrection. Coming back to life showed that Jesus was God, just as He had claimed. This is why the resurrection is probably the most important belief of Christianity. If He hadn't come back to life, He could not possibly be God, and Christianity would be a false hope. Coming back to life also meant that He had a death-conquering life, and that anyone who trusts in Him shares in His death-conquering life.

What's the Catch? What Do I Have To Do?

The above few paragraphs show how God has offered to take away sin and its consequences, through Jesus' death and resurrection. You take up God's offer simply by accepting that you can't deal with the problem of sin in your life, and trusting that God can. That's it!

That's It???

That's it!! Does this sound like "an offer you can't refuse"? Yeah...in fact, it seems too good to be true. So why do people refuse the offer?

Put simply, accepting something we need from someone else means we have to recognise that we can't meet the need ourselves. And that cuts right to the core of our love for independence. The Bible calls this pride. Pride is what went wrong with Adam and Eve in the first place. They wanted to be like God, and we've fallen for similar things ever since. It's God, and God alone, who makes possible the cure for sin, and with it, a changed life. It's clear that God saves us; we don't save ourselves. And it's all wrapped up in something that sets Christianity apart from other religions: grace.

Here's how one writer explained it to a group of Christians:

So, Can I Follow God Right Now?

Of course! So how exactly do you begin to follow God? Agree with God in His diagnosis about your sin, and in His solution for your sin. And then let Him know...

If you're wondering just what to say to God, this might be a help:

If you just said that to God and meant it, then you're now a God-follower with a changed life! Maybe you felt something; maybe you didn't. Don't panic if you didn't. Most people don't, and feelings aren't the issue anyway. God has saved you from sin, and saved you for a life of meaning and fulfilment.