“AND YE SHALL BE WITNESSES UNTO ME”

MEMORY VERSE: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 17-18

Who is a witness? A witness is simply one who bears testimony or gives evidence. Acts 1:8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The moment we hear the word ‘witnessing’, what comes to the mind of some of us is preaching on street corners or going from house to house to share the gospel of Christ. These are good things to do. However, there is more to witnessing than preaching on street corners with a loud microphone. There are several other ways of witnessing. You can witness to people by giving them tracts. You can either hand it to them by hand or put it through their letter holes or post boxes. You can witness by forwarding conversion stories on email to friends and family who are yet to meet the Lord. One of the ways the Holy Spirit has helped me to witness to people is by sharing my conversion story – how i gave my life to Christ after a dream i had – with friends and family.

You can witness by offering to pray with people when they are sick. The whole essence of witnessing is letting people know that Jesus saves. The Greek word translated “save” in our English Bible is sozo which means, according to the lexicon: “Sozo... preserve or rescue from natural dangers and afflictions.... save from death.... bring out safely from a situation fraught with mortal danger... save or free from disease...from demonic possession.... be restored to health, get well... keep, preserve in good condition...thrive, prosper, get on well... save or preserve from death....” By offering to pray with a sick person you are indirectly telling the person that Jesus saves. I have never known anyone to resent or reject or react badly to prayer especially when they are in trouble or when they are sick. Even those that don’t believe in God, if you offer to pray for them when they are going to through a challenge or when they are sick, they will gladly accept the offer.

You can witness to people by inviting them to church to hear about Christ. How did Andrew witness to Peter? He simply brought him to meet Jesus (John 1:42). How did Brother Albert McMakin witness to Bill Graham, the popular televangelist? He invited him to church. Brother Albert, just to get Billy Graham to church, gave him his truck to drive while he sat in the passenger seat. You can also witness by sharing church flyers either by hand or putting it through letter holes. Time will not permit but i can share testimonies of several people who met the Lord through this way. Someone who was saved through a church flyer is late Willie Mullan - Northern Irish Evangelist. Many were blessed around the world by his Tuesday night Bible class where several hundreds attended to hear the exposition of the word. People got saved from listening to the tapes from the Tuesday night Bible class in places like Iraq. Asides all these, you can also witness by your manner of living. The Christian who doesn’t pay his bills, who isn’t quite honest in his business dealings, who quarrels noisily with his family is not going to help the cause of Christ by his behaviour. The world is watching how you conduct yourself in lesser matters.

NOTE: Jesus did not say “and ye may be witnesses.” He didn’t say “and ye can be witnesses”. He said “and ye shall be witnesses!” It is a commandment. It is not negotiable. He said “ ye shall be witnesses unto me...” not witnesses unto denominations. We are to preach Christ not denomination.

QUESTION: How many souls have you brought to Christ since He saved you?

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

YOU CAN BE AN ‘ANDREW’

MEMORY VERSE: And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. John 1:42

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Corinthians 1-3

BIBLE READING: Matthew 28:18-20

Why should we talk about our Christian faith to our unsaved friends, families, work colleagues, etc? First, it is a command of Jesus himself. Mark 16:15 says,” And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Secondly, we tell people because there is a desperate need for people to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. If we were in the Sahara Desert and had discovered an oasis, it would be extremely selfish not tell the people around us who were thirsty where their thirst could be satisfied. Jesus is the only One who can satisfy the thirsty hearts of men and women. As a race we feel empty. Many have tried to fill that void unsuccessfully with alcohol, dress, sex, or money. Only Jesus can feel that void. Thirdly, we tell others because, having discovered the good news ourselves, we feel an urgent desire to pass it on. If we have received good news we want to tell others. Recently a sister shared with me that her younger sister had been cured of cancer. She was bubbling with joy hoping to share this testimony with anyone that cared to listen. This same applies to sharing the good news with our friends and family.

One of the most effective ways of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ is bringing people to hear the gospel explained by someone or invite them to Jesus. Many of us who have come to faith in Christ have lots of friends who have little or no connection with the church. This provides an excellent opportunity for us to invite them to church. There is no greater privilege and no greater joy than enabling someone to find out about Jesus Christ. A brother who stood out when it comes to inviting people to church was Brother Andrew. John 1:42 says, “And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” We don’t hear much about Andrew except that he was always bringing people to Jesus (John 6:8; 12:22). But Simon Peter his brother went on to be one of the greatest influences in the history of Christianity. 

Albert McMakin was a twenty years old farmer who had recently come to faith in Christ. He was so full of enthusiasm that he filled a truck with people and took them to a meeting to hear about Jesus. There was a good-looking farmer’s son whom he was especially keen to get to a meeting, but this young man was hard to persuade – he was busy falling in and out of love with different girls, and did not seem to be attracted to Christianity. Eventually Albert McMakin managed to persuade him to come by asking him to drive the truck. When they arrived,  Albert’s guest decided to go in and was ‘spellbound’ and began to have thoughts he had never knew knowing before. He went back again and again until one night, he went forward and gave his life to Jesus Christ. That man, the driver of the truck, was Billy Graham. The year was 1934. Since then Billy Graham has led thousands to faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot all be like Billy Graham, but we can all be like Albert McMaken- we can all bring our friends to Jesus.

NOTE: We cannot all be Simon Peters, but we can all do what Andrew did – we can bring someone to Christ.

PRAYER POINT: Father , make me an incurable soul winner.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.