The Great Commission

I want to proclaim the gospel; obviously it's hard. I find it difficult to even imagine talking to people about it! (Hopefully, someday I will be able to do this, however.) I did make a YouTube video of the gospel, and made it play automatically when my channel is viewed. I don't know if it was the best idea or it will reach a lot of people, but I have to try to proclaim God's message, and I felt I had to do it. Feedback on it (on this forum; I disabled commenting on it on YouTube) might be helpful to me…(don't be too harsh, tho! meep! and yes, the video quality is very hideous…)

How do you proclaim the gospel? If you haven't done much in this arena yet, do you have any ideas? We can encourage and admonish each other here, too. Also, if you read the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) you will see that the ministry of the GC doesn't end with conversion, but includes discipleship and "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" - which is certainly something to think about as we discuss our Lord's commission to us.

Some people-most of them from my church-recently put on some skits, and played music at a local snocone shop. Some people shared their testimonies and others witnessed to the people watching. What several people from our church usually do, however, is go out on Sunday afternoons after church and witness at a park or something like that.

I'll chime in more fully on this subject later, but for now a great site to check out about this is www.livingwaters.com. It has some GREAT witnessing tools and methods.

One of the simplest ways to share the gospel with someone is to walk up to them randomly on the street and start up a conversation. Tracts from Living Waters are amazing conversation starters; you can just walk up to a random person, say "Did you get one of these?", and jump right into spiritual things. The best way to open a person's heart to the gospel is to show them that they need it, so you should jump to the law almost immediately. By taking them through the Ten Commandments, and telling them that these are God's standard for judgment, they usually realize that they are too sinful to get into heaven, even if they are a "good person."

Always remember to use the law at the beginning of a witnessing encounter. If you don't, you are like a doctor that walks up to a person and gives them a treatment for a deadly disease with no explanation. The person will most likely throw it aside, thinking they don't need it. First, you need to show them how much they DO need it, and then they will take it. You usually cannot share the gospel without first using the law to pry open a hard heart.

After they realize that they are sinful and bound for hell, give them the good news. Christ died for sinners to save them from hell–He took the punishment they deserved, died, and rose to life so that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." If they truly realize their need, they will receive the gospel with gladness.

Tell them that in order to receive this amazing gift, they must repent of their sins and trust in Jesus alone for salvation, nothing that they can do. Then you should usually end by telling them to read a Bible and obey what they read.

May God bless you as you share His Word with others! And remember, you don't need to be someone's best friend to tell them they need a Savior. :) God will be with you when you witness in His name. :)

Thanks for the encouragement and information!

…the really scary part is actually doing it!! XD I know it's probably not as scary as it seems, but to me, it's hard not to think of such a think as being horrifying! I guess I just have to trust in the Lord to give me strength. :)

God bless you, this is a great subject!

I think its scary every time I go out and witness, at least my flesh thinks it is. The enemy hates it when we witness that's why its likened to a war, a war of the spirit.
But once you take that first step into battle, it gets a bit easier, most of the time. And when you take that step, like stepping off a cliff sometimes, you'll feel the anointing of the Lords Holy Spirit and the words will flow from your lips in a supernatural way and you'll wonder, wow! Did I just say that?

Its sort of like an exercise and you learn by doing, and the more you do it, the more you learn how to do it, and what tactics or witnessing methods to use in different situations.

I am a pretty shy person and soft spoken most of the time.
So I like using the tract method for starters and I just keep passing them out until someone asks me "what is this about? " which is an open door to say "its about Jesus."
And if they are Gods sheep they will get interested and at least listen to what you have to say. I usually ask them if they believe in Jesus or ask them "if there was a God do you think he could love even you? "

A lot of people feel so unloved and have a negative opinion about themselves that if you show them a little bit of love and concern for them and try to relate to them, becoming all things to all men as Paul said, you're going to find them more interested in hearing what you have to say.
And sometimes you will find in the coarse of your witnessing that they will open their heart to you and that is a good time to tell them what Jesus has done for you, And you can give them Gods answers from the word.

Get them talking and be a good listener, sympathize and have compassion on them like the Great Shepard, the Great physician. Be a doctor, a soul doctor.

Stay simple with the simplicity of the Gospels.

Avoid long complicated theory's.

Avoid arguments and find common ground.

If you run across people who just want to argue doctrinal differences while your trying to witness. Try to politely excuse yourself and continue on in your mission with the great commission.

There will be times when your gonna have to put up with a few goats along the way before you find that stray sheep who's receptive and hears Gods voice.

I have had plenty of moments where the goats would literary gnash on my tracts and rip them to shreds and complain and get me kicked off a good wittnessing spot when I wasn't doing anything but passing out tracts.

I used to take my guitar and ask them if they would like to hear a song, which works great. If your a young person it works even better.

Try and find a team mate, its good to have support, as you well know Jesus sent them out 2 by 2. If you have a bigger group so much the better.

I have found that there is nothing more effective than 1 on 1 personal witnessing that seems to bear the best fruit.

Last of all try to leave on a positive note. If you know your going to see these people again and they don't receive the Lord right there and then, don't blast them with hell fire and dust your shoes off at them.

Keep working on them with love and patience. When a farmer sows the seed it doesn't just grow up in one day. Be an example of what the love of God is like. And like they say,"the Bible most people read is the one bound in shoe leather"

"the Bible most people read is the one bound in shoe leather"

I like this quote. And thanks for all the encouragement!

John project, I don't exactly understand why you would witness to people if you have such a small incentive as you have to do it. I believe that God is using me to save people from hell, but you say that you believe that all people are going to heaven anyway. Yes, you say you can either be a ruler or be ruled over in heaven, but that seems like a very small incentive to me. You don't have a whole lot of drive behind your witnessing… But maybe I should talk about your beliefs on another forum–like "Immortality," where I first learned what you believed. :)

Okay I'll bite.

But I think it best to stay on the topic which is in the forum heading.

( SBG words are in quotations )

“ John project, I don't exactly understand why you would witness to people if you have such a small incentive as you have to do it. “

I'm sorry you don't understand.
My " incentives" are pressing towards the mark, for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus

“I believe that God is using me to save people from hell.”

God Bless you, I have nothing but total respect for those who have the guts to get out there and battle it out with the enemy and do their best for the kingdom of God.

“but you say that you believe that all people are going to heaven anyway.”

Umm, I never said that all people are going to heaven. There will be plenty of people going to hell. I just said that eventually there will come a time that all punishment will come to an end. Yes, I believe that Gods love is that big.

“Yes, you say you can either be a ruler or be ruled over in heaven,”

Uh, I never said that,the Bible says that. There is going to be a Kingdom and obviously this kingdom is going to have a government and we will rule and reign with him

“”You don't have a whole lot of drive behind your witnessing…”

You don't even know me, so this statement is totally absurd.
Although I do have my good days and my bad days like everyone else.

“But maybe I should talk about your beliefs on another forum–like "Immortality," where I first learned what you believed. :) “

I definitely agree with you there.

I love handing out tracts…especially Ray Comfort's $1,000,000 bill ones. When I'm checking out at stores, I'll ask the cashier if they've ever had a million dollar bill before…everyone I've asked has said no. They think they're so cool and the best part is, they also get the Gospel message. ^ _ ^