How to Evangelize and How to Share Your Faith

Hi, friend, my name is Kent Tucker and you're probably watching this video because you're looking for information on how to share the gospel. And I'm delighted with your response and your interest It's such a privilege to leave somebody Christ and help them into a personal growing relationship with Christ because he will never let go, he will never leave him. It's such a wonderful thing, and it matters, It matters for ever. It's so good for you. I'm a pastor and I have been leading people to Christ and sharing with others how to do that, how to lead people to Christ for 45 years And what I want to do is share with you 5 key Insights on how to share the gospel and how to do it with confidence. these insights will really guide you, as to how to approach people and what to say how to do it with confidence. And so the first insight I want to share is to be sensitive to god's prompting toward other people Now the reason you want to be sensitive to God's prompting Or God's nudge or God's whisper toward other people, Is because God will often bring people across your path people in who's heart he has already been working because he wants you to talk to them First John 4 talks about the fact that God is love and as we get to know God and grow closer to him He begins to fill our heart and our lives with his love. And then that overflows toward other people. And then we start paying attention to the people around us. Instead of racing through the day with a Tunnel-vision to accomplish all of our tasks we just become self abosrbed and we miss all the people around us. What God does when his love fills our heart, is we begin to slow down, we begin to see other people and notice other people, and take an interest in them. That's why you want to be sensitive to God's prompting Then this will happen all the time as you just grow on your sensitivity there. Even on vacation we took a cruise up the eastern seaboard and we stopped at a seacoast village and it was in Portland main and we were going to all the different shops in that little village that little town, and I was getting worn out and so I We went into this pottery store, and my wife and her girlfriend was looking at all the different stuff and I just Sat by a chair by the door And I could look down the Isle and I could see The employee, the one employee behind the desk where she checks out people, but nobody's there but she was busy working on stuff and after I rested for a while I just felt a nudge to to go talk to her. And so i went and I said: What are you working on? And she said: I'm knitting a scarf for my fiance And I said: well congratulations! She said: thank you. I said: When are you getting married? She said: the end of the summer I said: Where are you getting married? She said: in my boyfriend or my fiance's church. I said: what kind of church is that? She said "protestant" I think. And i said: well good, what's your church back? She says: Roman-Catholic. And I said: great you know, for your marriage to really grow together and sing, you both want to have a growing relationship with Christ And I have an app, that explains how to get closer to God, would you like to see that? And she said yes. So I showed her the "share your faith" app, and explained what God has done for her and offers forgiveness and the prayer to receive Christ And she really liked it, and i said: you can do this right now If you'd like, and she said: yes I would. Then she said: No wait! i want to download the app. She started downloading it right then, and she said: I want to share With my fiance tonight so we can both pray together to receive Christ. And I said: that's a great idea. And so, i went trough and I showed her what happened after she received Christ and then how to star growing, for she and her boyfriend, and it was a great conversation and then I said goodbye, but I was really aware that God was in that experience. That God had prompted me And that God had been working in her heart and so she was very responsive to what I said. So be sensitive to God's prompting toward other people. Cause God's gonna bring people Across your path that he want you to talk to Now the second insight is Remember, when you're sharing the gospel remember you are now alone. Now there's two ways that you are not alone. number 1: God is working on their heart and has been working on their heart before you even start talking to them. For example: God is working in their minds to help them become aware that he is there. He's working in their conscience to help them be sensitive to the fact that they need forgiveness. He's working in their heart to help them become aware that something is missing on the inside He's working in their circumstances to help them become aware that they do not have the inner resources to cope with all that life throws at them. And also God says " I have loved you with an ever lasting love I have drawn you with loving kindness. So God does loving and kind things to draw us to turn to him. See if people are afraid of God or think God's angry at them or mad at them, they won't turn to him And so God does loving and kind things to break through that deception, so that they will realize that there is a God and that he does care and he does love them to give them the freedom to turn to him. So god is working in their heart, in their lives before you talk to them And so he's already there. He's already there, you're not the first one to start this process And the second, the second way God works is he works in their heart while you are talking to them And mark chapter 13 verse 11- Jesus says this: Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial Do not worry beforehand about what you are going to say, just say Whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you For it is not you speaking, it is the Holy Spirit. Billy Gram once said that when you are talking to people about Christ, there are two voices: there's your voice and the voice of the Holy Spirit. And that's what Jesus is talking about right there in that verse When i was at UCLA, I went there on a football scholarship, I got Injured earlier on, but the team went on to win the Rosewall my senior year And they recently had a reunion 50 years later, the 1966 Rosewall team had a reunion I got to be part of that, and so I haven't seen these guys for 50 years. And so we had a great Conversation, getting caught up with each other And one of the guys name was Bill And so I said to Bill, we were in the food line the last ones in the food line, and I said to him: what is your church background? and he said: well... early on, i heard a preacher say that if you don't follow Christ, you're gonna go to hell And he said: that launched me on a study of hell, and I studied everything that the bible says about hell and everything played to and Sacred, he said, and I came to the conclusion that I didn't believe in hell, and I didn't believe in a God who would send anybody to hell well at that what came into my mind right then was: It's too bad that you didn't start your study on God's love Because in John 3 its said that God so loved us, that he sent Christ to die for our sins so he could offer his forgiveness, so that none of us would have to go to hell. I said God loves us. He loves us and he wants a relationship with us, he wants to bless us in life He wants to take us with him to be with him an eternity he doesn't want any of us to go to hell. God loves you, Bill, and you matter to him. the next thing that Bill said to me was I struggle a lot with depression And I said: Bill, talk to him about that. Just share it from your heart. Talk to him and ask him to help you. He loves you you matter to him, he wants to help you, he's just waiting for you to turn to him, he's given you free agency, he's given you a free will, he won't violate that, but he loves you and he wants to draw you to himself Then I showed him the app that explained how to get closer to God, he really liked that and he thanked me very much and said he would think about that. by chance, the next day. I ran into him, just by chance and he put his arm on my shoulder and he said: Last night I prayed and received Jesus Christ. And he said: and I told God that I'm gonna start to focus on his love and on Jesus Christ, and he said: today I'm experiencing pace for the first time Oh, I was so excited, I put my hand on his shoulder and we prayed together and that was the last time I saw him. You see, god had just brought him across my path, And God was speaking to him in the mists of that whole situation. I was speaking, he gave me the words but God was speaking to his heart as well. So... So waht what happens here is you need to remember that you are not alone. That God is working in their lives before you ever start talking to them, and God will Give you the words while you talk to them and whisper and talk to his heart at the same time God is working with you, and it's a wonderful thing to experience. Now the next insight is: first find out Where people are in their spiritual journey. First find that out. In a football game There's a long battle for the team with the ball, the offence to move that ball down the field. And it's a tough battle, but when they finally get the Ball, so that's inside the opponents 20 yard line, close to the goal line, that area right there is called the Red Zone. In that area they're in the best position to get that ball across the goal line. So they learn very specific plays in order to get the ball across the goal line. Well also in life, it's often a long journey for people to come to faith in Christ. People often struggle with relevance of God, doubting God, skeptic questions, other religions Bad experiences, hypocrisy with others, negative things that had happened to them personally, they struggle with all those things but when they finally come to the point where they They sense something missing in their life, they're They're open to God, they wonder if Christ can help them See at that point, they're in the red zone of their spiritual journey, and what what God wants is for us to share with him to help them cross the line of faith. But you see as you come across people in life they may be anywhere along this spectrum, they may be far from God and very hostile, or they may be in the red zone and very receptive. And so before I ever start sharing the gospel with somebody, I always ask questions to find out where they are on their spiritual journey. On one occasion, just not too long ago, I went into the cleaners And the lady, Lisa, behind the counter, and she was the only one there at that time, there was not a lot of people at the front desk, and so I said, Lisa, when I think of you, how do you want me to pray for you? And she said pray for my heart. I said: what's going on? She said: I have a family with heart problems and mine started racing, they couldn't stop it so they took me to the hospital, did all kinds of tests and they finally said It's created by stress The stress related to my business here, whether it's gonna make it or not. And so I said: stress? and she said yes, and then I said: Do you pray? and she said: Yes... which really meant "No" And so I said: well, do you read the Bible? And she said " yes..." And then she said: well, my nephew gave me a booklet about the bible and I've been reading that He is Jehova's witness Then I said: Jehova's witness? She said: yes, my nephew my niece, my uncle, my father, and i'm thinking She's surrounded by them. I was looking for a little hope So I said: is your husband a Jahova's witness? She said: no, he's muslim And I thought, ok I don't want to go down either one of those roads, and so I said So I said, I think you would get more help if you read The gospel of John, so I got a copy of the new testament, showed her where the Gospel of John was and I ear-marked it for her and suggested she read just a little bit every day And tell a guide she wants to get to know him. And I gave her a little booklet; Canvas crusade booklet, on how to know God personally, and it explains the gospel and there's a prayer in there and I said that to her a prayer to receive Christ, and so I gave those two things to her, and then five days later I came back to pick up my and I said, i said Lisa did you get a chance to start reading the Gospel of john? She said: I finished it, I'm half way through the gospel of Mathew. I said: you're kidding! Good for you! I said that book that I gave you, just read that Yes, the prayer at the and, did you pray that prayer? She said yes I did, I said: did you invite Christ to forgive you and come into your life? She said yes I did. And I was just thrilled and I gave her a assurance and salvation, talked to her about how she could grow... How did that happen so easily? Well it's because she was in the red zone of her spiritual journey. And I didn't know that and I wouldn't have known that, except I asked a question that helped me find out where she was on her spiritual journey. So that's what you want to do, you always want to ask questions to find out where they are so they can respond and help them at the point where they are in that journey Now if people are not open when you nudge a little bit and ask questions if they're not open Don't push them away. In my home here in southern California, I had a big Avocado tree in the back yard. And the way you pick an Avocado is you put a coffee can in a long pole, and put that up in the tree under just around the Avocado and you jiggle it if the Avocado is ripe it'll come right off the tree, but if it's not ripe, you don't want to be like I was at times, where I bang that Avocado around in that coffee can because you end up just bruising the fruit and that's not a good thing to do. Well so is in life you want to ask questions to find out where people are, so you're jiggling the fruit but if the fruit isn't ripe or the person isn't open and responsive, don't bruise the fruit don't be pushy and aggressive and in their face, because what happens you'll just push them away, push them away from you, and more importantly, you push them away from Christ And so you always wan to honor the person. Honor where the person is in their journey And honor them When I was at this reunion that i was telling you about, at UCLA last year, another guy that I talked to, his name is Peter, we'll give him that name, And we were reminiscing on quite a few things, and finally, he was an attorney and i said: now what is your church background? he said: well Church is pretty good but you lose me when it comes to Easter. And I thought he was making some crack about Easter eggs or something but I said: what do you mean? He said: I don't believe in Easter, I said: what do you mean by that? He said: I don't believe in the resurrection of Christ I said: ok, I said let me give you a big picture on that when I was in Colorado, I was there for 10 years I often looked at prairie dogs and they live in families, and they live in the ground and they come out of the ground and they play tag with each other and they run around and they hug each other and they get on their hind legs and stand up straight and chirp or bark , is what they call it, they're really fun to watch, but as I looked I see a bulldozer coming in and they're going to put a sub-division in here and wipe them all out. So how do I communicate with the prairie dog that destruction is coming, and a way of escape well the only way I could do that is if I had the power to become a prairie dog so I could talk to them at their level, in their language So that they could understand, but if I became a prairie dog, I would be just as ignorant and oblivious to what's going on as all the other prairie dogs. So I would need to retain my nature, my intelligence my essence as a man, and the get into the body of a prairie dog. It's like taking the soul of a man and getting into the body of a prairie dog so I could talk to them at their level, in their language but with the wisdom and knowledge of a higher created being. Well he said: So? heh. And I said: well that's what god did, the infinite God of the universe came down and got into the body of a man and that man was Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ said things and did things that only God could say, and only God could do. And Jesus said, the ultimate evidence that he was who he claimed to be was if three days after he was dead, he was going to rise again from the grave. And he said at that point, Peter said at that point: Not now, tomorrow. I want you to tell me more about that, but not now I said: fine Now, he left, and I don't know if that was just a professional attorney's blow off but the next day he found me. He came up at the telgate party, and he said: alright, talk to me about the resurrection. And so it got put in my mind is to share this. I said: I know two guys, they're about two decades apart but they were hardcore atheists and... and really scholars one of them was in Yale grad school student, got his law degree there in Yale, very sharp, very intelligent, both these guys were, And they realized in their commitment, they wanted to disprove Christianity and so they knew they had to attack Christ and they realized they had to disprove the resurrection to do that. So they put all their energy into looking at the evidence for the resurrection, the evidence for the resurrection and the evidence against resurrection, and they began to weigh the evidence. And both of them they don't know each other, they didn't know each other they're like two decades apart, but both of them came to the conclusion that the evidence for the resurrection was so overwhelming that they both committed their lives to Christ, received Christ and began to follow him and they became speakers and authors all across United States and collage campuses. They've written several books, films to communicate the reality of Jesus Christ as God's son the The infinite God of the universe in the body of a man proved by the resurrection and a lot of other things And so the guy then said to me Peter said, so there is evidence for the resurrection! And I said: yes there is. And I said: I can recommend a couple books for you And he said: no, I know how to do research, you know, he's an attorney I figured he had lot's of books. He said: I'll just google it. Ok that'll work And so he said: thank you very much and he was very warm about that and he left. And so, it was evident to me that that was genuine that God had been working in his life and my just honoring him and accepting him where he was, and just cooperating with whatever his level of interest was worked. And God was working in his heart, god gave me the words and it was awesome to see that when you honor a person and and honor where they are in the journey, God will give you the wisdom on how to help and encourage them and point them to Christ wherever they are, but you don't want to be pushy or in their face, sometimes you just need to stop talking about Christ at all because that is not Where they are and they're not open. Alright now if they are open, this is the fifth insight If they are open, you want to help them cross the line of faith you want to help them to receive Christ. A person you're talking to may be ready to receive Christ but that doesn't mean he knows how to receive Christ. You see, most people don't understand that coming to Christ is like taking a shower or taking a bath you don't clean up in order to take a shower, you take a shower to get cleaned up well the same goes for Christ, you don't clean up your life to come to Christ, You come to Christ just as you are and he will clean up your life. He will forgive all of your sins and then he'll begin to make you new on the inside and start rebuilding with attitudes and perspective and qualities and the spirit of God comes into your life and begins the transforming process. And so, that's why you you want to make it really clear, you want to help them to know how to cross the line of faith, because most of them, even though they want to respond, don't know how to do that. And so we need to guide them, help them cross the line of faith. The "Share your Faith" app is one of the most effective tools Out in the market for leading people to Christ. It is a simple, effective, compelling... It's captivating for the person you're showing it to It takes them through the gospel, there's animation there's voice-over, narration to it, it's a really clear representation of the gospel, leads them through the prayer to receive Christ, gives them assurance afterwards And this is just being used all over the world And so I want you to take a quick look at this because it's an effective tool, and I want you to know about it So you can use it. Here take a quick look, at this video. The share your faith app Explains what God has done for us and how we can get closer to him. If you forget what to say, The keyword will help you. If you want additional help, Check out the " more" button, and the "bible" button. It even asks questions to see if someone is ready to receive Christ, then it leads him through a prayer and shows the benefits of a relationship with God Also, you can have a narrator guide you or read it in 16 languages. What's not to love about that? Friends I trust that these 5 insights will give you a track to run on So it will help you to share the gospel with confidence. For more information on this you can follow us on Facebook, You can follow us on Twitter, and you can go to our website, howtoshareyourfaith.com And there you will find these resources and several others also I've written a book called "In the Red Zone a game plan for how to share your faith" and all these insights will be in there along with several others and will expand on them again to give you confidence about sharing the gospel. and also you learn more about the "share your Faith" app believers all over the world are using that app to share with their friends, and leading their friends to Christ. And we, because of google analytics, know that people are using it every day around the world and people are coming to Christ every day, because the app is so clear and compelling and I want to encourage you to take a good look at that as well god bless you for your motivation and desire to make a difference, an eternal difference in the lives of people you come across on your journey through life God bless you