What does it mean to be Christ’s Witnesses?

As Christ’s witnesses, our goal is to spread the Gospel and the love of Jesus Christ to others, so that they may become his disciples as well. We are actively involved with a number of outreach ministries, both international and local.

What is the Gospel?

Life’s Problem, God’s Solution

The gospel answers four questions we all ask:

1. Where’d everything come from? (Who am I?)
2. What’s life’s purpose? (Why am I here?)
3. What’s wrong with the world? (What’s wrong with me?)
4. What’ll fix what’s wrong? (How can I be fixed?)

Life’s problem is that we’ve cut ourselves off from God (life’s source) and are suffering the results. Your life has three fatal problems:

• You have a snake-like, evil, and rebellious heart! [Jer 17:9; Ps 58:3-4]
• You have a vile, blood-soaked, dung-caked, filthy record of disobedience! [Isa 64:6; Php 3:8]
• You have a poisonous, selfish, and destructive life! [Rom 3:10-12; Jam 3:8]

Want proof? Death is the proof; it is your payment for rebelling against God. [Ezk 18:4; Rom 6:23a; Gal 6:7-8]

One Future Trial

When you die, you will face a trial before God your creator. [Heb 9:27; Rom 2:5-8; 1:18-20]

• The evidence is your life: your thoughts, desires, words, and actions. [Jer 17:10; 2Co 5:10]
• The standard is God’s law. [Ex 20:1-17; Rom 2:14-15; 3:19-20]

Do you think you’re a good person? [Mk 10:17-18; Ps 86:5] 
How many times have you …?

• Lied? [Lv 19:11; Ps 101:7]
• Taken something that doesn’t belong to you? [Lv 19:11; Jer 6:13]
• Lost your temper? [Lv 19:17-18; Mt 5: 21-22]
• Looked with lust? [Lv 18:20; Mt 5:27-28]
• Used God’s name carelessly? [Lv 19:12; Mk 3:29]

No judging here! You’re like the rest of us: a lying, thieving, murderous, adulterous, blasphemer at heart. That’s only half of God’s 10 Commandments!

One Devastating Verdict

Based on God’s law and your life, you will receive the same judgment as the rest of mankind [Rom 3:10; Ecc 7:29]:

• God will declare you guilty. [1Jn 1:8; Rom 3:12, 23]
• God will sentence you to hell. [Rv 21:8; 1Co 6:9-10]

One Stunning Intervention

God is just; he will not allow any rebellion to go unpunished. [Gn 18:25; Job 8:3]

• God is also love; he can satisfy justice and save us from judgment. [Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8]
• God sent his Son Jesus Christ to intervene in your trial. [Gal 4:4-5; 1Jn 4:9-10]

Jesus’ intervention provides three significant legal results:

• His innocence in death provides satisfaction for rebellion against God. [Col 1:21-22; 1Pt 3:18]
• His perfect obedience in life restores rightness with God. [Rom 5:19; 2Co 5:21]
• His resurrection confers new life from God.
  [Rom 6:5-6; 2Co 5:17]

Another way to look at this: Jesus’ intervention fixes the three fatal problems with your life. Through Jesus, God:

• Removes your dead heart and makes you alive to himself. [Ezk 36:26; Rom 6:6,11]
• Cleanses and removes your vile, filthy record of disobedience, and declares you right with him, forever. [Ezk 36:25; 2Co 5:21]
• Gets rid of your selfish, destructive, poisonous life and gives you a new pure life that grows in holiness. [Ezk 36:27; Heb 10:10]

One Fateful Plea

If your trial were being held right now, there are only three possible responses to God’s guilty verdict:

• Deny it and revile him. [Ps 74:10-11; Gal 6:7-8]
• Agree but live as a hypocrite. [Mt 23:27-28; Ecc 12:14]
• Own it, asking for mercy and grace through Jesus. [Ac 4:12; Rom 10:13]

To  be freed from the guilty verdict, you must repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus. [Ac 20:21; Isa 55:6-7]

• Repentance is agreement with God’s judgment and punishment of your sin. [Lk 18:13; 2Co 7:9-10]
• Faith is trusting in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, alone, to make you right with God. [Gal 2:16; Php 3:9-11]

One Amazing Counselor

God knows you will not on your own choose to trust in Jesus. [Jer 6:10; Eph 4:17-18]

• You are self-deceived and cannot make the right choice. [Jer 17:9; Jn 3:12]
• Left to yourself, you would never come to Jesus. [Jn 6:44, 65; Rom 8:7-8]

God gives the Holy Spirit as a defense attorney to those he saves. [Jn 14:16-17; Rom 15:13]

• The Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin and guilt and convinces them of salvation in Jesus. [Jn 16:8-11]
• The Holy Spirit does his work through the gospel proclaimed by those already saved. [Rom 10:13-17]

One Critical Response

Right now, is the Holy Spirit telling you to repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus?

If not, will you:

• Think about these things, read a small section of the Bible, and
• Get together with me soon for further conversation?

If yes, might I:

• Help you to express your repentance to God, faith in Jesus, and
• Invite to join me at church where the Holy Spirit will continue to work these things into your life?

For more information, or to discuss anything brought up in this tract, contact us at: chantillypca@gmail.com, 334-279-1372. Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. This explanation is based on witnessing tools from Evangelist ray Comfort at Living Waters © and Evangelist Al Baker at Reformed Evangelical Fellowship.

Witness Hit List

How can you witness to your family/friends/neighbors/strangers (f/f/n/s)?  God has called each of his children to the family business (making disci ples, Mt 28:18-20), and that begins with his promises to make them his wit nesses (Ac 1:8). Thus, as all Jesus commands to his people are easy bur den/light yoke things, the answer here is as easy as 1-2-3: 

1. Identify: in prayer identify folks who need Jesus. 
2. Pray: pray that the Spirit will save them. 
3. Witness: tell them about Jesus. 

Prayer is the most important thing you can do for those who need Jesus (Mt  9:36-38). As you pray for them, the Holy Spirit will work, using your prayers and witness as means through which your f/f/n/s will experience this wonderful  death and resurrection occurs. 

The best way to make this a habit is through the use of a Witness Hit List (WHL).  This is a list of people you know who need to consider Jesus. It begins with  identifying people you know who need Jesus. These will come in two varieties: 1) People who are trusting Jesus, and  2) people who say they are trusting Jesus, but their lives 

In our community most of the folks we talk to will be the second variety. But  how do we determine such folk from those who make a credible profession of  faith? We apply Jesus’ teaching, and practice (spiritual) fruit inspection. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Mt 7:20 

This is not an exact measurement. Yet a person who is saved by Jesus will invariably grow to look more like Jesus. Over time, as they walk by faith with Jesus, the Spirit grows noticeable changes in their lives.  

In putting folks on our WHL, the first thing to do is prayerfully identify them. Since we don’t turn a shade of purple, or carry some other identifiable mark  when we are converted by the Spirit, this may seem difficult. But the Spirit pro vides a means through which we can learn to identify those for whom we are to  pray. Here are some of the key fruits to look for:  

• Expresses repentance for their sins (Mt 3:8) 
• Evidences faith in Jesus (Eph 1:15)
• Professes love for Jesus (1Pe 1:8) 
• Loves other Christians (1Jo 4:21)
• Reads the Bible regularly (Ac 17:11) 
• Worships God daily (Heb 10:24-25) 
• Tells others about Jesus (Ac 1:8) 
• Does these things willingly, out of love for Jesus (1Jo 5:3) 

These are fruits that should be easily observable and growing in a Christian’s  life. If you do not see these, then there is something defective in the person’s re lationship with Jesus.  

Fail-safe rule: if you’re not sure about someone, put them on your WHL! Since  the gospel also grows us our Christian life, praying for them will bless them. 

On a sheet of paper: 

1. List all the people you know, even acquaintances, who you will come in con tact with at least once a year.
   • Include all: family, extended family, friends, neighbors, fellow students,  co-workers, social contacts, professional contacts, retail contacts, etc. 🠺 exclude anyone at this point, even if you think they are saved.  Just write all their names down. 
2. Next, using this scale, guesstimate how clear it is that they are saved (i.e.,  based on the Christlike fruit in their lives). Pray for them as you do this:
   • “0” – clearly not professing faith in Christ. 
   • “1” -at least knows about Christ, but show little interest in him.
   • “5” – give strong evidence of the kinds of fruits listed above.
   • “4”, “3”, or “2” based on the degree to which the fruits are seen.
3. Put this sheet of paper aside and spend the next week praying generally  about your desire to witness to family, friends, and strangers. Ask the Spirit  to help you make a fair assessment of the names on your list. 
4. A week later, prayerfully re-assess and adjust your rating as appropriate. 5. Last, on a 3×5 card write down the names of all people for whom your assessment was a 2, 1 or 0.  
5. Carry this card with you and pray for each of these people, by name, at least weekly. These prayers do not have to be long and wordy. They just need to be consistent with God’s desire that we pray that people be saved (use the list at bitly.com/conv-prayers). The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Lk 10:2 
6. Through regular prayer over the list, the Spirit will guide you who to prioritize  in your witnessing. He will also surprise you, saving some you least expect! 

Does this method work? Yes. Here is how people first come into contact with  the gospel (from a large survey): 

• Crusade 0.5%
• Pastor 5-6%
• Visitation 1-2%
• Program, Sunday school 6-8%
• Walk in 2-3%
• Invited by family or friend 75-90% 

75 to 90% of all people who are saved first came into contact with the gospel  through a family member or friend! This is the Bible’s own pattern: 

• Matthew: friends, Mt 9:10-11
• Demoniac: friends, Mk 5:19-20
• Philip: friend Nathaniel, Jh 1:45
• Andrew: brother Peter, Jh 1:40-42 
• Cornelius: family/friends, Ac 10:24
• Lydia: family/friends, Ac 16:14-15
• Philippian jailer: family/friends,  Ac 16:33-34 

What’s all this mean? Simply this: you have beautiful feet! 

How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good  news!” Rom 10:15