Do You Know His Voice? by Laura Williams

Do you ever wonder if you have ever heard God speaking to your heart? Really heard Him for yourself? Or have you ever had a thought come into your mind out of the blue and thought, "Is that my own imagination? Is that God speaking to me?" Those are questions that I think we all ask. How can I know when God speaks to me? Or, on the other hand, what if I THINK God is speaking to me, but really it's just my own thoughts?!

The verse we hear most often in reference to "hearing the voice of God" comes from Jesus in John 10:27 where He said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." This has often led me to wonder why it is that I don't always know when I am hearing God speak to my heart. I'm left wondering how I can be His sheep and still not know His voice. But notice that Jesus said that not only do the sheep hear His voice, but He KNOWS them. 

Jesus knows how to speak to each one of us, and He does this differently for us all. For example, in the Bible we can read about how the Lord spoke out loud to Abraham, but a burning bush is what caught Moses's attention when He first heard from God. He directed the children of Isreal with a pillar of fire at night, but He called Samuel in a familiar voice when he was sleeping. 

It is important to know that God doesn't want to play games with us--He is not a God who wants us to struggle to hear Him and then laughs when we make a mistake. You can read in Matthew chapter 7 how Jesus compared the love of our Heavenly Father to that of our earthly dads. He wants to bless us, He wants us to hear and know Him, and He delights in His children. You can trust that God will speak to you as a loving Father who intimately knows the way you think, the doubts you may have, and the inmost person of your heart.

Another important thing to consider is HOW we come to recognize His voice. Just as with anyone, we LEARN to recognize His voice the more we listen to Him. And the primary way that we can hear God's heart, His voice, and His words is through the Bible! As you spend time reading His Word, you will become accustomed to the quiet way the Holy Spirit teaches you in it. When you read a passage of the Bible, and sense God's conviction and are reminded of His promises to you, this is the voice of God speaking to you! 

To become familiar with the voice of our Savior is to let His Word penetrate our hearts on a daily basis that we might begin to recognize His voice!

Another beautiful part of spending time in the Bible is that we also receive a firm foundation of truth--Jesus said to His Father in Heaven, "Sanctify me by your truth--Your WORD is truth." So as we read and study the Word of God, the truths He teaches us will also resonate with us when we hear His voice outside of our reading time. You may be at the grocery store on your way to the car when you see an item in the cart that you forgot to pay for by accident. And a voice in your heart says, "Go back. It doesn't belong to you. Be honest." And perhaps this may follow with in inward dialogue on the ethical benefit of paying for the item--"Really is it worth that much anyway? I mean, Walmart already has bazillions of dollars, do they really need the $2.27 for this dish soap?!" (may or may not have been me stalled with my cart in the middle of the blazing parking lot debating this with myself last week :)

So, in those moments (that we ALL have, I know) we will be able to recognize the voice of God in us as the same voice we hear in His Word! Does the voice in your head match the heart of God you see in the Bible? When you feel "prompted" (a Christian word for a hunch or thought that isn't exactly your own) to go and tell someone God loves them, or maybe to ask your waitress if you can pray for her, ask yourself, "Is this consistent with the heart of God?"It would certainly make sense for God to want to use you to share His love with someone, or to reach out and pray for a stranger. However uncomfortable that may be! :) But the truth is, because God is such a loving Father, even IF it were only your own thought and you acted out of obedience to what you believed to be God speaking to you, He loves you! God is never disappointed in us for acting in faith! 

We won't be perfect--that day is saved for Heaven, but take comfort in knowing that you have a Father in Heaven who has made His voice known to you in His Word, who KNOWS how to speak to you, and loves us even when we make mistakes. There will certainly be times we hear God telling us to take a step of faith in our heart (like speaking to a stranger or even returning dish soap) and we may not always obey. And as the Holy Spirit gently convicts us of our lack of faith or our unwillingness to listen, He always restores us and speaks to us again. 

Be comforted knowing that Your Father in Heaven delights in you today. And spend time getting to know Him and His voice in His Word today. He always speaks to us there. :)

Being Centered In God's Word Every Day by Alesha Sinks

It’s the beginning of a new school year. Although I am not in school anymore and I don’t yet have kids in school, I still crave the new and steady rhythms that fall brings.

I love the fresh and free of summer, but by the end of it I’m feeling the need for stability and normality again.

But there’s one way I steady my heart and mind no matter the season of life: consistently reading God’s Word.

No matter the season of life, crazy or calm, scheduled or sporadic, fast or slow, I’ve learned that I can be centered and grounded and steadied in Jesus. The best way for me to do that is through spending time in His Word.

Whether you love to read or hate it…
Whether you crave routine or defy it...
Whether you have a family or are by yourself...
Whether you work or stay home...
Whether you are far too busy or far too bored...
Whether you know the Bible very well or feel overwhelmed just thinking about it...

Regularly reading God’s Word is essential.

I’ve found that the craziest seasons of my life are the times that I most need to be studying the Bible. And no matter how smoothly my life is going, I notice that I am less joyful and peaceful when I fail to spend time in God’s Word even for one day. This is because the Bible is meant to point us to Jesus and draw us into relationship with Him.

The Bible is the number one way that God speaks to us, because it is His actual word, written down for us to read.

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17

The Bible is a help and resource in resisting temptation. Even Jesus quoted scripture when Satan tempted Him in the desert.

"But he (Jesus) answered, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’”
Matthew 4:4

The Bible teaches the truth about God, ourselves, and this world which gives us true hope and joy in this life.

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Romans 15:4

The Bible is the living word of God and He will use it to speak to us, to convict us, to encourage us, and to grow us.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12

The Bible points us to Jesus, and seeing Jesus more clearly will always lead us to worship.

"Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules. Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.”
Psalm 119:164-165

But even when I know how essential God's Word is to my joy, peace, and walk with Him, I still struggle at times to actually do it. It's so easy to get this screwed up notion in your head of what reading the Bible is supposed to look like.

We think it has to be 2 chapters every day and we have to get up at 5:30 in the morning in order to do it. Or we think we have to sit in perfect peace and stillness with a journal and pen ready to record great insights that we find. Or we think we need to be reading in three different parts of the Bible at once in order for it to "really count".

However, all these ideals and restrictions that we place on our Bible reading simply keeps us from the most important part… actually doing it.

Here are seven practical ways I've found to keep my heart centered in God's Word every day:

Listen to Sermons

This is particularly helpful if you have trouble understanding God's Word when you read it on your own or if you have extra time while exercising, driving, or even cleaning the house. You can listen to the Redemption Church sermon recordings each week through our podcast. This helps you stay connected and encouraged if you miss a Sunday or are serving in Kids Ministry or simply want to re-listen to the message in order to dig in a little deeper.

Beyond just our church, there are so many other great Bible teachers out there who have their weekly sermons online for free. On our the Redemption Church resources page you can find links to the podcasts of some wonderful godly teachers who love Jesus and his Word.

Listen to the Bible Read Aloud

You can download some wonderful Bible apps to your smart phone, like the YouVersion app, that will read the Bible aloud to you. Sometimes I even read along while it is being read to me to help it sink in a little more.

Memorize Bible Verses

What better way to focus your heart on God than to recite His Word that you have memorized? In those stressful or busy moments where you might not be able to sit down and open your Bible, you can call it to mind instantly and be encouraged and built up in Jesus.

Watch Bible Teaching Videos

This summer Pastor Daniel made 2-minute videos that share a snippet of truth for us from our study through the gospel of John as a church. Many times I've found myself coming back to that bit of truth from the Bible over and over throughout the day.

Read the Bible with Others

If you are struggling to stay consistent or perhaps struggling to know what to read, joining a group is a great help. It can keep you accountable to actually read every day and give you a starting point for talking about God's Word with your friends. This summer we read through the Gospel of John together as Pastor Daniel teaching on conversations Jesus had, as recorded in that book for us.

Journal as You Read the Bible

Keeping a journal is a great way to help you learn from God's Word as you read. There are so many ways to do this, ranging from simply copying scripture to writing outlines to journaling prayers that correspond to what you read. However you journal, it is a great way to dig deeper into God's Word.

Simply Open the Bible

Keep your Bible (or your Bible app) nearby and just open it when you have a spare minute or two or twenty. There is no substitute for opening God's Word, reading it, and asking Him to speak. Start in Genesis and read straight through, or pick a gospel and dive in there.

Even in seasons where I've struggled to understand God's Word or to hear from Him, I have never regretted the time I've spent reading the Bible.

I pray that these tips and encouragements to get into the Bible are helpful to you and that together we can seek Jesus through His Word. I know we will be blessed because of it.

An Update From The House of Blessing (August 2016)

Summer is drawing to a close here for the children of CDB as they prepare to start school this coming Monday.  I don’t think any of our kids would actually “admit” they are excited for school, however, you can tell that they are.  

The summer was fairly busy, though pretty relaxing as well.  Most of our children got to spend some of their vacation with family and relatives.  We only had a few missions teams serve with us this summer.  My wife was able to go on a missions trip to China with a church from El Paso.  Ayantu and I flew up to Seattle for our annual golf tournament in which we raised $6300 for the orphanage.  And then, we met up with Jackie as well as all my siblings and their families for our family reunion in Lincoln City, Oregon.  What a great time that was.

When school finished in July, we had 14 children in the home.  Now with school starting we have 18.  The Lord was faithful to bring us 4 more children to care for and minister to, 3 of those having come this past week.

Some of you might remember Valeria, the sweet little gal with a squeaky voice that lived with us last year for 6 months.  Her mom decided to pull her from the home after Christmas break.  Honestly, we were all heartbroken and missed this precious gal very much.  What made it even harder was the fact that Valeria wasn’t even staying with her mom.  She was living here in town with her grandparents in horrible living conditions. 

I hadn’t seen Valeria since she left until Jairo and Jessie’s wedding in June.  Valeria came with her grandparents and greeted me with the biggest hug ever.  Towards the end of the wedding, Valeria came up and whispered something in my ear.  I couldn’t understand at first but then realized what she was saying…”can I please come live with you guys again.”  My heart was overwhelmed with emotions and all I wanted to do was take this precious girl home with us.  Sure it was justified, right?  I mean, her mom was neglecting her again, her living environment was very unhealthy, it all made sense to me.

However the Lord quickly spoke and reminded me that as much as I wanted to intervene, I needed to “be still, and know that He is God.” He was in control and would work something out.

Well, the Lord was faithful (as always) to do that.  We received a call from Valeria’s mom asking us to please take her daughter back.  She realized she made a mistake taking her out of the orphanage in the first place and once again was not in a place to take care of her.  Of course we said yes and Valeria is as happy as she was when she left…if not a little bit more.  It is SO wonderful to have her with us again.  Valeria will be starting 1st grade on Monday.

We also received a little guy named Edgar.  Edgar is 5 years old and has a mom and dad.  They are actually a really neat family and we are so thankful the Lord brought them into our lives to help and minister to.  Their story goes like a lot of the other stories.  Both parents are working hard to survive and due to their long work days, 6, sometimes 7, days a week, they aren’t able to nor do they have anyone else to care for Edgar.  Edgar’s parents are thrilled that he will be able to get an education (starting 1st grade on Monday), learn about the Lord, be cared for in a healthy environment, and that they will be able to visit or spend time with him on weekends.

The 3rd child that came to us is a young lady named Carolina.  She is the younger sister of Erasmo and Maria Ana.  We have known her since our very first trip up to their little village in the mountains, 3 years ago.  Carolina finished elementary school in her town and her mom now wants her to continue her schooling along with Erasmo and Maria Ana.  Carolina is very shy, but is already coming out of her shell.  She is a huge help with things around the house and is excited to start school.  She will start 7th grade on Monday.

So, including our daughter Ayantu, we now have 19 children in the house.  WOW…sounds a little crazy even as I read and write it.   Yes, it seems a little overwhelming right now as we change up room arrangements, build new beds, buy more clothes, food, etc.  But what an absolute joy and honor to help care for God’s precious children.

Please, please, please, continue to pray for us, especially over the next week as we get all 19 children settled in school.  Please pray for Valeria, Edgar and Carolina as they adjust to their new home.  Also, please pray for continual finances.  With the additional children as well school supplies, uniforms, back to school clothes, etc. that need to be purchased, we are trusting and excited to see in which ways the Lord chooses to provide.

We are also in great need of sponsors for most of our children.  I will be sharing a bit more about that here in the next few weeks regarding ways that you can partner with us and a child here at the orphanage.

Thank you for your faithfulness in taking the time to read the things the Lord is doing here!

Blessings!

Let's Be In Community by Travis Sinks

It’s crazy how we tend to avoid the things that are good for us.

Healthy eating
Exercise (“eggs-are-sides for bacon,” anyone?)
And even community

When I say community, I’m not talking about the guys you play sports with once a week, or the yoga class you go to (though those things aren't bad). The community I’m speaking of is regularly being with a group of people that you will commit to share struggles with, to hold each other accountable to what is best, and to serve each other in speech and in action.

That type of community is hard. But it is vitally important to your walk with Jesus.

The Bible talks a lot about how we are to live with “one another”. Over and over again it tell us to be in unity, to love one another, to show humility towards each other, to encourage each other, and to hold each other accountable. In fact, it’s used 100 times in the New Testament (here’s a great article breaking down all the times it’s used).

However, it’s hard to live with “one another” when we push away opportunities to engage in community. And by choosing to not live in community, we are specifically going against many of the things the Bible tells us are necessary for our Christian walk.

You can be a Christian without community,
but you cannot live your Christian life the way God intended you to without community.

No doubt about it, this type of community is difficult. It requires us to be open, and honest, to desire others' good above our own, and to allow other people to call us out when they see problems in our lives. This means that our biggest problems will have to be dealt with, and that we will have to be gracious towards others as we lovingly help them with theirs as well. But it’s worth it.

This type of community has three main purposes:

• It builds us up
• It creates a godly network for when our life seems to come crashing down
• It's God’s ordained way for us, the church, to prove that we are truly following Jesus

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

In addition to all of the personal benefits we gain from community, we also need to remember the bigger picture: Jesus has asked us to be in community to better reach the lost.

So, whatever you preference may be, I encourage you to find Christian community at Redemption Church and to not only join a community group, but invest in it. Invest your time, your money, your gifts, your emotion, your love - into the people in your group. I guarantee you that you will draw nearer to Jesus than ever before and will know His love more completely when you do this.

Lets commit to truly live in community together. To...

• Share struggles
• Keep each other accountable to what is best for each other
• Serve each other
• Love in speech and in action

What Does It Mean To "Serve The Body" by Laura Williams

As a believer in Jesus, His follower, and a child of God, I find myself wanting to know Jesus more deeply every day. I want to understand His heart. I want to see the people around me as He sees them. And I want to see God’s hand working in and through my life! If you are a lover of Jesus, you know what I’m talking about. We all want more. And as His child, I want to share with you one of the most wonderful lessons I have learned about knowing God more deeply and seeing Him working in and through me. 

It starts with understanding His Church, His Body.

If you are a new Christian, you may have heard someone refer to the people in the church as “the body.” We talk about ways to serve “the body” or bless “the body.” In fact, using this terminology so frequently may cause us to forget its significance even to those of us who have been a part of the church for a long time! Do you know why we use this term? Why don’t we just say “serve the church” or “bless one another?” 

I want to share what brought this to life for me and has radically changed why and how I serve.

The Apostle Paul in Romans 12, goes to great lengths discussing our relationships to one another as members of “one body.” The point being we are all different, valuable, necessary, and designed to work together! Romans 12 is a wonderful encouragement that no matter what gifts you have or do not have, God designed you to be a special part of the church you are in. You are designed to contribute, to give of yourself, to use your gifts, to love and suffer and live life as a part of a family. A body. You are not alone. And what you do or don’t do for others has a tremendous impact on other people.

We serve one another in so many ways. When we do, we see our relationships with each other grow deeper. The closest friends in my life even from many years ago are still those built during times serving with each other. It’s amazing the way Jesus uses our simplest times—like making coffee together before an event, planning a game night, or even time praying for each other’s needs—He uses each of these for OUR good! Just as Romans 8:28 says, He works ALL THINGS for the good of those who love Him. Even our simple or small acts of service wind up being a blessing to us.

And here is the greatest thing. 

As we serve the “body,” we are in fact serving the BODY OF JESUS. It is Jesus Himself we are serving! Can you grasp that along with me? When I serve those around me, I serve Jesus Himself. When I bring a meal to someone in need, I bless my savior. It is all worship to Him! Using the term “the body” has become so meaningful to me since I connected that term back to Jesus Himself. Maybe you’re thinking that this is obvious—well, for me, it changed my heart and my inward attitude toward serving.

Colossians 1:18 says: “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

Jesus Himself demonstrated this beautiful truth—that we are designed to worship God in everything we do! Singing songs of praise, yes! But also by living in a way that puts others before ourselves. Jesus said, “…the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many people.”

I want to be more like Jesus! I want to see His power at work in me. I want to worship Him in every way I can, and to see His Church as His Body. And I want to see how God will use all these things for my good and teach me more and more simple truths as I do.

Whether you are a brand new Christian or have known Jesus for many years, I want to encourage you to serve others with this understanding! Whether it is serving guests in your home, teaching children about Jesus, helping with set-up or tear-down on a Sunday, or simply reaching out of your comfort zone to start up a conversation to help someone else feel comfortable—God will show His power and His presence to you in those moments. 

If you are wanting to see more of God presence in YOUR life, see what happens when you begin to serve others as though you are serving Jesus Himself! 

“And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Jesus Himself.” -Colossians 3:23-24

My Story | Mary Ann

Serve Sunday | An Interview with Andre

Let's Keep Praying by Daniel Williams

Can you believe that 2016 is more than halfway done already? It is crazy how quickly time flies. Since the start of this year, Jesus has done so many amazing things in our church and community, and God has answered so many of our prayers. As a church, we have been so blessed to see Him do so many wonderful things this year already, and I want us to remember that it all started with us praying…

We started this year doing a series on Prayer at our Sunday services and learning together about what God has to say about prayer. (Listen HERE) Our church family joined together in our 30for30 challenge to spend 30 minutes in prayer for 30 days. This was a tremendous time of growth and unity for us as a church body. It was also at this time that we began to fast and pray every first Wednesday of the month. And God worked in our hearts and prayers were answered!

But as time goes on, it becomes easy to forget and lose passion. We tend to forget that the blessing we are experiencing now are because of the spiritual discipline we applied earlier. And I don’t want that to happen. I want us to finish our year in a season of prayer! I want us to continue to pray and encourage all of us to keep going to God in prayer. 

I am sharing a few ideas for you to consider as you seek Jesus through prayer. In order to keep our prayer life from growing stale, it can be helpful to keep things fresh by praying in new spaces and ways. This is, of course, not a comprehensive list, but I am hoping that you can implement a few of these to reignite your prayer life right now. Let’s remember to practice this important spiritual discipline of prayer as we finish out 2016 together!

Pray Out Loud

Remembering that we are talking to a real person in prayer is important. So, I sometimes pray out loud to make sure I understand I am talking with a person. Speaking my words out loud also allows me to hear the thoughts of my heart which can be helpful. 

Pray With A Plan

Schedule times to pray in your calendar so it doesn’t get forgotten! This is one part of planning to pray. Another way to do this is to pray for things strategically. Make certain categories to cover in your prayer time. Create a prayer journal where you can write down specific prayer requests and ideas that you want to cover. This also can be encouraging when you see your prayers answered over time. 

Pray With A Pen & Paper

Often times, I get side tracked with ideas that pop in my mind as I pray, so having a pen and paper by my side can help me from being distracted. As the idea comes I can write it down quickly and continue to pray.

Pray While You Walk

I am all for kneeling while praying, but I don’t think it is the only way to pray. I find it helpful to pray while walking so my mind and body are active and I don’t fall asleep while talking to God. 

Pray With Scripture

Scripture points me to Jesus, gives me great truth about God and softens my heart towards God. Reading and praying through Scripture can give us inspiration and direction, and it also allows us to align our prayers with God’s will.

Pray & Fast

Take extra time to pray. We all seem to be busy, so a great way to make some extra time to pray is skipping a meal. Use this time that you would be eating to fast and come before God in prayer.

Pray In Tongues

God gives a supernatural gift to some of us to be able to pray to Him in a different language. We are able to ask God for this gift, and if He decides to impart this to us we can cry out to Him in a very special way. If you have this gift, don’t neglect it!

Pray With A Pure Heart

So many times we allow our sin to get in the way of praying to God. The Bible tells us that we are able to repent and ask God for forgiveness. Repenting and having this pure heart before the Lord helps us to commune with Him. 

Pray Where You Are Inspired

Being in certain environments that inspire you can really help you. Whether that be in nature, in a really cool space, or a special corner of your house where you won’t be distracted. For example, I love the ocean and it is very help for me to pray at the beach because it makes me more aware of God’s power and might. 

Pray With Praise

Having worship music playing on in the background can create a great atmosphere and can even help you sing to God during your prayer times!

Personal Evangelism (pt2) by Travis Sinks

Last week we covered the need for personal evangelism. There are many people who are unwilling to come to Jesus themselves, and so we must bring Jesus to them in hope that they will accept His Gospel.

We ended with the question "Who do you know of that needs Jesus, but is unwilling to come to Him, but you can bring Jesus to them?"

And now, here are four practical steps you can take in order to be more effective in personal evangelism:

Study the Bible

All of scripture was written for our reproof, correction, training in righteousness, and so that we may be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17). Jesus also told us that every part of the Bible was written in order to teach us about Him and draw us to Himself so that we might have life (John 5:39). These verses tell us that if we are to be effective not only in our own walk with Jesus, but also in bringing others to Him, then we should be studying His Word and be immersing ourselves in its truth. By actively reading and studying the Bible you will be better equipped to share Jesus with others, because you will be filled with Him yourself.

Pray for yourself

One of the greatest failures we can have is praying for others, while forgetting our own need. We should be going to God with our lack of faith, lack of boldness, and lack of sight to see opportunities all around us. By asking God to help us be sensitive to His Spirit and His guiding in our everyday lives, we will find ourselves in more opportunities to share His Gospel then ever before.

Pray for the lost

By praying for those who don’t know Jesus we are accomplishing three things:

• We are reminding ourselves of their desperate situation which in turn causes us to care more for them and more actively look for opportunities to share the gospel.
• We are reminding ourselves that it is only by the grace and power of God that anyone will turn to Him and be saved. We are humbling ourselves before God which is required for anyone who desires to be used by Him.
• We are combating the spiritual forces of darkness. We must never forget that this is a spiritual battle and that those who don’t know Jesus have been spiritually blinded to Him. This battle can only be won by God’s grace through prayer - so we must begin all personal evangelism through this step of prayer for the lost.

Bring Jesus to them

We don’t get to decide who will receive Jesus’ grace, but we can choose who we will bring Jesus to. As vague as it is, this is surprisingly more freeing than you’d expect at first glance. Rather than having a set description of the words to say, or the situations in which you can evangelize to someone, you get to simply be like Jesus to those around you.

A great way to think about this is the old school “WWJD” or “What Would Jesus Do?”

Another way to look at this is to imagine that you are in Bible times and you’re walking around with Jesus. Who would He talk to? Who would He reach out to? How would He do it?

Here’s some ideas of things you can do to proactively reach out to people with the love of Jesus:

• Pray for people. Do this right there on the spot. This will feel weird at first, but the more you do it the more you’ll be comfortable with it. So many people are thankful for prayer when they’re going through a rough time in life or they are struggling with something.
• Share your story. I don’t mean your entire life story (though you can if the situation lends itself). But if you’re living an active life with Jesus, there will be stories to tell. There will be situations that come up in your life that people will ask about. In these moments, you can share what’s going on in light of the fact that you have Jesus in your life. For example: you’re scared of an upcoming medical condition, but you can share how you have hope in Jesus. Or, you’re excited about a new opportunity that’s come up and you’re praying to Jesus for wisdom. Even stories of how Jesus has recently provided for or encouraged you are always great ones to share.
• Serve others. Whenever there’s a need in your circle of friends and family, do you offer to help? Jesus would. I don’t mean that we help in every situation, as we may not be well equipped to, but are you known as someone who would “give the shirt off their back” for another? Serving people the way Jesus does is one of the best ways to show His love and to open opportunities to share His Gospel with others.

There are so many specific ways we can reach out to others in personal evangelism, but there’s one thing that stays the same: It’s personal. We cannot do personal evangelism as we are called to without getting into the nitty gritty of everyday life with others. This can, and will, be painful at times - but it’s always worth it.

So the questions we should be asking ourselves now are:

• Am I in God’s Word on a daily basis?
• Am I praying for God’s Spirit to fill me?
• Am I praying for those I know who don’t know Jesus?
• Am I taking opportunities to do as Jesus would do?

Maybe you haven’t been doing these things. But you can today.

“It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing."

So let’s go bring Jesus to everyone we see with today.

Personal Evangelism (pt1) by Travis Sinks

I’ve written recently about “evangelism through invitation” which you can read at THIS LINK. Its purpose was to remind us that one of the best things we can do is simply invite people to church. Sometimes that’s labeled as the easy way out, or a lazy cop out, but it is actually an effective tool in day-to-day evangelism.

Just as important as inviting people to a Sunday service, however, we need to make sure that we are actively being the hands and feet of Jesus through what is often called “personal evangelism.” Although inviting someone to a Sunday service can be very effective, some people just aren’t willing or ready to come to Jesus, and so we need to bring Jesus to them.

Personal evangelism can be daunting.
Everything rests on what YOU do and say - or so it feels.
But it’s not up to you to save people.

I think believing the lie that it’s all up to us is what keeps most people from sharing the Gospel. So many of us are petrified because we feel like it’s such a weighty subject (as it is) and that we can’t possibly present it well enough to see someone accept it.

And maybe we're right.

But we don’t have to be good enough to offer Jesus to people.

There are many tactics, phrases, and methods with which to approach people about the subject of Jesus and His Gospel, but what is most important is that you simply bring Jesus to that person.

A great example of this is found in Luke 8:40-42, 49-56. Jairus came to Jesus because his daughter was dying. In a moment of panic and desperation, he asked Jesus to come and heal his daughter. Before Jesus gets there, Jarius’s daughter dies. However, with a faith that continued to ask “what if”, Jarius has Jesus still come to his house and Jesus raises his daughter from the dead.

What we can learn from this is that it doesn’t matter how eloquent we are, how tactful we can be, or how much we practice. Ultimately, we need the power of Jesus to come to a person’s heart and life and raise them from spiritual death, and into life through His Gospel.

Just like Jarius’ daughter needed physical healing, people need Jesus to raise them from spiritual death and into life with Him, but so many are unwilling or unable to come to Him. So like Jarius, we must take Him to them.

Next week’s post will cover four practical steps you can take in order to be more effective in personal evangelism. For now, consider:

Who do you know of that needs Jesus, but is unwilling to come to Him, but you can bring Jesus to them?