Sharing Jesus with Confidence | Steve Elmes
Steve speaks about Sharing Jesus with Confidence. Steve says that he finds God is speaking the same thing across the whole people of God, so coming from Bookham Baptist Church, this message is totally in line with our current journey. Sharing Jesus with others is a key thing and our attempts can have varying success. Scripture is the greatest teacher; in John 4, Jesus shares with a Samaritan woman. He begins by asking the women for a drink. This is an act of friendship and breaks through the Jew/Samaritan barrier building a relationship lovingly (as is the gospel itself). Jesus then artfully interacts with the woman in a respectful way.
The four qualities of conversation are to listen, to notice, to serve and to wonder. To listen well is really crucial. If we listen well, we will notice and will then be able to serve or pray for people. Sometimes we need to remember we are just a link in the chain of bringing someone to Christ. We need to learn from Jesus about the art of conversation. There are ways of going deep with a person by wondering rather than interrogating…..much less confrontational….
We can also notice if we listen well, notice the tone of someone’s words and this can open up a conversation. This may give us an opportunity to share about Jesus. The story we all have to tell is an amazing one. Our personal story of how grace came to us and how God filled our lives is a key one. Knowing the whole story allows us to bring connection to someone else by bringing them to part of it.
Situation is important too. We don’t speak about Jesus in a vacuum. Often it starts by “how are you in this situation”, perhaps, lockdown….etc. If God has placed us in a situation, God will use us there too, however unsuited we may feel.
Without the Holy Spirit there is nothing. We speak Gods work by the empowering presence of Him in our lives. In the story of the woman at the well, Jesus has a supernatural insight into the woman’s life and this opens the women’s heart. We are all called to live in the power of the spirit as Jesus did. The company of God, the presence is God is vital. Jesus told people to wait for the Holy Spirit before going out. As we begin to use spiritual gifts and insights we will not always get it right nor necessarily be successful first time, but God does also always use our mistakes! Sharing Jesus belongs to all the people of God. The words “Soul Winner” are for all of us.
