“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

A few months ago, we had a guest speaker come to our church and do a seminar on sharing the gospel. The message really resonated with me, because sharing the gospel is something that I believe is very important, but, to be honest, I’m not the best at it. I tend to be chicken and shy away from awkward conversations. I’ve had some conversations about faith with those who were very receptive, and some with those who were completely hardened to the gospel. The conversations with those who were hardened were discouraging and left me doubting that I could actually share the gospel well.

Having attended this seminar at our church and another a few weeks ago, I was greatly encouraged to persevere, be bold, and share the gospel, and I’d like to share with you what I learned.

The first thing both speakers said was to simply go. In Matthew 28:19 the first word is “go.” We just need to share. The response of those we speak with isn’t our job to worry about. Ultimately, the one who hears the gospel is the one who chooses to do something about it. We just need to share and trust God with the outcome (see Romans 9:16).

The second point the speaker made was this: make disciples, not church-goers. Often we think that because someone goes to church, they must be saved. This is not the case. You aren’t saved by going to church, you’re saved by the blood of Jesus Christ when you make the decision to live for Him! So, when we share the gospel with others, we must share with the intent of teaching them to be a Christ-follower, not just someone that we can add to our church’s membership.

The final thing I learned from the seminar I attended a few weeks ago was extremely encouraging to me. The speaker was talking about using your evangelism style to your advantage. Some people are really good at public speaking and are bold, passionate speakers (for example, Peter and Paul). If that is your gift and passion, use it for spreading the gospel! If you are an amazing hostess, use your hospitality to share the gospel! Have someone over for a meal and start those conversations about faith around the dinner table. If you are someone who loves to serve others, use that to share the gospel! If you are someone who loves building relationships, listening to others, and just showing them love, then build those relationships and share the gospel that way! I was really blessed by this message, because often I’ve felt like I needed to be good at public speaking or have the fiery personality of Peter to be a good evangelist. Now I realize that I just need to use the personality God has given me for His glory, and simply share the gospel in the way that I do best.

I’ve learned some tips about sharing the gospel over the past few years of going on mission trips with my youth group. I’d like to share those tips with you!

1: Pray, pray, pray! Prayer is key when it comes to the Christian walk, and especially when it comes to evangelism. Pray for a willing heart to share the gospel, for boldness to share the gospel, and for a heart for the lost. Pray that God would bring people into your life that you can share Jesus’ love with, and pray for eyes to recognize the opportunities to share. And then watch out! When you pray in alignment with God’s will (and evangelism is God’s will for us), then you will see God answer your prayers! It’s awesome!

2: Know the Word. When sharing the gospel, it’s important to have memorized key Bible verses about gospel truths. Some great ones to know are Romans 1:21, Romans 3:10-12, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-10, and Romans 10:13. Also, it’s important to be confident about what you believe! When you share the gospel, you will get questions about Christianity, so it’s important to have answers. But also, know that sometimes you’ll get questions you don’t know the answer too, and that’s okay. Be honest that you don’t know the answer, then offer to look it up and come back to the person.

3: Practice sharing your story and Jesus’ story. It’s important to be able to share with confidence your story of how you came to know Jesus, and also the gospel story. To build that confidence, practice! Find an accountability partner who’s also wanting to learn to share the gospel and work together on becoming confident in sharing your story and Jesus’ story. Also practice answering common questions that might pop up during a conversation.

4: Write down 3 names of friends or family members who don’t know the Lord, pray for them, and then look for God-given opportunities to share the gospel. Sharing the gospel with those you know and love is so important! It would be heartbreaking to not see your friends and family in the kingdom of heaven, wouldn’t it? So, because you love them, it’s only right that you share with them this life-saving truth!

Finally, I’d like to end with the fact that your motivation for sharing the gospel is so important! If you’re motivated by guilt or a sense of duty, you won’t have the strength to keep sharing the gospel for long. We must be motivated by our love for God and our love for people! The motivation of love is what will keep us going for the long-haul!

Sharing the gospel isn’t easy. I know it’s something I need to work on! But with God’s strength, we can overcome our fears or doubts about sharing the gospel and save lives for eternity! Let’s go and make disciples!

With love,

Kelsey