SHARE YOUR FAITH

l i f e

Thanks for taking time to learn more about sharing the life-changing message of God’s love and forgiveness. Our hope is that this will encourage and equip you to share your faith through meaningful conversations. 


Not everyone is wired naturally to do this. For some, it’s often the last thing they want to do, mostly because of fear. One of the most important things to remember is that it should be a natural conversation. We hope the life tool will help give you confidence to allow the Holy Spirit to use you in making a difference in someone’s eternity and new life in Christ. 


HELPFUL THINGS TO REMEMBER

Be Real

The absolute worst thing you can do is say one thing and do another. The best way to share your faith is to be an example of Christ. Don’t hurt the work of the Holy Spirit by being a hypocrite.


One of the best ways to share your faith is to demonstrate the very things you believe by staying positive and having a good
attitude even in the middle of a crisis in your own life, knowing God is in control. 


Don’t compromise your beliefs. Situations happen every day where compromise is not only possible, but many times is expected. Show people that your Christianity means living a life of integrity.


Be A Blessing

Treat people with respect and dignity, no matter the circumstances. Jesus treated people right, even when they mistreated Him.
People around you will notice when you show this kind of respect for others. 


The ability to forgive is a very powerful way to show how Christianity really works.


Let Go Of Expectations

It’s not your responsibility to change a person’s heart or attitude. Your role may be just to plant a seed. 


We shouldn’t expect immediate results. It’s best if the person has time to think, reflect and examine the idea instead of making
a superficial decision because of pressure from us. The “win” is when you have been obedient to God’s voice to share when
the opportunity arises.


Make This Tool Your Own

This isn’t a “how to” for sharing your faith. What we will provide are ideas and tools to help begin a discussion. Through these
ideas and using your own personality, we will hopefully help you feel comfortable and confident with sharing your faith within
a natural conversation.


CONVERSATION SUGGESTIONS

Listen well
If you don’t listen well, what you say will not resonate. Engaging conversations are never one-sided. Show you value them by hearing their story. Allow the interaction to be a conversation, not a lecture. 


Give people time to think
See what they say when they are not prompted or interrupted. A lot of people never have anyone who is listening well enough to give them space to reflect or to be vulnerable. 


Create space
We tend to be afraid of conversational “quiet” space. As soon as there is a pause in the conversation, we try to fill it. Let that space “be”. It sometimes is holy space. Here are a couple of ideas to create space in conversations.

SHARE YOUR STORY

When the time is right, be willing to tell your story about how God has positively affected your life. Your story should be short (3 minutes or less) and have the following 3 pieces to it.


Your life before Christ.



How you came to faith.



What has changed in you, since you came to know Jesus as Lord.




Paul’s “story” in Acts 22 is a great example of this 3 part story idea.

Using the life tool

The purpose of this tool is to provide you with an outline to share your faith when God provides the opportunity. Adjust it to your style, adding details or backing off on certain points as it fits the unique conversation you are having. It is simply an outline.


There is no cause and effect, as in “get the outline right and they will believe” or “get the outline wrong and you messed up their eternity.” God is in charge of the whole process. The point of this tool is to help you prepare and guide you so that you can confidently explain your faith.

The following walks you through the life tool that was created to help you share your faith.

  • love 

    Jeremiah 31:3 NIV

    “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”

    God loves us. He gave us life, created us so that we could have a relationship with Him. He wants us to experience a full and meaningful life on earth and eternal life in heaven.


    Even though He has a plan for us to lead a better life, He doesn’t force Himself on us. God allows us to choose to accept His love, to choose to love Him back and to choose to have a relationship with Him.


    Deep within us there is a desire for a relationship with God. Too often we attempt to cover it up. We try to fill it with good and bad things; work, money, other people, etc... However there is nothing like a relationship with God. Consequently, this part of us is never satisfied.


    By trying to replace our need for a relationship with God we are in fact pushing Him away. Yet no matter how much we push away from Him, no matter what we do, His love never fades for us. He loves us unconditionally.

  • i am a sinner

    Romans 3:23 NCV

    “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

    God wants us to have a good and full life. He has a plan in mind for us, but we make our own plans and try to do things our own way. We find ourselves saying, “I know best”, “I will get what I want”, “I am in control.” Bottom line, because not one of us is perfect, we mess up and make mistakes. We sin, no matter how hard we try. 


    Sin is a word that refers to all the ways we fall short of God’s design for us. Sin creates a barrier between God and us. It prevents us from experiencing His plan, the life He wants for us on earth and in heaven. It separates us from the relationship God wants to have with us. Ultimately, sin ends in death and robs us of eternal life.


    On our own, we can’t defeat sin. We can’t be good enough. We can’t earn our way back to God. By trying to do it alone we find ourselves never filling that one spot in our life that only God can complete. We miss the mark God intends for our life.


  • forgiveness 

    1 John 1:9 NIV

    “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

    Even though sin separates us from God, He isn’t mad at us. He still loves us unconditionally. No matter what we do, He wants to be with us today while we live on earth. He wants to help us through the everyday stuff and realize our God given potential and purpose. When our time on earth is done, He wants to continue to be with us forever in Heaven. So God devised a plan to rescue us from the grasp of sin that separates us from Him. His plan provides forgiveness for our mistakes and mess-ups . . . past, present and future. It allows us to begin a new life journey, the plan God has for us. 


    Forgiveness is available for everyone, but it isn’t automatic and we can’t earn it. It’s a gift waiting for us to accept it. Receiving this free gift begins by admitting we are a sinner. It begins with a conversation with God where we acknowledge that we mess up and make mistakes, big and small. We then simply ask God to forgive us. 

  • eternal life

    John 3:16 NIV

    “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

    God’s plan frees us from the punishment of our past and future sin. That punishment is death, being separated from Him forever. To pay the price for our mistakes, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to earth as a baby. Jesus lived a sinless life, yet the world rejected Him and crucified Him. Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose from the grave three days later. Jesus’ death and resurrection paid the price for all of our mistakes.


    It is an amazing plan and there is so much to learn about it. Yet it is simple. First you just turn to God and begin a conversation, a prayer, and admit to Him that you fall short. The next part of this conversation is telling Him you believe that Christ died for you and you accept His gift. This takes faith. But as you step forward in faith of God’s plan, your relationship with God begins and He begins to unfold more for life than we have ever imagined.