We will look at what Jesus Christ did to win people to God, and what we can do today to witness in our culture. (This message was put together as a quick sharing before doing outreach)
- Jesus Christ was a servant.
- He was not influenced by the worldly appearance of people.
- He loved unconditionally and looked past character flaws to find those who would believe.
John 4:5-14 – Then cometh he [Jesus Christ] to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew [Judean], askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews [Judeans] have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
This is known as the record of the Woman at the well: She was surprised that Jesus talked to her at all. The difference between their two cultures was evident, and her culture (the Samaritans) were looked down upon by the Judean people. Jesus Christ looked past all of the cultural division and saw her believing. She eventually brought back more people from the city to meet him and many were healed and delivered.
- People are won by love, understanding, compassion and a listening ear…not necessarily by argument about God.
- Make it a point to talk to people, whether about the Bible or not.
- Believers are usually happy to find that someone else is a “Christian” just like them.
- Expect that God will give you open doors of utterance (Ephesians 6:19)
- Pray before you go witnessing.
- Seek the opportunity to meet a need, not necessarily to talk about the Bible.
- Develop conversation skills as you go. People aren’t won by fancy words and extensive knowledge…just love.
- Have a plan. Set goals for your life and the life of others.
- Respect people’s time.
- Assume that people are going to be interested because many ARE.
- We all have a great knowledge of the word through our ministry, we give answers as God gives the inspiration
- Why do we witness? We do it because it is what God wants.
- The only thing scarier than knocking on a door, or starting a conversation with someone…is what will happen to the person if you DONT do it!
- Finally, follow up! It’s important to keep in touch with people after meeting them.
From a June 2007 Teaching [brackets indicate my comments] Image Courtesy British Library https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/
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