All We Need To Know...

I've been teaching a series on evangelism at our midweek student service for the past three weeks. Tomorrow we finish up the series and we're talking about how to communicate the good news - that God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us - in a way that is effective. We're going to talk about how to share the message of Jesus in a way that people will actually listen to what we have to say...

As we've walked through this series, it seems that a lot of our students become very timid and shy when it comes to sharing the gospel with their friends...And most of the time it's because they feel like they don't know the answers to the questions they'll face.

But there is this incredible story in John 9 where Jesus encounters a blind man. He spits on the ground to make some mud and he heals the blind man by putting the mud in his eyes. The man is so excited he starts running around everywhere, telling people what has happened. When the religious leaders of the day see the raucus that he's causing with his testimony of what's happened, they begin to question him. They throw questions at him, trying to trap Jesus and trying to find out what the man knows and experienced. The man's reply is simple. He can't answer any of their questions. Not one. He just simply says, "I once was blind, but now I see."

For those of us who've been forever changed by the incredible love of Jesus, isn't that all we need to know to share our hope...Now, sure we need to own our faith and know what we believe and why we believe it. We need to speak about our faith from experience and with knowledge and wisdom. But we don't have to know all the answers...There are so many things I don't understand about God. For example, I have friends who are currently going through losses and tragedies, and I don't get it. I don't know all the answers...But I know this - I once was blind, and now I see. I once was helpless, a sinner on a one way track to being separated from God. But Jesus intervened. I once was blind, but now I see. And that is the kind of life-change and hope my neighbors need to know...

What about you? Who has God placed in your life that needs to hear the Good News - that God loves them and wants to have a relationship with them? You don't have to have a degree in theology or have hundreds of Bible verses memorized to share your faith...You just have to go across the street...