If you are a new Christian you have made a great decision to follow Jesus! To get you started I have provided some suggestions for you to help you grow on your new journey. Below you will find some things that really helped me nearly 35 years ago when I decided to follow Jesus.
Read the Bible
The Bible will help you to learn more about God and gives you practical advice about how we should live. A good place to start is the Gospel of Luke that is found in the New Testament. This book will give you information on the life of Jesus Christ and you will be able to read about His miracles and teachings to His followers. After this you can move on to the Book of Acts. This talks about the early church and how they got started. We also have a number of two week reading plans on our Bible Readings page. If you don’t have access to a Bible, you can find an online one here at www.biblegateway.com
Start to pray
Prayer is simply communicating with God. It is a part of building our relationship with Him. Just remember to keep it simple. The Bible tells us to give thanks to God for what He has done when pray and also to ask for the things we need for ourselves and others. Before long you will see the difference prayer makes in your life and in the lives of those around you. You can check out our prayer category on our blog for some tips.
Meet with other Christians
God wants us to meet with other Christians and be a part of a caring faith community. We see in the Bible that He wants us to have a support network and a place where we can learn more about Him. We don’t recommend any church in particular, but encourage you to try a local one near you in your community. If you are in Western Australia you might like to look for a local Church of Christ, Baptist Church or an Australian Christian Church.
Do a discipleship course
Doing a discipleship course will help you to set a solid foundation for your new life in Christ. We have a free booklet you can download on our discipleship page. The booklet has 10 short studies on the Bible, prayer, church, serving God, sharing your faith and being assured of your salvation. It includes a number of Scriptures on each topic, some reflection questions, a simple prayer and some Bible memory verses.
Tell others about your new faith
Sharing your faith can be fun and rewarding. You might like to start by telling people close to you that you have accepted Jesus into your life. Telling others about your faith and decision to follow Jesus can will allow them to follow Him too. If you need some tips to help you share your faith you can visit a sermon I preached on this topic.
The title of my message today is “Five ways to be a living sacrifice”. For my devotions this past week or so I have been working my way through Romans 12. As I did this Romans 12:1 has really stuck in my mind.
Romans 12:1 NLT says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him”.
In this verse Paul urges us as believers to follow Jesus example in being a sacrifice, but rather die for sin, we die to ourselves and offer ourselves to God. Paul encourages us to be living sacrifices. To give our lives for God’s service. He says that this is an acceptable sacrifice to God and the way we truly worship Him. It is a right response to the actions of a loving God.
But how do we go about being a living sacrifice? What are some of the things it entails? If we read through the rest of chapter Romans 12 Paul gives us a few clues. Today I just want to touch on some of the things that jumped out at me as I meditated on this chapter.
1. Renew our mind
Verse 2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Renewing your mind. This is a vital first step if we are wanting to live a life in God’s service and be a living sacrifice. We need to line our hearts and minds up with God’s thinking.
How do we do this? The primary way is by prayerfully reading, reflecting and meditating on the Bible. As we do this we allow God’s Spirit and God’s Word to enter our minds and sink deep into our hearts. The result of this if we do it diligently over a period of time, it changes our hearts to our minds forever. The result of this is “Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
I find that as the years go by and my mind is renewed more and more, the things of God become easier and more natural to do. It is easier to love others, it is easier to serve others and it is easier to live by Kingdom standards.
In many ways our minds are like the gearboxes of our lives. If our minds are renewed, it is easier to put them in D for drive and go forward in Christ and His will for our lives. If they are not renewed we might be in Park, Neutral or even Reverse. Those who drive an automatic will know that if you are in drive, you only have to take your foot off the brake and you start moving forward.
As I said I will unpack renewing our minds in a deeper way in a future sermon. But today I just want to make the first point that a key to being a living sacrifice is to renew our minds.
2. Use our gifts well
Verses 6-8 – “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”
Paul tells us to use whatever gift God has given us to the best of our abilities. If it is to prophesy, teach, serve, give, show kindness or encourage we should do the best job we can.
In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 Paul also says, “4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”
And in 1 Peter 4:10 Peter reminds us to, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Using our gifts well is a key part of being a living sacrifice for God. This is sometimes where the sacrifice part comes in. There is work is finding, recognising and developing your gifts. I may be an encourager but we have to work at it. My loner tendencies needed to be overcome so I could be where people were who needed encouragement. I was told I had a gift of teaching, but I had to work to develop my gift with diligent study. I also had to get over my paralysing fear of public speaking. It can be hard and a sacrifice, but there is no greater and more peaceful place to be than being right in the middle God’s will using God’s gifts for the good of others. I wouldn’t be standing here today if I didn’t work hard to develop my gifts.
3. Really love each other
Verses 9-10 – “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves”.
Both the NIV and the NLT say this well, but I love the way the NLT puts it “Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them”. That is straight to the point!
I remember when our girls were young we put this verse on the fridge. We then had a list of ways we could show we really love someone. It said things like…
Pray for them
Do nice things for them
Share things with others
Listen to them
Speak nicely to them
Give them a hug
Give them a present
One even said by giving them chocolate!
Kids have a way of putting things simply. I have never forgotten these things. They showed me that we love others in practical ways, by helping when they are in need. This is sometimes a sacrifice. But it is well worth it. Because it means we are living out this life that Jesus calls us to live and being a light unto the world around us.
There are a number of other places in the New Testament that talks about the importance of loving one another.
1 John 4:7 – Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:11 – Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
John 13:34-35 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
These verses remind us that we are commanded to love one another, that those who love are born of God, that since God loves us we should love one another and by our love for one another people we know we are Jesus’ disciples. My heart is to be known as a disciple of Jesus, so I need to love others.
4. Live in harmony with each other
Verses 14-18 – “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
In the next section Paul urges us to live at peace with everyone. The NIV says to live at peace with everyone as much as it depends on you.
I remember years ago I worked with a lady who just didn’t like me. No matter what I did or said she just would not warm up to me. She would even go out of her way to make sure I did not receive favourable treatment at work. One day I read these verses and it reminded me that no matter how she treats me I had to live at peace with her. So I prayed and asked God to help me work with her and to ask if there was ways I could bless her. In time I emailed her and apologised if I had offended her without knowing. As a result, we were able to talk and the problem was sorted. We had a good working relationship and were able to talk and we did not a barrier between us.
It really brought home to me that we should try to love and serve others even if they persecute us as Christians. God makes it very clear it is not our place to curse or take revenge. That is a big sacrifice at times and is contrary to a worldly way of thinking.
If you want to be a living sacrifice, you need to live at peace with everyone as much as it depends on you.
5. Conquer evil with good
Verse 21 – “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good”
Paul finally finishes this section with a plea to not let evil overcome us, but we need to press on and overcome evil with good deeds. I remember years ago I was heavily involved in community outreach with our church in Perth. We would go door to door giving away Jesus videos. We were on fire and we wanted to take on the world. Then along came September 11. It is when I let evil overcome me. I was horrified at the evil people could do to each other. It really knocked me and I found it hard to go out every Saturday. I knew there was evil in the world, but somehow it brought it home to me. It took me a few months to get back on tract.
Verse 21 was one of the things that helped me get back on tract. God commands us to conquer evil by doing good.
Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. I think Princess Di used that in one of her famous speeches too.
It can be a sacrifice to have an overcoming attitude. But if we keep moving forward and serving God by serving others the Bible promises we will reap a harvest at the right time. It tells us this is Galatians 6:9.
Conclusion
As we can see from these things being a living sacrifice is about:
Renewing our minds to line up with Kingdom thinking
Using our gifts well
Living at peace with those around us.
Really loving and serving others.
Conquer the evil things that take place in this world by doing good.
And while we do these things we are to keep our hope, be patient when things are going wrong and keep praying faithfully.
I am preaching again tomorrow at our church. I am not sure how many times I have preached this year, maybe once every 4-6 weeks.
At our church we do our roster up for three months at a time. In that period I am usually on twice. Every now and someone asks me to fill in for them as they will be away.
Tomorrow I will be looking at two passages. The main one is James 1:3-12. I have three verses I want to highlight and talk about. They are verses 3, 5 and 12.
The other passage comes from 2 Corinthians 4:8-11, 16-18. This passage is to just give us some final encouragement before closing.
If you are interested I will put the full text and audio up here tomorrow afternoon.
Last week we held our church service in another town. It is about 50km from where we live and regularly have church. We loaded everyone in to a bus or in cars and headed out.
We started doing this as an outreach and because we have some people who live in Westonia who come to our church each week. It makes it easier for them to invite their friends to church.
After a nice service we had a Fathers Day picnic at the local undercover area. We sat, talked, ate and had a quiz. It was a really nice way to do church.
So far this year we have done it twice that I have been to. Both times it was really fun. It is something I hope we continue to do as a church.
If you are interested you can watch the service above.
Today the title of my message is, “Be Prepared: Taking the fear out of sharing your faith”.
As a new Christian, and a number of times since, the thought of evangelism has been a pretty scary thing. I was told that I needed to share my faith so I could reach other people for Christ. And the more people I reached, the sooner it would be for Jesus to come back. This made me very nervous. It was something I wanted to do, but I felt terribly under-equipped. From talking to others, I found I was not alone.
We have all heard those verses that say, “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20) and “And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it” (1 Peter 3:15). For some this is very exciting, for other this brings fear to their hearts!
Over the years I have found that I have learned a lot about sharing my faith. I found there were certain things that helped me be a little bit more prepared. This took a lot of the stress out of sharing my faith. Today I want to share some of those things. As I go through them I am going to share some of my successes and some of my failures.
I want this message to be really practical and helpful to us and hopefully give us some pointers to sharing our faith.
1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to move in people’s lives
The first key we need to understand to be more effective in sharing our faith is praying the Holy Spirit to move.
John 16:8 – And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgement.
It is the Holy Spirit’s role to do the work of salvation.
When I meet new people I always pray and ask God if this is someone I should share my faith with. If it is someone I need to talk to, I usually find I have the desire to pray for them and opportunities to talk about spiritual things tend to open up in a natural way.
When I am praying for someone I ask the Holy Spirit to move in their lives. I pray five general things.
God would bless them and protect them.
That the Holy Spirit would draw them to Jesus Christ
That the Holy Spirit would show them their sin.
That the Holy Spirit would make them aware of the need for a Saviour.
That they would accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
So this might be an example of how I pray for someone.
Dear God, I pray for __________. I pray that You will bless them, protect them and watch over them. I pray that the Holy Spirit would move in their lives. Holy Spirit please reveal Jesus to them. Open their hearts and minds to Him. I pray that you will make them aware of their need for a Saviour. Please show them their sin and the need to deal with it. I pray they will trust Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Amen.
I have found that if God puts someone on my heart to pray this for, before long they are talking to me about spiritual things and they have a tract and a Bible in their hands.
2. Prepare a Testimony
A testimony can bring the Bible to life. I have found that people love hearing stories of how God has done great things for you. When I share about my testimony I touch on three main areas. These three things really help me to structure my story and how Jesus’ story impacted and changed my life.
My life before Christ – I share things like how I felt, my illness, my upbringing, what sort of things I was in to, and the sense of emptiness I had inside. These things set the scene.
My conversion – I then share how I came to Jesus. I talk about how I was feeling in the year before coming to Jesus, the people who helped me and the story of Jesus coming to die on the cross for me.
How my life has changed – In this final section I share how knowing Jesus personally has changed my whole life and outlook. I talk about the love, acceptance, hope, joy and purpose I now feel inside.
For some of us we can not think of a time when you didn’t know Jesus. You can share things some of the things that God has done for you. I actually have several short testimonies that I share with people depending on the situation.
I have had times when someone has simply said, “Dave you are a Christian right? Why do you believe?” And I have shared a short testimony and a few days later they are saved.
3. Know relevant Bible verses
Knowing some relevant Bible verses can be really helpful when sharing your faith. Especially if it someone who has had previous exposure to the Bible or shows and interest in reading it.
I have found that if you just read the Book of Romans with someone you could explain God’s plan of salvation for them.
“Romans road” is a great place to start –
The Natural State Of Man – Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”
The Reason – Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”
The Cause – Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned”
The Penalty and Gift – Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”
The Love of God – Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The Remedy – Romans 10:9-11 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
The Decision – Romans 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Work out a simple presentation by putting a few verses together and memorise them. You might like to write them in the back of your Bible so you can refer to them easily. If you can’t remember them all, remember the first one and put references to the next one in your margin of your Bible.
4. Have some evangelistic tools handy
There are a variety of evangelistic tools that you can use to reach people. Sometimes people seem to want to talk about things at the strangest times. Having something on hand can help in those situations. Here are a few examples –
Tracts – You can keep one handy in your purse or wallet just in case an opportunity arises. They are very handy if you don’t have much time or perhaps are a bit nervous about sharing your faith. You can even put a library pocket in the back of all your books. Instead of a library card, put a tract in it!
Websites – Look out for websites that may help you to reach your friends. Many websites have a “refer to a friend” page that sends an email message on your behalf bringing the site to their attention. You can also share things on Facebook for a wider audience.
DVDs – The “Jesus” video is a great way to reach people. In just over an hour you see the whole life of Christ and at the end if gives the opportunity to receive Christ as Lord and Saviour. You could buy one for yourself and one to give away! These days, it is available online to stream at www.Jesusfilm.org,
The most effective three things I have used is tracts, my website passionaustralia.blog and the Jesus movie. I have given away thousands of tracts and hundreds of Jesus videos and many people have been saved as a result. I have had millions of visitors to my website.
As an example, one Jesus video was viewed by 66 people and many got saved. We gave one to a lady and she watched it and got saved. When her husband got home they watched it again. He got saved. When the kids came home, they watched it again and they got saved. The lady took it to her work and the residents of her nursing home all watched it. Many prayed to receive Jesus.
So one resource in your hand can make a huge difference. Like the fish and loaves in Jesus’ hands.
5. Learn the sinner’s prayer
The sinner’s prayer is a simple prayer that you can go through with someone to make their connection with Jesus Christ. It gives the person the opportunity to confess their sin to God and invite Jesus Christ into their lives as Lord and Saviour. There are two examples below that you can use or memorise.
From Billy Graham
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour. In Your Name. Amen
From Campus Crusade for Christ
Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Saviour and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be. Amen
Closing Summary
Today I wanted to encourage you in your evangelism efforts. The main point I hope you got is that you can be more effective in your efforts if you think and prepare beforehand. As we saw there are five things we can do.
1. Pray for people
2. Prepare a testimony
3. Learn key Bible verses
4. Have some resources ready
5. Learn the sinner’s prayer
Closing Prayer
Dear God, I pray that You will use me to reach others for Christ. Please help me to be effective in sharing my faith. Please help me to know whom to talk to and I pray that You will give me the right words to say when the time comes. I pray for all my family, friends and neighbours. I pray that the Holy Spirit will draw them to Jesus and make them aware of their need for salvation. Please use me to lead them to Christ. I also pray Lord that when people come to You that You will help me to teach them about You and how to follow You each day. I pray that I will help make disciples. I ask this in Jesus’, Amen.
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