Giving testimony of faith in Jesus Christ

If lost people mattered to you the way they matter to God, what would your life look like?

Your testimony: How to talk to people about a relationship with God and His offer of salvation

Are you a contagious Christian? Is your faith infectious in a good way?

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith." -- Philemon 1:6

Writing out your testimony will help you be ready to tell your story about Jesus to anyone who asks.

There are three reasons why personal testimonies impact people.

  1. People who know you are interested in you and your life.
  2. Other people can relate to your story.
  3. They can't argue with the fact that your life has been changed.

Read Acts 26 to hear Paul tell his story.

  1. Acts 26: 4-11 Before
  2. Acts 26:12-18 How
  3. Acts 26:19-23 After

Sharing one's faith

Your answers to the following questions form your salvation testimony.

  1. Before: your life before you knew Christ
    1. Where were you spiritually before you came to Christ? How did that affect you — your feelings, attitudes, actions, and relationships?
    2. Before you became a Believer, what were some ways God began drawing you to Christ?
  2. How: your conversion
    1. What motivated you to invite Christ into your life as Lord and Savior?
    2. Specifically, how did you come to Christ, receive His forgiveness and submit to His Lordship?
    3. If a church played a part in your conversion, how did you come in contact with that congregation? Who and what do you remember from your first visits?
  3. After: your new walk with Christ
    1. What changed in your life after you accepted Jesus as your Savior?
    2. Finish this sentence: "My prayer is . . ..
Is keeping quiet about your faith a crime?

Question: "What is the greatest crime in the desert?"

Answer: "Finding water and keeping silent"

   — Arab proverb
 

    -- Howard Culbertson,

Acts 26:1-23 -- Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself."
So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: 2 "King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 "The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country and also in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. 6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9 "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord's people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.
12 "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
15"Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'
"'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 16 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
19 "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen -- 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.

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Afterword

When Christians talk about "witnessing" or "sharing their faith," they are referring to telling the story of their personal journey to faith and to communicating their beliefs about Jesus Christ, the Bible, and the Christian faith. This often involves expressing how their faith has impacted their lives, talking about key Christian teachings, and inviting others to consider embracing Christ as Savior and Lord.

The term "witnessing" comes from the biblical concept of being a witness to the truth of Jesus Christ, as described in passages such as Acts 1:8, where Jesus tells his disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

"Witnessing" or "sharing faith" is both a responsibility and a privilege for believers.

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