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WEEK 5
Sharing your
testimony
Recap
What did you learn from last week’s study?
Did you have any evangelistic opportunities this week?
Good stories about our good God
One of the best ways that we can share the gospel with others is through
sharing our personal testimonies. Testimonies are simply stories about how
God has been at work in our lives.
These testimonies aren’t just about how we first came to know Christ, but also
about how we’ve continued to walk in him — how he’s helped us put to death
our anger; how he’s comforted us in our grief; how he’s confronted us in our
desire to control others; how he’s delighted us with small and unexpected
expressions of his grace etc. Our goal in all of these testimonies is to tell God’s
story through our story.
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1. Think about some testimonies you’ve heard. What made them good or bad?
You may wish to think about:
 the content;
 the structure;
 the presentation skills;
 the (apparent) attitude or personality of the speaker
2. Read 2 Corinthians 4:1–7; 5:11–21. How might these verses help us tell
God’s story through our story? What should we tell? How? Why?
The gospel is the good
news that through
Christ’s work (on the
Cross), God has made a
solution to our
predicament (of sin,
judgment and death)
for all who repent and
believe in Jesus.
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How to structure our story
It is universally recognised that good stories have the following basic
components:
I. An introduction - where the ‘characters’ in the story are presented,
perhaps with a little exposition
II. A crisis or conflict – something happens which creates tension
III. A resolution and conclusion
3. Read Acts 22:1-22. Can you discern the introduction / crisis / resolution
structure in Paul’s testimony?
Mapping your testimony onto these three components of good stories gives us
an easy structure for sharing God’s story through our story.
Note: If you were converted later in life and have a distinct memory of life
before you met Jesus, then you may want to tell the story of your conversion.
If you were raised in a Christian home and you believe your early conversion
was genuine, then it may be easier to tell a story of your continued growth in
Christ and God’s ongoing work in your life. Either way, the simple story
structure helps guide us.
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The following questions are merely guides and suggestions of the areas your
story might include. Typically your testimony will include some, but not all, of
the following types of information:
Conversion story
Introduction
 What did you think was important in life?
 How did you think the world should be?
 What did you hope and dream for?
 What did you think would fulfill and satisfy you?
 How were your desires thwarted (or shown to be twisted)?
Crisis
 Why were your hopes and goals unmet?
 Was there a flaw in the world, or in yourself, that you became aware
of?
 Was there an unsatisfied inner need that you felt?
Resolution
 Why were all other solutions to your crisis unsatisfactory?
 What circumstances caused you to turn to Christ as the solution?
 What is the gospel (briefly) and how does it resolve your crisis?
 What did it look like for you to respond to the gospel?
 What has it meant for you to now follow Christ?
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If your testimony is going to be a ‘growth story’ then it may be helpful to look
back over the past twelve months and consider what is one thing that God’s
taught you — one area where you’ve grown in godliness? This could either be
a good desire and behaviour that God is fostering in you, or a bad desire or
behaviour which God is ridding you of.
Growth story
Good desires & behaviours
Introduction
 Do you have a good desire or
Bad desires and behaviours
 Do you have a bad desire or
behaviour that God has been
behaviour that God has been
teaching you about recently?
teaching you about recently?
(e.g. “I want to be a good
(e.g. “I like to get my own way”)
parent”)
 What is an example of this
 What is an example of this desire
or behaviour in your life?
desire or behaviour in your life?
 How do you fail in your attempt
to do good?
Crisis
 How do you twist a good desire
into something idolatrous?
 How does your sinful heart
make a mess of this good
desire?
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 Where have you seen or
experienced the consequences of
these bad desires and
behaviours?
 What is at the root (in your
heart) of these desires?
 How does the gospel show you
 How does the gospel show you
your failure?
 How does Jesus succeed where
your failure?
 How does Jesus succeed where
Resolution
you’ve failed?
 How does God help you in your
you’ve failed?
 How does God help you in your
failure?
 What is a concrete example of
failure?
 What is a concrete example of
how, by God’s grace and
how, by God’s grace and strength
strength you’re doing better in
you’re doing better in this area?
this area?
Bear in mind these general tips for writing your testimony:
 Use informal ‘every-day’ language
 Avoid religious words, phrases and jargon
 Include some humour and human interest if you can
 Don’t include unnecessary details (names of specific churches or
denominations, excessive cataloguing of dates and ages, too many names
of individuals etc.)
 Use word pictures to describe and highlight important episodes
 Avoid mystical claims that skeptics question (“God said to me…”)
 Simplify and reduce clutter by combining information
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Exercise
For the next 10-15 minutes (as time allows), attempt to write out your own
testimony, following this basic pattern. Your goal is to create a short (3-4
minute), fully scripted yet conversational story about God’s work in your life.
Remember, the ultimate aim is to tell God’s story (the gospel) through your
story.
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Break into pairs or threes and practice sharing your testimony. Provide
feedback to one another. Consider the following questions about one
another’s testimonies:
 What was helpful or unhelpful?
 Did it feel natural and genuine or forced?
 Was there appropriate emotion at different points?
 Were there concepts that could’ve been explained more simply?
 Was the gospel made clear?
When you have finished, pray for one another, giving thanks for God’s work in
one another’s lives, and asking for opportunities to share these things with
your non-Christian contacts.
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WEEK 6
Salty conversations
Recap
What did you learn from last week’s study?
Did you have any evangelistic opportunities this week?
Discuss
1. Think back to conversations that you’ve had with your non-Christian friends
about Jesus. What has led to helpful conversations? What has led to unhelpful
conversations?
In Colossians 4:2-6, the apostle Paul writes these words to the church in
Colossae.
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for
us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may
proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may
proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward
outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be
always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to
answer everyone.
Learning how to have “salty conversations” is one of the most important
evangelistic skills we can learn.
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2. Before we examine what we should say, let’s look at what the bible says
about how we should speak to people who don’t yet know Jesus. What do the
following passages teach us about how we should relate to people? Have you
had conversations where it was difficult to obey these verses?
2 Timothy 2:22-26
1 Peter 3:15-16
James 1:19
3. Throughout his ministry, Jesus had many conversations with an
extraordinary variety of different people. Split up into small groups and look at
the following conversations that Jesus had with different people. What do we
learn about having conversations from these passages? Specifically, how does
Jesus use questions when he speaks to people?
Mark 10:17-31
Matthew 22:15-22
Luke 20:1-8
John 4:1-26
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4. What are the benefits of engaging unbelievers in a dialogue by asking good
questions and responding with good questions?
Talking about beliefs
5. If persuading people to follow Christ is our goal in evangelism, this
necessarily entails people changing their life’s core beliefs . Having
conversations at this deep level can be tricky, and can take lots of time to
achieve. The diagram below is a simple representation of how someone’s
worldview is structured.
Examples:
Interest = “I like to play touch football”
Value = “I think it’s important to enjoy
life”
Belief = “I believe that this life is all we
have”
Interest = “I do anything it takes to
earn a promotion”
Value = “Success and wealth are my
priorities”
Belief = “Power will bring me freedom”
Brainstorm - How can we go about moving our conversations from surface
level matters to deeper issues of beliefs and truth?
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6. Moving a conversation towards the level of beliefs will often involve getting
outside of your comfort zone. It can be helpful to have some “conversation
bridges” memorised which force the conversation into deeper territory (see
appendix A at the end of this study booklet). However, once we are in
conversations at the level of beliefs, it may be necessary to:
Clarify someone’s beliefs
What do you mean by that?
Could you explain that idea further?
Explore the basis for someone’s beliefs
Why do you think that?
How did you come to that conclusion?
What evidence led you to believe that?
Challenge someone’s beliefs
Have you ever considered whether…?
If you believe …., why do you believe …?
Did you know that…?
Do you think it is possible that….
Do you really believe that…?
Split into pairs and practice having a conversation that involves listening and
asking questions, specifically trying to address one another’s beliefs. Take turns
in playing the roles of Christian and non-Christian.
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Conclusion
7. Think about the 5 people you have been praying for. What questions would
be helpful to ask them?
Name
Questions you would like to ask
Pray for God’s help in having good conversations in the week ahead.
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WEEK 7
Planning for
evangelism
Recap
What did you learn from last week’s study?
Did you have any evangelistic opportunities this week?
Discuss
1. Share about a time when you had to go out of your comfort zone. Why did
you do it? What was it like? How do you feel about it in hindsight?
A mission-minded lifestyle
2. Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. What are Paul’s main points in this passage?
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3. Paul lists three groups of people whom he hoped to reach for Christ, and for
whom he adapted his living situation. What might it have looked like in Paul’s
life when he:
“Became like a Jew, to win the Jews.”? (see Acts 16:3, 18:18, 21:20-26)
“Became like one not having the law... so as to win those not having the
law”? (see 1 Cor 8:1-6)
“Became weak, to win the weak”? (see 1 Cor 2:1-5, 8:7-13)
4. How should this practically affect the way we interact with non-Christians?
Try to give specific examples from your own life.
5. Are there any common ways this passage could be misapplied? Are there
limits to how we exercise our freedom as Christians?
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6. In these verses Paul demonstrates intentionality and forethought regarding
how best to reach particular groups of people with the gospel. How should
this passage affect the way we do evangelism? What are the benefits in
thinking ahead and being intentional about the way we do evangelism? What
are the dangers? Are there any ways of avoiding/minimising these dangers?
Conclusion
7. For each of the five people you’ve been praying for, think through the
particular context that you can enter to reach them, and what it will look like
to accommodate yourself to their lifestyle (as much as possible) in order to
reach them for Christ.
Name
Context to enter
Ways to accommodate myself
8. Read the article on the next page by Tim Chester. Are there any of these
ideas which you could adopt as a home group to help one another meet nonChristians in the community? What other ideas can you come up with?
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10 Simple Ways To Be Missional1
By Tim Chester
1. Eat with other people
We all eat 3 meals a day. That’s 21
opportunities for church and mission each
week without adding anything new to your
schedule. And meals are a powerful
expression of welcome and community.
2. Work in public places
Hold meetings, prepare talks, read in public
spaces like cafes, pubs and parks. It will
naturally help you engage with the culture as
work or plan. For example, whose questions
do you want to address in your Bible studies
– those of professional exegetes or those of
the culture?
3. Be a regular
Adopt a local cafe, pub, park and shops so
you regularly visit and become known as a
local. Imagine if everyone in your gospel
community did this!
4. Join in with what’s going on
Churches often start their own thing like a
coffee shop or homeless program. Instead,
join existing initiatives – you don’t have the
burden of running it and you get
opportunities with co-workers.
5. Leave the house in the evenings
It’s so easy after a long day on a dark evening
to slump in front of the television or surf the
internet. Get out! Visit a friend. Take a cake
to a neighbour. Attend a local group. Go to
the cinema. Hang out in a cafe. Go for a walk
with a friend. It doesn’t matter where as long
as you go with gospel intentionality.
1
6. Serve your neighbours
Weed a neighbour’s garden. Help someone
move. Put up a shelf. Volunteer with a local
group. It could be one evening a week or one
day a month. Try to do it with other members
of your gospel community so it becomes a
common project. Then people will see your
love for one another and it will be easier to
talk about Jesus.
7. Share your passion
What do you enjoy? Find a local group that
shares your passion. Be missional and have
fun at the same time!
8. Hang out with your work colleagues
Spend your lunch break with colleagues. Go
for a drink after work. Share the journey to
work.
9. Walk
Walking enables you to engage with your
neighbourhood at street level. You notice
things you don’t in a car. You are seen and
known in the neighbourhood.
10. Prayer walk
Walk around your neighbourhood using what
you see as fuel for prayer. Pray for people,
homes, businesses, community groups and
community needs. Ask God to open your eyes
to where He is at work and to fill your heart
with love for your neighbourhood.
This article can be accessed at http://www.vergenetwork.org/2011/10/04/tim-chester-10-simpleways-to-be-missional/
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WEEK 8
An evangelising
church
Recap
What did you learn from last week’s study?
Did you have any evangelistic opportunities this week?
Discuss
1. “Church services are for edifying believers and worshipping God. Evangelism
is what happens when we’re not gathered as a church.” Do you agree or
disagree with this statement? Why?
2. When the church gathers together, do you think that worship and
evangelism are mutually exclusive goals?
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God’s people as evangelistic worshippers
Throughout the Bible there is a consistent picture that as God’s people gather
to worship, they are simultaneously aiming to welcome and include the
unbelieving nations (see Ps 100:1-5, Ps 105:1-2 etc.).
3. Read 1 Corinthians 14:23-25. What is the broad issue that Paul is addressing
in this section of the letter?
4. Is the presence of non-believers in the church’s gathered worship something
which the Corinthian church should have expected? Is it something we expect
at WBC?
5. According to Paul, why is it important for the church’s gathered worship to
be comprehensible to outsiders?
6. What is the possible result for the non-believer when the church’s worship is
comprehensible to them?
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The local church is the gospel made visible
7. God has designed the church to perform a few key activities when it gathers:
The preaching of God’s Word
Baptism
The Lord’s Supper
Prayer
Singing
Giving financially
Caring for one another
Each of these elements of our corporate gatherings can, and should, proclaim
the gospel clearly. As you think about how we practice these elements at
WBC, are there ways we could do them to be more comprehensible to nonbelievers?2
This is not about restructuring the church for evangelism (i.e. running a “seeker-sensitive”
type of service). Nor are we suggesting that the church should evangelise by simply adding
extra programs to the church calendar. Instead, we are suggesting that we allow the things
that God has already built into the church to proclaim the gospel themselves.
2
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8. What role can you (and your home group) play in helping our church
services to be times of “evangelistic worship”:
Before the formal service begins?
During the formal service?
After the formal service finishes?
9. This kind of communal evangelism is not a substitute for personal
evangelism, but rather a complement to it. What are some of the benefits of
this kind of communal approach to evangelism?
Conclusion
Pray for opportunities to invite your non-Christian contacts to a church service.
Pray too that WBC would have a true culture of evangelism within its services.
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Appendix A - Conversation bridges for sharing the gospel
 Here's a random question - have you ever thought much about God?
 I was wondering if you have any spiritual beliefs.
 If it was possible to have a relationship with God, would you be
interested? Can I tell you how I came to know God personally? Can I
show you from the bible how can know God personally?
 What would you say Christianity was all about?
 If someone asked you what the central idea of Christianity was, what
would you say to them?
 For a person who is a Christian by tradition but not by faith ask: "If one
of your friends asked you how to become a Christian, what would you
say?"
 Have you had a chance to read the Bible as an adult?
 I've known you for a while and you know that I'm a Christian but I've
never explained how I became a Christian. I was wondering if I could talk
to you about that at some time.
 I'm looking to read the bible with someone, would you be interested?
 If you could ask God to meet a need in your life what would it be? Can I
pray for you?
 What is your life purpose? Why do you think we are here?
 What do you think happens after death? Why do you think that?
 Why is the world so full of suffering?
 Have you ever felt close to God?
 Do you ever feel though God helps you?
 Has God ever shown up in your life?
 Do you feel far from God or close to Cod? Would you like to be close to
God?
 Are you a spiritual person?
 Do you have faith of your own?
 Are you a religious person? In your religion how do you get your sins
forgiven (or get to heaven or achieve enough merit)? Can I tell you how
Christianity is different?
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