Becoming Effective Soul Winners
Key verses: Acts 8:4-8, 26-40
Key thought
Becoming effective in evangelism requires both putting our effort and relying on the power of God
- Develop the readiness to share the gospel.
We must continuously sharpen our skills for sharing the gospel.
Preparation is very important, we must never misuse opportunities that arise because we are unprepared Acts 8:35.
2 Timothy 2:15 we must invest in studying the scriptures and also sharpen how we present the gospel.
Here are some of the tools we can use- 15 seconds testimony
- Summarize your story in such a way to initiate conversations
- ‘I was hooked by the pursuit of pleasure until I met Jesus and found meaning and purpose I life, do have such a story?’’
- This may be useful to open up a gospel conversation, we may not have all the time but initiating the discussion will be critical
- One minute testimony
- We must develop and master ‘pitching’ the good news in the shortest period of time possible, if we have the time then we can do it in whatever way we find convenient.
- The Roman Road to salvation
- These are verses picked from the book of Romans that can be used to present the gospel
- These verses defines who needs salvation, why we need salvation, how God provides salvation and how we receive salvation
- Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 5:12, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-11 and Romans 10:13
- Four spiritual laws – mainly used by Campus Crusade for Christ
- Law number one - God loves you (John 3:16) and offers a wonderful plan for your life (John 10:10)
- Law number two - All of us sin and our sin has separated us from God (Romans 3:23)
- Law number three - Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for sin, though Him we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our life
- Law number four – We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, then we can experience God’s love
- Relational evangelism
- When we use Christ-like love to build relationships that can open space for the sharing of the good news
- Part of what we do is just to share an invitation to friends and relatives to come to church
- In our sharing we must make sure we are preaching Jesus, don’t get lost with tools.
- Keep it simple and Jesus centered
- 15 seconds testimony
- Sold out to our faith
- The context of chapter 8 of acts is that the believers are on the run from persecution.
- Philip is so convinced of his calling that even on the run, whilst in Samaria he still preaches Christ.
- He is a good example of ‘being ready in season and out of season’
- He demonstrates that nothing can separate us from the love of God, neither persecution nor death.
- Walking in obedience
- Making disciples of all nations is a command that has to be obeyed.
- Along this journey God issues specific commands that will lead us to be effective soul winners.
- Acts 8:26 now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.
- We must remember than Jerusalem is where the persecution started, and that’s where this particular harvest is.
- He is moved from Samaria where there is a revival to go minister to one person, this is heart for the lost!
- The Holy Spirit enables us to cross boundaries that we would not ordinarily cross.
- We must recognize and seize opportunities that God opens for us
- Acts 8:29 and the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”
- This is now where our preparation becomes important, Phillip initiates a gospel discussion by a very simple question; do you understand what you are reading?
- Leverage on the power of the Holy Spirit
- Brothers and sisters, God has made His power available to us through the infilling of the Holy Spirit
- Acts 8:6 Beyond the preaching of the word, the people of Samaria pay attention to Phillip upon seeing the demonstration of signs and wonders.
- They even moved away from following Simon the magician who was also demonstrating amazing staff