Our key verse for this teaching series reminds us so clearly that we can all be witnesses, we can all be those who are confidently and naturally “Talking Jesus” because we have already been given the gift of the Holy Spirit to equip and empower us.
To be a witness, you need to communicate what you know, or saw, or have experienced. Some people are restricted from doing that openly due to cultural oppression or misguided mindsets or laws in their country that limit their freedom. We are so fortunate in our own country that we do not have anything like that to hold us back, but do we always make the most of that freedom, or do we take it for granted?
Over the next few weeks, we are going to be thinking about that together through some course material called “Talking Jesus”. The course writers say: “Conversations with Christians are one of the most important influences in bringing people to faith. This course will inspire you to share your faith and will give you practical suggestions to help you to be natural and relevant as you talk about Jesus with the people you meet.” (www.talkingjesus.org)
Why is it, then, that so often we start to feel uncomfortable with the thought that as Christians we need to talk to others about Jesus as naturally as we take our next breath? Perhaps different ones of us will give a variety of responses to that question, and so we need to be reminded, encouraged, inspired and equipped to break through whatever our barriers are, and so talk confidently and naturally about Jesus to anyone we meet – to “make the most of every opportunity to help friends, colleagues and family members to consider Jesus for themselves and to become his followers” (quote from the course material).
This isn’t just for those who we decide are bolder, or better educated, or more gifted than we feel to talk to someone about Jesus ourselves, but it’s for all of us.
We will be listening to what other people have to say by using some video-based teaching resources as part of our Sunday morning teaching. There are also longer videos and a course booklet available that can be used to prompt further discussion through Life Groups or over coffee with each other. If you would like digital access to the videos or a printed copy of the course booklet to guide your reflections and discussions, please let us know.
You can watch the introduction video here: https://vimeo.com/275225776
Acts 2:42-47, Exodus 3 and 4, Isaiah 6:1-8, Hebrews 12:1. What have we learnt together over the last few weeks that will enable and motivate us to keep “Talking Jesus”? It doesn’t end here because the need for us to talk to people about Jesus never ends. We don’t need to be able to share […]
Hebrews 12:1-3; Colossians 4:2-6. When Jesus called his first disciples, he invited them to “Follow me”. Peter was invited by his brother, Andrew, to come and meet Jesus. There will always be someone who God is prompting us to talk to about Jesus – it’s reckoned that 70% of regular church goers will know immediately […]
John 3:1-21; Acts 2:14-41. Today’s film says, “God invites us into His story”. That is an important thing to remember because when we talk Jesus, we’re not inviting people into our personal story, or our church story, but into God’s story. Our story doesn’t exist without it being bound up in and through God’s story. […]
1 Peter 3:15; John 4:1-42. 36% of people come to faith by talking to a Christian. It’s the second highest factor behind finding faith by living in a Christian family. It makes our story massively important – it doesn’t have to be a dramatic story, but we do have a story to tell about how […]
Matthew 5:13-16, John 15, Philippians 2:13-15, 1 Peter 2:11-12, Colossians 4:2,5-6. One of the last things that Jesus said was “Go and make disciples in my name” (Matthew 28:19). So where do we start? How do we go about bringing God-flavours and God-colours to the world? An earlier teaching series helped us to consider where […]
Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 15:1-7 We all talk about the things that motivate and inspire us, drive and energise us. Nothing will stop us or put us off talking about those things. In this week’s film one person says: “When I talk about Jesus, I feel like I’m involved with something weighty, something that really matters”. […]
Mark 8: 27-30; Luke 9:18-27. So often we assume which people we know will want to talk about Jesus, and which ones won’t. But how can we know that? Our own assumptions can come out of our pre-conceived ideas, judgements, and prejudices, but when it comes to talking about Jesus, most of the time our […]