IBNGBC - Page 8

QUALIFICATIONS FOR SOUL-WINNING

1. A personal experience of salvation (a testimony).

2. A sanctified (sin free) life.

3. A willingness and a desire to please God (on His terms).

4. A realization that people are inherently lost (hell bound).

5. An "agape" (unselfish, concerned, charitable) love for souls.

6. Patience (a willingness to listen to people).

7. Courage (confidence).

8. A Bible (and tracts).

9. A practical knowledge of the Bible (and salvation).

10. Prayer (for God’s guidance).

11. Abilities and skills to properly communicate with people.

12. Opportunities to communicate. (Look for, or create them.)

SOUL-WINNING AS JESUS DID IT

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman - Read: John 4:1-42

1. Made a tactful approach - vs. 7.

2. Aroused a deep interest - vs. 10.

3. Created an intense desire - vs. 15.

4. Produced a sense of conviction - vs. 16, 17.

5. Corrected a misunderstanding - vs. 19-24.

6. Revealed Himself as the Messiah - vs. 26.

7. Secured a public confession - vs. 28-31, 39.

Source: The Pocket Testament League Ready References For Your Pocket Testament, 1996.

10 COMMANDMENTS

FOR PERSONAL WORKERS

1. Be natural and pleasant. Be yourself.

2. Diagnose your case, and trust the Holy Spirit to guide you in applying the remedy.

3. If possible, deal with the person alone, and where it is quiet.

4. So far as possible, when doing personal work, choose persons of your own gender.

5. Place full confidence in the Word of God, not in your abilities.

6. Present Christ, not yourself, nor your church.

7. Have the person whom you are dealing with read the Scripture verses themselves.

8. Hold the conversation to the main point, acceptance of Christ, and, above all, do not be drawn into an argument.

9. Ask for an immediate decision.

10. Having secured a decision, be sure to instruct on how to succeed in the Christian life, and whenever possible, follow up for further developments.

Source: Ready References For Your Pocket Testament

EVANGELISM WITHIN THE FAMILY

1. Family relationships can have either a negative or positive affect upon evangelistic endeavors. Two factors that influence these results are:

A. The condition of the actual relationship, it being a good relationship or a bad one.

B. The level of commitment to Jesus Christ by the person sharing Christ.

2. Learn and understand the Biblical and psychological dynamics of human relationships. (Understand how sin has damaged them.)

3. Learn and understand the psychological differences between genders.

4. Learn and understand the Biblical model of marriage. (Ephesians 5:22-33, 1 Peter 3:1-7)

5. Understand that Christians are forbidden to marry unbelievers. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

6. Christians who are married to unbelievers are to remain faithful and dedicated to the marriage and their spouse. (1 Corinthians 7)

7. Christians married to unbelievers should desire to win their spouse to Christ. (God desires that all people would be saved.) (1 Peter 3:1, 2)

8. Contrary to modern theological trends, abandonment of a believer by an unbelieving spouse is not necessarily a Biblical ground for divorce. (1 Corinthians 7:12-16)

9. Christian children with unbelieving parents or Christian parents with unbelieving children are to live their lives so as to win the unbeliever to Christ. (1 Peter 3:13-25)

10. As you witness to an individual, speak inclusively of their family. Evangelize to whole families when possible.(Acts 16:22-34) Use family connectedness and strike while the iron is hot.

CHILD EVANGELISM POINTS

1. Children should always be considered as needful recipients of evangelism. They are sinners in need of God's salvation.

2. It's never too soon to evangelize to a child. Christian parents should begin this process through prayer, even before their children are born.

3. Left to themselves, children will naturally follow the path of sinfulness and self-centered desires.

4. There is no Biblical age of accountability or confirmation rite.

5. Children can perceive and conceive the concepts that are germane to salvation in Jesus Christ: God/Satan, Heaven/hell, holiness/sin, etc.

A. Discuss sin; allow the child to have ownership of their sins. They must experience their guilt, shame and accountability.

B. Be prepared to discuss, on a child's level, difficult issues such as death, divorce and even human sexuality.

C. Adultery - In God's original creation, fathers and mothers never died or separated. There was one father and one mother in each family and they would only love and be with each other.

D. Creation - God did create the universe in six days! People who think otherwise have the wrong information.

E. Prophecy - Jesus is coming back to bring the people of the Church, His obedient believers, back to heaven. God is going to destroy this earth and create a new perfect one in its place.

6. Always use the Bible with children. Trust that God the Holy Spirit is able to use His Word to communicate with children.

7. When possible, children should be approached and discipled by a member of the same gender.

8. A child can make a rational decision to accept Jesus Christ.

9. Children must make and have ownership of their decision for Christ.

A. A child cannot be “made”, “raised” or “taught” to be a Christian.

B. Children's ministries, e.g. Sunday School, Children' Church, V.B.S., et al, must be conscious of and keep track of a child's spiritual condition, e.g. have they become born again or not?

10. Christian children need discipleship that is tailored to their level.

11. Children who have accepted Christ should be encouraged to publicly profess their new belief. They need to be appropriately challenged.

12. Children should be encouraged and equipped to have a Christ-like compassion for other's spiritual welfare and eternal destiny.

13. Children are extremely perceptive; in some ways more than adults. The quality of your own life in Christ will affect positively or negatively the outcome of a child's decision to accept Christ. You will be held accountable by God for this aspect. (Matthew 18:6)

14. Make use of graphic illustrations that appeal to a child's thinking such as the colors in the Wordless Book:

A. BLACK - Our sin, which separates us from God.

B. RED - Christ's blood - shed on the cross for each one of us.

C. WHITE - We are washed whiter than snow by the blood of Jesus and forgiven of our sin.

D. BLUE - The Holy Spirit, the Helper who comes into our hearts when we ask Jesus into our lives

E. GREEN - Growth; just like plants and trees and flowers grow, Jesus wants us to grow in our relationship with Him.

F. GOLD - The streets of gold in Heaven, where we can live with God and Jesus forever without sadness, tears, pain and death

TIMIDITY IN SOUL-WINNING

The perception of timidity in one's character by others makes one a poor example of the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The very essence of the force of the Gospel is transformation (change).

timid \'ti-med\ adj (1594) [L timidus, fr. timere to fear]

1: lacking in courage or self-confidence

2: lacking in boldness or determination

Source: Merriam/Webster, 1994.

Then Moses said to the Lord, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." So the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? "Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say." Exodus 4:10-12 NKJV

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels." Luke 9:26 NKJV

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord… 2 Timothy 1:7, 8 NIV

MAIN REASONS FOR TIMIDITY IN SOUL WINNING:

1. Not sure of one's own salvation.

2. Unrepentant sin in one's life.

3. Selfishness.

4. Not having Spiritual maturity.

5. Neglect of one's prayer life (talking with God).

6. A lack of a working knowledge of the Bible.

7. A lack of faith in God (or His abilities).

8. A lack of confidence in one's self (insecurity).

9. A fear of failure and subsequent ridicule.

10. A lack of preparation, practice and experience.

THE ROMAN ROAD