Witnessing is not easy for me, but

I will let someone who knows more about the Jews and their beliefs to comment on that part.

I do, however, want to tell you that I too am an introvert and have a very hard time expressing myself verbally--tongue-tied-Norwegian!! But I have also learned through the years that God can use what we say anyway. It may not seem to us that we are saying the right things, but God can use it. When I was in Bible college I was involved in a jail ministry every week. One Sunday I had talked with an inmate and had felt I messed up royally. Nothing seemed to come out right. I felt like an absolute failure. And I was--but God wasn't. When we came back to the jail the next Sunday Alice was waiting for me. She said " All week I have thought about what you said and I am ready to get saved." She accepted Christ in spite of myself. When we are weak, He is strong.

That much said, I also think it is important to be prepared. Have a "witnessing outline" in your mind of how you want to present the Gospel. Be as prepared as you can, but don't expect perfection. If they ask a question you can't answer, say you will get back to them on that. Then find the answer and when you next speak to this person use it as an opening to turn the conversation toward spiritual things. Each time you speak to this person, build on what you have told her before.

Also, in just everyday conversation, bring it up ocassionally what God has done or is doing in your life. If the idea of "witnessing" makes you nervous, then think of it as conversation. Things like, "look at the interesting bark on this tree, God sure is creative. Or, God answered this prayer for me lately etc... Make it personal and I think it will be easier.

Keep praying too. Satan does not want this lady to get saved--remember that when you have opposition.

Let her see that you love her and her soul. Keep on loving her.

I can really identify with you--I am not very persuasive either. It helps me also to really try NOT to think of myself and my fears and failings, but to think of this person and eternity.

God bless you.

 

When witnessing to JW's, I use their own material (the Emphatic Diaglott, which is a pretty good translation, not the NWT which is a complete farce) to find a common ground of understanding and then show them from the Scriptures of one of their own publications where their religion is leading them astray.

You could do the same thing with this woman. Use the OT, show the common ground, then show how Jesus is the Messiah.

Now, this comes as an opinion because I have never encountered a Jew to whom I needed to witness. Most Jews that I have dealings with have either been Messianic Jews already, or I encounter them strictly informally on business. But, I do have quite a bit of contact with Messianic Jews, and that's the way they came to be believers is by seeing that Jesus of the NT was the Messiah. (BTW, if you have a copy of the Septuagint, most Messianic Jews hold it in higher regard than they do the Masoretic text, as it is older than the Masoretic text, and it is more Messianic in nature.)

 

Let me try this again. I am a brand new poster, and this particular thread of posts caught my eye. My husband was born and raised Jewish. He is now a Christian. Praise God. I can understand your difficulty in knowing how to witness to your friend. Jews, obviously, do not know Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The Jews believe that their Messiah to come will be a great political leader descended from King David. They believe that he will be well versed in Jewish Law and observant of it's commandments. They believe he will be a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example. They believe he will be a great military leader who will win many battles for Israel. They believe he will be a great judge who makes righteous decisions, and above all, they believe that he will be a "HUMAN BEING", not a god or a demi-god. So again, I can understand that you might have a problem witnessing to her.

In approaching someone who does not know the Lord, one thing you can do is start off with asking them a few simple questions. For instance, "What do you think is the meaning of life?" or "Do you think it is possible to live forever?" Share with her how she can obtain LIFE eternally.

Take the word LIFE. Explain to her the L in life stands for Love. John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave His only Begotten Son, that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

God made man to love Him forever. He created us to have a relationship with Him. But what happened? In the very beginning, Adam introduced "sin" into the world by going against the orders of God. The Bible teaches that sin cannot enter into God's Heaven. Because of sin, we are isolated from God.

The I in Life stands for Isolation. Romans 3:23 teaches us "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." Romans 6:23 teaches us "For the wages of sin is death." ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD. We have ALL fallen short of God's Glory. But God loves us SO much that He made a way for us to reconcile with Him.

Forgiveness The F in Life stands for forgiveness. 1 Peter 3:18 says "For He also suffered ONCE for sin, the Just for the Unjust, so that He could bring us to God. How AWSOME is that. That He would die in OUR place so that we could be reconciled with Him. Thank you Jesus.

So through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, we were given the promise of Eternal Life through His Grace. The E in life stands for Eternal Life.

John 10:10 says to us "For I have come to give life, and to give it more abundantly." John 1:12 says "But for those who have received Him, He gave to them the right to be called the children of God, for those who believe in His Name."

How could anyone possibly not want to receive this awsome gift? Receiving Him is as easy as ABC

A - ADMIT - Acts 3:19 "Therefore repent and convert that your sins will be blotted out."

B - Believe
C - Confess - Romans 10:9 - But if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Those who do this, will be "born again" Their first birth is through water, in their mother's womb for nine months in (water), the second birth is through the Holy Spirit.

I hope this helps you a little bit. I am not bold in the word either. I am presently taking the course "Got Life?" through my church, and I am learning to witness to those who don't know the Lord. It is an awesome experience. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of help to you in your quest to witness to your friend. May God Bless you in your quest.

 

Hi JoyceK,

Thank you for your post.

In a couple of weeks I will be instructing the girls in our Kid's Club on how to witness. I want them to be prepared so they are comfortable with it. They will (several times) be presenting the plan of salvation in class. I found some great tidbits in your post that I will incorporate into it. Just what I needed. Thanks!!

 

Being as preacher of the Gospel, I can say that to be a good witness before the lord one must put forth much prayer before trying to witness to lost folks..It is always good to be in God will and to be mindful to witness to whom the spirit of God might have you to witness to..meaning the will of God being in the witness process..Someimes i,m thinking some people try and witness to folks who might not nessarily be under conviction ..and this could be to more hurt than Good ...what i saying i guess is let us ask God whom he would have us witness to...i seen a preacher literly try and drag a young man to the the alter one night at a worship service and the young man looked to me to not be under conviction and im thinking that this was surely the wrong approach to getting someone born again ..we must all rember that the Gospel is to this end whosoever will come and be saved..let us all rember this ..I think earnest prayers should alway be done first before anyone trys to witness to other so that we might cry unto the lord for guidance on whom that we are to witness so that the perfect will be done to that end.. thanks for reading and if you disagee with me on this topic you have that right ..thanks

 

SethandMattsMom,

you've gotten such a great postin here from someone married to a formerly Jewish person! One word of advice I have is that you first just relax....only a little....and remember that verse where Jesus promised to give them the words to use when they needed to speak of Him. Don't be so afraid to say the wrong thing...especially as this girl is not a practicing Jew. Pray first, but perhaps you should even ask her outright if it's alright for you to talk to her about God. She might be very open and ready to sit and talk. This could be exactly why God has seemed to lay this girl on your heart. If God is directing you towards talking with her, then first be reassured that God will help you say the right things. Be willing and be prepared, but don't be anxious.

Im shy, too, it's one of the hardest things for me to go up to people and try to just hand them a tract.....so there's no berating here! I understand....I think we all do.

 

Hi Samarelda. Thank you for your kind words. The presentation I posted was from Got Life, the course I'm taking through my church. It is an awesome presentation, and our visits to the community have been fruitful.

You can go to www.GotLife.org for more information on how to witness.

Good luck with the girls instructing them on how to witness. Glad I was able to give you some ideas. Have a blessed day.

 

Seth&Mattsmom, there is a ministry here in the Atlanta area called Light of Messiah Ministries http://www.lightofmessiah.org/. They are Jewish Christians who have a ministry to Jews, and use the OT things like Passover to show the Jews the symbolism that points to Jesus. I have heard them speak at our church. They came and did a Passover Seder and explained the symbolism. It was really wonderful!

You could check out their website for some ideas on how to witness. Maybe start a discussion on Passover/Easter, since it's coming up soon!

I'm praying God gives you the opportunity to witness, and that He will prepare her heart.

God bless!

 

Seth&Mattsmom, folks have already said some very good things, but I would like to add something.

Remember that the Gospel is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16). Just give your friend the Gospel the best way you know how. The Gospel itself is very powerful!

Also, don't be afraid to use the Bible with her. The Bible is also incredibly powerful. Remember that it is called a sword in Scripture. It doesn't matter if someone believes in that sword or not, it can still cut when used! I've seen an agnostic saved when I went ahead and gave him the plan of salvation, even though he said he didn't believe in the Bible!

Again, don't worry about your stammering tongue. You are just the kind of person God wants to use! Do a little study on the life of Moses, and remember what he told God when God called him to lead Israel, and then what God told Moses!

God bless.

 

I don't know who came up with this quote, but I have heard our pastor say it several times.

"Witnessing is simply one begger telling another begger where he got the bread."