Who in your family doesn’t know Jesus as their Savior? Did your chest tighten thinking about it? Jonathon gives us great encouragement for sharing Christ, even if we are scared.

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling…

1 Corinthians 2:2-3

Isn’t Jesus great? Isn’t the Gospel really, really, good news!? I think so. But I have friends and family who don’t.  In fact, Jesus doesn’t play a role in their life at all, because they aren’t Christ followers. Do you have friends and family who are not Christians? How do we share our faith with family and friends?

The main command Jesus has given us is to make disciples (Matt 28:19).  The first step someone takes to become a disciple of Jesus is by hearing the Gospel and placing their faith in Jesus.  That means we need to get the word out. Let’s start with those we know and love.  Here are a few pointers to get you sharing:

1. Know the Gospel. You can share the gospel like this… We are all guilty sinners before a holy and righteous God.  We deserve the just penalty of our sin, and cannot make ourselves right before God on our own. But God, because of His great love for us, sent Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life and willingly died on a cross to pay the penalty for sin.  We deserved death, but Jesus died for us. Jesus was raised from the dead three days later, proving that God had accepted His sacrifice for sin and that everything Jesus taught was true.  The good news is that God will freely forgive all who trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. So place your faith in the finished work of Christ, and you will find peace with God forever. (Rom 3:23; John 3:18; Rom 3:19; Eph 2:4; John 10:18; Rom 5:1)
2. Keep the main thing, the main thing.  There are thousands of questions people have about Jesus.  Often times, our fear of not knowing answers will keep us from talking about our faith. But be encouraged, you don’t have to know all the answers to tell someone about Jesus.  You just need to know who Jesus is, what He did, and what He offers. It’s OK to say “I don’t’ know”, and then tell them what you DO know.
3. Afraid is OK. Did you read 1 Cor 2:3 above? Paul was one of the boldest evangelist ever. He told strangers about Jesus all the time. You would think he had a bold, confident personality when sharing his faith.  But that’s not the case.  Sometimes, he was afraid and trembling when he shared the Gospel. So being afraid is OK.  Nobody wants to turn people away, or make someone uncomfortable. But sin is too serious. Jesus is too great.  Our friends’ and families’ souls are too important. We must tell them about Jesus.

 Let’s pray for boldness (Eph  6:19) and go tell our friends and family about our Jesus. They need to know how to be saved, and God is big enough to handle the results. Why not bring it up in the the next conversation you have?

Camper Corner

Who are some friends or family members who are not Christians? Ask your parents which family members are not Christians, then take a moment to pray for them.  Now practice sharing your faith with your parents.