· It is OK to find natural and comfortable ways to talk about your faith and answer people’s questions. We don’t need to be experts; we can just be ourselves. We don’t have to accost people awkwardly with the Gospel. This rarely “works” and often backfires.
· At the same time, we need to have courage and step out of our comfort zone sometimes. Take risks! Enjoy asking people about their faith experience and be ready and willing to share yours!
· This is not a formula … sometimes we serve, sometimes we use words right away, sometimes we are present with another person for years before they are ready to learn more … We are to be open to the leading and guiding of God’s spirit as we interact with others, but always be ready to share the reason for the hope in us.
· People hate being “projects.” We are to genuinely love, genuinely serve, genuinely listen to them, learn from them, too. We want to create opportunities for conversation, not sermonizing. Love the people. Look for opportunities to explain the Good News and understand that the final move is God’s. We just sow the seed!
· We need to encourage our people to pray daily, “God, show me how best to share the Good News with the people I meet today.” And then we need to encourage them to listen for the Spirit, who will sometimes say, “Just be with them,” or “Serve them in love today,” or “Ask them if they know Jesus.” We need to be ready to move wherever and whenever the Spirit asks us to.
