A Personal Witness John 9:1-41 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
In talking with a friend who attends a large non-denominational church, I asked him about his church’s outreach. He described a number of events but concluded that the most effective was to reach people is still one-on-one through personal witness. It’s still a matter of word of mouth where people are a personal witness to other people. Why is that? Personal witness is still the most effective means of evangelism because you have:
A Personal Testimony – Jn 9:25 – the blind man who had been healed said, “one thing I know” – he didn’t know much, but he knew Jesus and he knew that he had been blind but now he could see – you have a personal testimony of a life changing experience with Jesus Christ.
A Personal Relationship – Jn 1:41 – Andrew went first to “his own brother Simon” – there are people with whom you have a personal relationship and with whom you have more rapport than anyone else – it is only natural the your personal witness with them is going to be much more effective than the witness of a stranger – furthermore, you are going to have repeated opportunities to speak with them about the Lord.
A Personal Influence – Jn 4:29-30, 39 – the Samaritan woman had personal influence with enough people that “many… believed on him for the saying of the woman” – there are people with whom your personal witness has personal influence – they will listen to you because they know you and they respect you.
A Personal Burden – Rom 9:1-3 – Paul said about the Jews, “I have great heaviness and continual sorrow” – he was desperately burdened for them to be saved – when you are personally burdened for someone, you will go to all measures to see them saved – and if you are not burdened, you should ask the Lord to burden you for them.
A Personal Responsibility – 1 Cor 9:16 – Paul said about preaching the gospel “necessity is laid upon me” – in other words, he had a personal responsibility from the Lord to preach the gospel to the lost – and, likewise, we have a personal responsibility to preach the gospel to the lost through our personal witness.
Conclusion: Therefore, be a personal witness for Jesus.