10 Things Every Believer in the Local Church from the Youngest to the Oldest can do to
Make Christ Known

1. Pray for the salvation of unconverted friends and neighbors and family and
enemies.

Romans 10:1, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. ”Every person, no matter what age, with a sound mind can do this. And the very same Apostle Paul who said in: Romans 9:18, “Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens…” also said that his prayer to God for Israel was for their salvation. God’s ability to save is what gives wings to our prayers for the salvation of the unbelievers all around us.

2. Pray for peace and for opportunities to witness – pray as a family for peace and
for opportunities to witness. Why should we do this?

• Only God is able to open the hearts of sinners to heed the things spoken by us to them. Pray that God would change hearts of stone to hearts of flesh.

Acts 16:14 “Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.”

Acts 13:48 “Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”

Acts 14:26 “From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.”

• The Patriarchs did, the prophets did, Jesus did, and the apostles did.

Genesis 18 Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah.

John 17:9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. … I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;”

• So we can evangelize.

1 Tim. 2:1-7, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [2] for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. [3] This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, [4] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. [7] For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”

Paul wanted peace so we would be able to preach the gospel! What are we doing with the peace that is all around us?

• Because God answers prayers – especially the prayers He has commanded us to pray.

3. Invite someone or encourage someone to come to church with you. In a book titled, “Surprising Sights for the Church,” and another entitled, “The Unchurched Next Door” by Thom Rainer, it is pointed out that “96% of the unchurched people in America are at least somewhat likely to attend church if they are invited. If the research is close to accurate, the implications are staggering, over 153 million people would start attending church if they were invited.”

4. Invite people to come to dinner at your house. Thanksgiving dinner is great. Use your house to bring people into your life. Tell people, “come to my house, I’ll prepare a great dinner – and I want to tell you what I believe.” Luke 5:30, “And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"” Well, why not? Why do I not sit with tax-collectors and sinners?

• One of the problems we have today in our churches is: we have no family worship anymore. Just do it! No matter who is there – and read the Bible.

• A Puritan named Richard Baxter trained every family in his church how to do family worship.

5. Get involved with friends of your children. There is wonderful stuff for kids at www.answersingenesis.org & www.visionvideo.com – excellent DVDs and books for kids. If they want to watch movies, have them at least watch things that will expose them to the truth of the gospel and their Creator.

6. Be Creative! Host Bible studies. Advertise your faith through your properties! Use your house to have people over – non-Christians. You’ll end up dead-tired but never bored. Use your telephone – tele-markets, witness to them. They aren’t allowed to hang up on you – you can ask any questions and say anything you want. Use your car – even if you’re single, buy a Nissan Armada or a Chevy Suburban – something you can carry a lot of people in. DO EVERYTHING FOR GOD’S GLORY. When you buy a car, get one that is Diablo red. Why red? So you can tell people: “every time I see this car, I’m reminded of the shed blood of Jesus by which I was saved, and by which you can be saved too if only you’ll believe!” Use your computer – write editors of papers when anti-Christian stuff comes in the newspaper. Email people with the gospel. Young people are texting all the time – tell them to text their friends about Jesus. Write letters if you don’t have a computer. EVERYONE CAN DO THIS!

7. Buy and distribute evangelical literature - John Piper’s ministry www.desiringgod.org has tons of stuff like this – CDs, tracts, booklets, and books. Buy Bibles – give them away – ask people if they have Bibles. GIVE BIBLES TO PEOPLE. GIVE BOOKS TO PEOPLE. WE ARE MERELY SOWERS – THE POWER IS IN THE SEED – JUST SOW.

8. Talk with somebody that you already know.

9. Take advantage of special occasions – Graduations, b-days, funerals, etc. Send cards with real content. Give meaningful gifts. When you are in the hospital – witness to people.