Often when we think about sharing our faith, we look primarily outside the church. I think that’s generally just the logical thing to do – one might be forgiven for drawing the conclusion that on a Sunday the church will primarily be filled with Christians. But, that’s not the whole story.
I’ve recently spent some time with the youth group at my church and I’ve been struck by how much more willing they are than the adults to invite their friends to come along. The result is that at any given meeting, there can be people present from atheist, Muslim, or other backgrounds. This opens up a great opportunity to not only serve younger people within in the church, but it also means there will be great opportunities to introduce people to Jesus and the Christian faith – and the door’s already open, they’ve happily come along to see what church is all about. Serving in Sunday school or youth ministry is a great way to learn how to answer questions from inquisitive minds, but also offers a great opportunity to share your faith with those who are not Christians.
Another thing to consider is that just because a young person is part of a church-going family it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have understood the Gospel and put their faith in Jesus themselves! When I was growing up I was sometimes taken to church even though I wasn’t myself a Christian. And, although I’d been to Sunday school a few times, and even gone to the youth group occasionally, I wouldn’t have been able to explain what the Gospel is, much less made any personal response to Jesus. We can’t assume that just because someone is at church, that they are a Christian.
Why not consider serving in your church Sunday school or youth group and pray that the Lord would help you to find people to share the Good News with? Help the group to develop a culture of invitation, and host events they are confident to invite people to. (Solas can help with these).
Prayer: “Lord, please use the Sunday school and youth groups at my church to bring those who don’t know you into the church”.
Previously: Launch Pad #42 Use Drama to Share Jesus: coming soon
Next: Launch Pad #44 Get Creative coming soon
