You Are Already a Witness: Evangelism Where You Work

Sermon outline

Every believer is already a witness in the field they work in, and what you feed your mind decides whether you carry good news out into it.

1. Get the fundamentals right first

   Whatever you are trusting God for, a child, a job, a promotion, a house or a car, you have to get the fundamentals right before you get the thing. He gives a plain definition of evangelism as publicly preaching the gospel with the intention of spreading the message and teachings of Jesus Christ, then works through body, mind and soul from Scripture rather than from what the world says about them.

   Illustration: On being told you are worth nothing: open your Bible to the price God paid for you. Forget about Gucci and Armani, that is a high price, and those names are not in the Bible.

   “This is what God thinks about me, not what you think.”

   • Matthew 6:33
   • 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
   • Romans 12:2
   • 3 John 2

2. You are a witness in the field you are already in

   Not everyone is called into full-time ministry, but everyone is called to share the gospel. He calls three men up and asks only what industry they work in, financial services, construction and forensic investigation, and tells each of them they are now a witness of the gospel in that field. Nobody is being asked to leave their job.

   Illustration: Brother Vinesh, Sanjesh and Brother Jeff are called to the front and named as witnesses in financial services, construction and forensic investigation. He asks the church what a witness is called to do in a courtroom, and they answer at the count of three.

   “We are not saying you should quit your job. We are saying you should be a witness of the gospel in the field that you are in.”

   • Matthew 28:18-20
   • Acts 1:8

3. What are you feeding your mind

   What you feed your mind will come out of your mouth. He holds up a newspaper beside a Bible and asks the difference: one reports bad news all day, the other is called good news. The same applies to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds, and to Netflix, Showmax and DStv. God's word carries no limited warranty the way a dishwasher does.

   Illustration: At twelve or thirteen he could not move his legs for an hour or two each morning from severe back pain. Left at home, he watched Benny Hinn's programme This Is Your Day, and heard a word for someone trusting God for healing in their back, sitting on a couch, next to a blue flower pot with a yellow flower on it. He walked to the screen, put his hands on it and was healed, and never had the issue again. Seventeen years later he met Benny Hinn when his parents were invited to a meeting of about thirty people, and a year after that he was singing in those crusades.

   “One moment with God can set you free for the rest of your life.”

   • 2 Corinthians 1:20-22
   • Hebrews 13:8
   • Proverbs 4:22

4. The gospel means good news, so read the good news

   He runs quickly through what the good news actually is and what it promises, that it is the power of God to save everyone who believes, that faith comes by hearing it, and that it was given so the blind would see, the captives be released and the oppressed go free. He reads the hundredfold promise in full and does not stop before the last word of it.

   Illustration: Alcohol and tobacco adverts make the thing look wonderful and put the warning in small print at the bottom. That is how the serpent told Eve she would not die: a half truth, meaning she would not die now.

   “Do not be ashamed when somebody says to you, how come you got a new car. It is because I preach the gospel, and that is what the Bible declares, but it comes with persecution.”

   • Romans 1:16
   • Mark 16:15
   • Acts 20:24
   • 1 Corinthians 15:1
   • Romans 10:17
   • Luke 4:18
   • 2 Thessalonians 2:14
   • Mark 8:35
   • Mark 10:29-30

5. You are the light of the world

   No one lights a lamp and hides it under a basket. He has the whole auditorium switch the lights off and every phone torch off, and shows the church what the world looks like if believers never open their mouths. Then one torch, then a second, then the rest come on until the room is lit.

   Illustration: Every light in the auditorium is switched off and every phone torch with it. One person switches a torch on, then another, then the room, and he tells them that is their responsibility.

   “This is what the world looks like currently if we do not open our mouth and testify of the goodness of God.”

   • Matthew 5:15
   • Acts 13:47
   • Matthew 5:14
   • Acts 26:22-23
   • 1 Peter 2:9

6. Our responsibility is to preach and to teach

   The early church taught and preached every day in the temple and from house to house. Be ready to explain your hope when you are asked, preach whether the time is favourable or not, and do the work of an evangelist. The commission to proclaim the kingdom comes with the power to heal the sick and drive out demons.

   “That is the kind of power that you have when you preach and teach the word of God.”

   • Acts 5:42
   • 1 Peter 3:15
   • Matthew 10:7-8
   • 2 Timothy 4:2
   • 2 Timothy 4:5
   • Ephesians 4:11

7. What to remember when witnessing

   He will not tell people that getting saved means tiptoeing through tulips. You will face battles, so put on the armour of God, and remember the fight is not against flesh and blood. Anything can be used to preach: water, speakers, even shoes. It may cost you some pride, and that is the point.

   Illustration: Peter confesses Jesus as the Son of God and is told the Father revealed it, and in the very next passage is told to get behind Him. One minute somebody can be used by God and the next by the devil. On water as a sound system: Jesus went offshore in a boat because water magnifies and reflects sound back to the crowd.

   “Any form of praise and worship that does not cost you anything is worth nothing.”

   • Ephesians 6:11
   • John 16:33
   • Isaiah 54:17
   • Deuteronomy 28:13
   • 1 Corinthians 2:16
   • Proverbs 27:19
   • Romans 10:15
   • Ephesians 6:12
   • Matthew 16:15-23

8. The prayers of evangelism

   He closes by leading the church through the prayers that carry outreach. First for labourers, because the harvest is plentiful and the workers few. Then for boldness, because the gospel is met with hostility now as it was then. Then for opportunity, because believers imagine they never get a chance. Then for results, asking that the word would speed ahead and be honoured.

   Illustration: He prays for opportunity to come wherever they are, standing in the line at McDonald's, sitting at Spur, driving to and fro, on radio or television.

   “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to this harvest.”

   • Matthew 9:37-38
   • Acts 4:24-31
   • Colossians 4:2-4
   • 2 Thessalonians 3:1

In this message