August's Sermons

Church Period: Pentecost 12th Sunday After
Sermon Title: What Should I Say?
Sermon Date: August 17, 1980
Rev. August Hauptman
Sermon Text: Acts 16:30-31 "The keeper of the prison brought them out and begged them, "Sirs what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and your entire household."

Dear Christian friends:

Today we have the last one, sermons about GO AND TELL. We have heard four sermons about that: Who Should Tell? Why Should I Tell? Two on How Should I Tell? And today we ask another important question:

What Should I Say?

In our text we read about the prison keeper who asked Paul, "What must I do to be saved?" Paul answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." Paul told the prison keeper all about Christ and then baptized him and all his family and all of his servants.

Same, we should tell about Christ: that He is God's eternal Son who became our Brother, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit to live for us and then to die on the cross for our sins; that He arose from death on Easter morning; that He will come again to judge all people; that those who believe in Him receive forgiveness of all their sins and will go to heaven; that those who do not believe in Him will die in their sins and go to hell; that we have peace and joy and hope in Jesus and want them to have that peace, joy and hope, too.

I'm sure we all know what to say. But often it is hard to begin to tell someone. In our text it was easy for Paul to tell the prison keeper about Jesus because the prison keeper was interested to find out and asked Paul, "What must I do to be saved?" But that doesn't happen to us very often that someone will ask us that question. Fine, if someone will ask us that question, then we have an easy chance to tell that person.

But many times people don't care and never ask us a question like that. So we must think of good ways to get their interest and how to begin telling them about Jesus.

Each person is a different individual, and so we must perhaps tell each one in a little different way. Is the person you want to tell a friend or a stranger? How long have you known him? If the person is a deaf person, you probably have known that person for a long time. And if you never talked to him abut Christ before, you should perhaps begin like this: "John, I have known you for many years and I have never told you about the most important thing in my life, something more important than my family and my job. I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you about it." John will probably ask, "What is that?" Then you will have a good chance to tell him how important Jesus is to you and that you want him to share your joy in Christ.

Here is another way to start. Say something like this: "I have heard that most people do not know what will happen to them when they die. How about you? Do you know what will happen to you when you die?"

Or perhaps you can begin by asking the person this question: "If you died tonight and the Lord asked you why He should let you go into heaven, what would you say to Him?" If he does not know, tell him that you wish to tell him the answer. If he does know, encourage him to continue believing in the Lord.

When talking to someone about Christ try to avoid getting into an argument about which is the best religion or church. You may win the argument but you will lose the person you are trying to win. Be a good listener. Let him tell you his ideas. Try to find out what he does believe about God. If you disagree with him be careful how you tell him. Do it with kindness and humbly. Ask him if he has ever thought of it in your way. If you do not know the answer to his question about the Bible or any other question he may ask you, tell him that you do not know the answer to his question. Offer to look it up and let him know when you come back to visit him again. Ask him if you may come to visit him again to talk about Christ.

These are only a few ideas to help you begin to tell about Jesus. I hope that you have begun and that you have made some visits to talk to people about their faith. Perhaps someone here today wants to share his experience with us. How did you do? (If someone in the congregation wants to share his past experience ask him or her to stand up and tell abut it, no matter if he was successful or failed. If he failed perhaps you or someone else can give him some good advice.)

We can learn many more things that will help us become better witnesses for Christ. I hope these five sermons have gotten your interest and made you more eager to try and learn how to become a skillful witness for the Lord. And remember, the best way to learn is by trying. You can learn by your mistakes. If you wait until you know everything, you may never get started. So start today and learn as you go. Remember, it's much like learning to ride a bike.

Lord, lay some soul upon my heart
And love that soul through me,
And may I gladly do my part
To win that soul for Thee.
Hymn - Lord, Lay Some Soul Upon My Heart


Amen.