Phil On ... 

Good News - pass it on! Our bible study group has been studying Ephesians recently. One of the main challenges set down relates to what we need to do after accepting that Jesus died for our sins. Recognising we’re full of sin and that there is no way we can save ourselves is, in many ways, the easy bit. But having taken up Christ’s offer to wipe away our sins there needs to be a follow-up. That follow-up is allowing the Holy Spirit to influence our lives in two ways.
Firstly, we need to show love, concern and practical help in our daily lives. By doing this we can, in a small way, start to mimic Christ. A manifestation of the Holy Spirit working through us in our church environment might be agreeing to be a steward, joining the bible reading list, leading a bible study or maybe helping out with teas and coffees after a Church service. Thinking about it, there is not much demand for most of these tasks during Covid-19, but the time will soon come!
Secondly, we need to share the good news that Jesus died for our sins. Now, I don’t know about you, but I find sharing my faith difficult. There seem to be very few occasions in a frantic, busy workplace to discuss such things. I’m fairly confident that I’d be prepared to do so if someone asked me directly, but religion and faith never seems to come up as a conversational topic. I also strongly believe that you should not push the topic of faith but prayerfully ask for opportunities to arise.
So, should the opportunity arise, how would you go about the process of explaining your faith? I know a lot of American evangelism attracts criticism in the UK, but I came across some powerful clips on YouTube recently. Type in “Living Waters” in the search box and you will find recordings of encounters between a Christian called Ray Comfort and members of the public at the idyllic location of Huntington Beach, California (I spent an hour or so strolling along nearby Newport Beach once between business meetings and I can confirm it is lovely!). He always uses the same approach that involves asking these questions:
“Do you believe you are a good person?" … often answered confidently with “Yes”
“Are you aware of the ten commandments?”? ... tends to be answered a little more vaguely, with maybe one or two correctly quoted.
“Do you follow the commandments?” ... Again, often met with a confident “Yes”
Then, taking a few examples from the commandments, the person being interviewed is interrogated further: “Have you ever stolen, / lied / looked at someone with lust?” … Of course, the answer for all of us is “Yes” (quite impressed by the honesty of the people interviewed at this point I have to say!)
Then an analogy is made with a court of law. The question asked is “Based on the fact you have acknowledged you are a lying, stealing adulterer, how do you think Jesus would judge you right now?” and “Do you accept that if you are guilty this means you deserve to not reach Heaven?”
These exchanges, as well as being entertaining to the viewer, are actually hard-hitting and help us focus down on the uncomfortable awareness that on our own we a in huge mess that we cannot save ourselves from. However, we have Jesus as our saviour to get us out of the hole. So, I’m sharing this simply because I think it would make a good blue-print for sharing our faith as and when the right moment comes.