Luke 12:8 “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.
Rom. 10:9-10 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
1 Jn 1:1-3 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched —this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.,
Acts 26: 1-29
1 Pet 3:15, 16 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
study and outline Acts 26:1-29 (see outline at bottom of page) and then use it to write the story of your own personal conversion. Do not use words like justification, born-again, etc. which non-Christians might find difficult to understand.
Nebuchadnezzar: Daniel 4
A demon-possessed man: Mark 5:19-20 (Luke 8:38-39)
The woman at the well: John 4
We should confess Christ before man (acknowledge publicly that we are Christians).
Rom. 10:9-10
Luke 12:8, Matt. 10:32
Acts 26 Acts 22
1-3 Polite introduction 1-3 Cultural and religious background
4-8 Cultural/Relig. Background 4-5 Relationship to Christianity as an
9-11 Relationship to Christianity unbeliever
as an unbeliever 6-16 Conversion
12-18 Conversion 17-21 Post-conversion experiences
19-22 Post-conversion. Experiences (centering on witnessing)
witnessing, intro. to the Gospel
23-32 Gospel + apologetics!
1. In both cases, Paul "meets his audience where they're at"--
22: He speaks in Aramaic
26: He gives a polite introduction, "setting the stage."
2. In both cases, Paul is interrupted at some point; Acts 26 is more complete
3. The two testimonies contain common elements:
- Cultural and religions background
-Relationship to Christianity as an unbeliever
-Conversion
-Post-conversion experiences, activities
4. When Paul had the chance, he added the Gospel at the end, using apologetics where strategic
("... it was not done in a corner...", "... King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do...")
5. The ultimate purpose (realized by Agrippa) of a testimony is to persuade someone to become a believer.
6. Paul had some experiences (Damascus road light from heaven, direct revelation, etc.) most or all of us will never have because we are not going to be apostles or prophets.
7. Testimonies are subjective, but the objective evidence of a change in a person's outward behavior is visible to those around us.
All testimonies will not be the same (God chose differing circumstances for revelation as well-- Hebrews 1:1 "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways..." for different people, or even for the same person at different times (Paul).
Follow Paul's Outline
1. Meet audience where they're at
2. Cultural/Religious background
3. Relationship to Christianity as an unbeliever
4. Conversion
5. Post-conversion experiences/ activities
6. Gospel/ apologetics
Memory verses.