(Note: This blog entry is based on the text for “Rivulets: The Sequel”, originally shared on January 17, 2022. It was the 182nd video for our YouTube Channel, Streams of Living Water (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB7KnYS1bpHKaL2OseQWCnw), co-produced with my wife, Rev. Sally Welch.)
Sometimes, movie sequels are even better
than the original. “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn” comes to mind. Usually, though,
they’re way worse. Last week, we did a blog called “Rivulets of Living Water”.
Today, we’re uploading “Rivulets: The Sequel.” Better or worse? You decide.
A rivulet is a small
stream. We uploaded a blog titled “Rivulets of Living Water” last week. Today
we’re going to look at 10 more practical means by which people might follow a
rivulet to a place that leads them to receive the streams of living water that
is God, the Holy Spirit, and be filled.
These ten aren’t
complicated. They just provide some means to be a witness.
A witness is someone who tells about what they have
seen. Your witness might be titled, “Why I am a Christian”, or “Why I Continue
to Be a Christian.”
The Bible’s book, Acts of the Apostles, begins with Jesus’ words to his
disciples just before his ascension, in Acts 1:8,
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Gospel has gone to the ends of the earth through an unbroken string
of witnesses who have brought us to where we are today.
Here are 10 more means by which the Holy Spirit may work within
the people we know and care about to lead them to eternal life in Jesus Christ.
11.
Use Your Front Door
Your front door is your opening credits, your title page, and your
headline. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, as they say.
Install a Christian front door marker or a calligraphied Bible verse in the
entryway. Let visitors know that the Christians who live there welcome them
with their very best.
12.
Recommend the Classics
Recommend books by Christian authors who are known in the secular world,
like C.S. Lewis or John Bunyan or Soren Kierkegaard, or music by Christian composers
like J.S. Bach, and talk with them about their reactions to them.
13.
Listen as an Act of Love
Listen to a friend who is angry or sad or without hope. Listen with eye
contact. Listen some more. Express your concern. You may have the opportunity
to share that God sees and understands and is present for them.
14.
Serve Others in Line
Let others go ahead of you in the grocery line
or traffic lane. If you can afford it, pay for the order of the person behind
you in a food or beverage line. Give up your number or your seat. Leave it at
that or, if you have an opportunity, add “God bless you.” You may even have the
opportunity to engage someone in conversation.
15.
Witness in Long Lines
Lighten-up! Talk with those around you. Get to know the clerks and the
regulars. Share something good with them. Share something of yourself. If you
are buying something for your church, say so.
16.
Don’t Just Walk By
The
homeless person on the off-ramp, the street musician, and others are asking for
money but may also be asking for an expression of hope. Offer a blessing and a
kind exchange with your donation. Sometimes, you may just want to give to
organizations that help those who are asking, but in these moments we can help
build our reputation as people who always want to help. As Jesus says, in Matthew
5:38-42, in the Sermon on the Mount,
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you,
Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn
the other also; 40 and if anyone wants to sue you
and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41 and
if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. 42 Give
to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow
from you.
17.
Be There
“I’m praying for you” is meaningful and helpful, but being a person of
action when someone needs you is also a great witness. As James writes of our faith that naturally and
organically results in good works, in James 2:15-16,
15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily
food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace;
keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs,
what is the good of that?
18. Live Your Values for What is
Important
Adjusting schedules and social events around
worship sends a message. Friends and extended family, out of town guests, and especially
your children, see that your family’s worship and church activities are part of
the relationship with God that defines your life.
19. Witness on Airplanes
Be ready to give up your seat to keep families or friends traveling together,
together. Be open to the person next to you on the plane. Listen to their story
and share yours, especially your faith journey. If they are fearful, let them
know that your trust is always in God.
20.
Start A Tradition
Take the lead or suggest a project for your church that reaches out to
the community and that could become a yearly tradition. Link it to your local
community history or major local activity, like a Mariachi Sunday or food
festival. Identify an activity that your church isn’t already doing, like a
multi-generational Advent festival or an Alternative Christmas faire.
Maybe
these 10 more rivulets will stimulate your own thinking about how you can share
the faith that God has given you.
As I said last week, my best advice on witnessing is don’t spend a lot
of time thinking about your witness.
Make
of yourself a good instrument, as Paul counsels in 2 Timothy 2:15,
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one
approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the
word of truth.
Finally, listen to God. Let things happen in
God’s time. You are not in control. God is. You never know how God is going to
work in someone through one of these means. Be patient.
May they be the means by which people you know and care about come to
receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit that well-up like streams of living water flowing
within them.
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