At the Judgement Seat, you will not be judged along with your local church. You will be judged alone, receive your own crowns for the work that you did for Christ, and have your own works tried.
While the church presents opportunities for you to do outreach, Christ's burden for the lost extends far and above once a week witnessing. We are around lost people everyday. We need to be reaching people every day.
I know for a fact that keeping yourself from reaching the lost hinders your relationship with Christ. I have personally experienced it. My unwillingness to give out tracts prevented me from having a full and fruitful relationship with God for at least two years. It's not easy talking to strangers about Christ or giving them a tract. I had to grow into it, mature into it, and fully trust that God would help me.
I realized I just needed to give out the gospel then take my hands off and let God work:
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but
ministers by whom ye believed, even as the
Lord gave to every man?
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God
gave the increase.
1 Corinthians 3:5&6
For anyone scared to give out the gospel, those verses above should comfort you greatly. All we can do is give out the gospel. God does the rest.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey (Hymn by John H. Sammis, 1887, Trust and Obey)
The hymn is absolutely true. The more you trust God, the easier it is to obey, the happier you are because you're bearing outward, inward, and upward fruit.
Without any further ado, here are my tips for having a personal ministry every day of your life:
1) Have the right motivation
1) Have the right motivation
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God
1 Corinthians 10:31
The best way to test your motivation in God's work is see how your flesh reacts when no one compliments you.
Having a potluck at church and no one says anything about the lasagna you worked so hard on- does it bother you? If it bothers you, you likely have the wrong motivation for serving God's people- the praise of man.
This is why you shouldn't talk about what you do on a daily basis for the Lord- how much you pray, read the bible, witness, and so on. Preachers can do that to encourage and guide their flock, but us non preachers don't need to talk about it. We shouldn't need the praise of man to do work for the Lord.
Souls getting saved and most importantly God's glory should be all the motivation we need to work for Jesus.
2) Pray about it
Pray for the burden to reach souls.
Pray for the willingness to reach them.
Pray for boldness and strength.
Pray for good opportunities to hand out tracts and speaking to people about it.
Pray for the lost people you know right now and think deeply about what they're facing in eternity.
Pray to God that every tract you give out, every person you tell will get saved.
Thank God for the opportunity and freedom to pass out tracts and to witness.
Thank God for the opportunity and freedom to pass out tracts and to witness.
3) This ties in with that last point but is slightly different: pray specifically for everyone you give a tract to.
I've found that my experience with giving out tracts is different with everyone I give them to.
Leaving tracts in random places is one thing but to actually look someone in the eye and hand them a tract leaves a mark.
Every time I give out a tract I pray for the person who received it. I pray for them all day. I pray for them the next day. I love that I remember them and can pray for them.
This is what having a personal ministry is about: praying over those you want to see saved.
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you,
that he may sift you as wheat:
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not: and when thou art converted
strengthen thy brethren.
Luke 22:32
Satan could have had Simon Peter BUT Jesus prayed for him. I like to think that God will do the same for those we pray for:
Confess your faults one to another, and
pray one for another, that ye may be
healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16
4) Set your priorities straight by obeying the Spirit's urgings
Your priority when you leave home is to get the gospel out. If you're a stay at home mom like me, there's really no reason you can't give out a few tracts a day or leave them in places for people to find.
You'll find the Holy Spirit will remind you when to give out tracts or if there is someone to talk to. The more you heed the Spirit's commands, the stronger you'll be in the Lord, the more Spiritual you will be, the better decisions you will make.
5) Bring tracts everywhere you go
Keep tracts with you in the car, in your bag, in your pocket (just don't crumple them). Make sure you have them. That way you have no excuse not to give them out.
About the tracts: make sure they have a clear presentation of the gospel using bible verses. Those tracts with paragraphs and paragraphs aren't to the point. The point is, people don't really care about the gospel and won't care to read a mini novel about it. A simple card with the Romans Road on it will do just fine:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out
of my mouth: it shall not return unto me
void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11
and
So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17
Our job is to get the Word out there. God takes care of the rest.
6) Be kind, gentle, peaceable, pleasant, and generous everywhere you go
This means having a good testimony.
If you're rude, obnoxious, or just plain sullen, no one will take the tract seriously.
What often keeps us from having an overflowing testimony is not having the right priorities- Dilbert Terry
You may be going out grocery shopping, but your priority can still be to get the gospel out and be a good testimony. Always, in the front of your mind, remember that you must have a good testimony.
Fear the Lord and depart from evil- Proverbs 3:7b
How will you feel if someone goes to hell because of one thing you said to them on an off day?
I've been in a terrible mood but I've managed to smile at cashiers, be pleasant, and give them tracts. If I didn't remember that my demeanor and countenance towards them could make an eternal difference in their lives, I would never have been able to pull myself out of a bad mood and be sociable with them.
What often keeps us from having an overflowing testimony is not having the right priorities- Dilbert Terry
You may be going out grocery shopping, but your priority can still be to get the gospel out and be a good testimony. Always, in the front of your mind, remember that you must have a good testimony.
Fear the Lord and depart from evil- Proverbs 3:7b
How will you feel if someone goes to hell because of one thing you said to them on an off day?
I've been in a terrible mood but I've managed to smile at cashiers, be pleasant, and give them tracts. If I didn't remember that my demeanor and countenance towards them could make an eternal difference in their lives, I would never have been able to pull myself out of a bad mood and be sociable with them.
7) Have a goal/ challenge/ rule to give out tracts
For example: my rule is to give out tracts to all the cashiers I deal with when I go grocery shopping and to leave tracts wherever I go.
You may have a goal to give out two tracts every day or a challenge to give out tracts to every third person you walk by on the street.
Right now, you're shy and timid, going all out may keep you from handing out tracts entirely. Start slowly and see how God builds boldness inside you. It gets easier and easier, I promise:
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly
shall reap also sparingly; and he which
soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully.
2 Corinthians 9:6
That verse sealed my determination to hand out as many tracts as I could. I want to reap bountifully. I want to meet people in heaven that are there because I gave them a tract or told them about the gospel or was just a good, solid testimony while they knew me.
8) Go to outreach events at your church
My church goes out every Saturday morning to put tracts in mailboxes and hand them out to people on the street. We want to saturate our community with the gospel. In fact, we're going to go door to door later this month. I'm nervous but excited.
We have gym night every third Saturday and we're planning a community barbeque/ carnival later this Summer.
It is a blessing that my pastor is so burdened for our community and intent on making our church as outreach oriented as possible. He said last Sunday that our job, as the local church, is to get the gospel out. He doesn't just say that, he makes it happen. Praise the Lord for that!
If your church is lacking in this area, maybe talk to your pastor about getting an outreach program started.
9) Say Hi and be helpful to visitors at your church
I know this sounds kind of elementary but it's a small thing that makes a huge difference.
-Before or after the service go up to people you've never seen before and shake their hand, welcome them, tell them your name, and learn a bit about them.
-If you see someone who clearly has never been to church before, maybe sit by them and help them find the passages your pastor is preaching on.
-If they walk in late or during singing, give visitors your hymn book so they don't have to fuss with finding the right hymn.
-Smile at everyone you see and be genuinely happy to see them at church
This goes hand in hand with being a good testimony and it could be instrumental in bringing someone to Christ.
One of the things that kept us going to the church we do now is the kindness and love bestowed on us as soon as we walked in it's doors. Kindness and hospitality go a very long way.
I know this sounds kind of elementary but it's a small thing that makes a huge difference.
-Before or after the service go up to people you've never seen before and shake their hand, welcome them, tell them your name, and learn a bit about them.
-If you see someone who clearly has never been to church before, maybe sit by them and help them find the passages your pastor is preaching on.
-If they walk in late or during singing, give visitors your hymn book so they don't have to fuss with finding the right hymn.
-Smile at everyone you see and be genuinely happy to see them at church
This goes hand in hand with being a good testimony and it could be instrumental in bringing someone to Christ.
One of the things that kept us going to the church we do now is the kindness and love bestowed on us as soon as we walked in it's doors. Kindness and hospitality go a very long way.
And be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even
as God for Christ's sake hath forgive you.
Ephesians 4:32
There you have it! Nine ways to bear fruit. By the way, nine is the number of fruit bearing- seven is completion, eight is abundance, and nine is fruit bearing (pregnancy is nine months).
I hope this helps you in some small way!
Then saith he unto his disciples, the
harvest truly is plenteous, but the
labourers are few;
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that he will send forth labourers into his harvest
Matthew 9:37&38
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