Introduction

“The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’… and he brought him to Jesus” John 1:41-42 (NIV)

This series is for those who want to tell people about Jesus but struggle to make it happen.

This is an area of discipleship I have failed in. I’m really useless at it.

It’s not that I don’t want to tell people about Jesus… I long to.

It’s not that I don’t pray – I pray for my non-Christian friends every day.

It’s not that I don’t know what to say; it’s that in the moment, I don’t know how to say what I want to say.

But we must never operate out of guilt. There is absolutely no point, and nothing is gained by endlessly living under guilt that we are not ‘witnessing’ in the way that someone somewhere has told us we should. And anyway, the scriptures state, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

It breaks my heart that men and women can’t see and understand the Saviour of the world and what he has done for them.

I want to love people genuinely, and in that context and with that motive, I want to tell people the best things I know about the person who is first in my life.

But now, after many decades of retrenchment, there is increasing evidence that the younger generation of adults (broadly, those aged 18-35) is interested in finding out about Christianity for themselves. (Some of the clearest evidence is the Bible Society report, “The Quiet Revival”, published in early 2025. Student organisations such as Fusion are also reporting a high level of spiritual openness.)

So this series is for all who feel and think they have failed. You long to do better, you pray earnestly for many whom you love, but somehow the months and years pass and there seems to be so very little opportunity, response, and change.

Jesus understood this, and over this plan, I want to look with you at the things Jesus himself explained and taught us about telling others about him.

Story: And yet, despite all I’ve written over the years, the opportunities do come. Perhaps the clearest was something that happened on the twelfth anniversary (birthday) of the founding of Crossnet network church. Crossnet was established in 2004 as a network church to take the gospel of the kingdom to those who didn’t know Jesus. Over the years, a few people did become Christians – and some of them have grown into strong disciples. But despite years of prayer, running Alpha and outreach events, it wasn’t until, literally, the twelfth anniversary of our first gathering, in September 2016, that I personally had the chance to introduce someone to Jesus and pray a prayer of commitment with him. As the leader, I was meant to be the example of what to do, but I had to walk twelve years before it happened.