My goal today is to �mobilise thetroops.� As FeG Stade enters its newbuilding I believe it is entering a periodof harvest. During this Church�s futureplanning workshop a few weeks ago,somebody read out a verse from thebible that I believe God is speaking tous at the moment: �The fields are ripefor the harvest. But the workers arefew�� (Luke 10:2). Applying this toStade equates to a harvest of tens ofthousands of people. Don't get dis-heartened. God wants to do �immea-surably more than we can ask orimagine according to the power thatis at work within us.� (Ephesians 3:20)

To make it clear. This was not just anice thought that Paul had. It wasn'tjust a clever way of saying that God isall powerful, but rather it was verymuch a practical statement. Read Acts19 and see just how practically Godworked through Paul in Ephesus, justa few years before he wrote that letter.

I also want to reassure you that fill-ing the new building with believershas nothing to do with forcing peopleto come to church. You may remem-ber last time I spoke, I told you a littlebit about the goodness of God.Preaching the gospel, evangelising,witnessing, whatever you call it, isabout communicating the goodnews. When people hear the heart ofGod coming out of the mouths of realpeople, I believe new people will bringthemselves.

We don't save people, God does,through the Holy Spirit

Billy Graham, one of the world'sbest known evangelists, once said: �Ittakes 15 people to get someonesaved. The first 14 didn�t know theydid anything and the last one thinkshe did it all. They are all wrong. Goddid it.�

I think the key thing to remember isthat we cannot save anyone. �It is notby might, not by strength, but by mySpirit says the Lord of hosts.�(Zechariah 4:6) When I invited the

Holy Spirit to flood my life, but particu-larly in reference to evangelism, Ifound my confidence in witnessingsky-rocketed. Acts 19 provides anamazing study on this.

In Luke 5 Jesus tells the story of amiraculous catch of fish. I believe thisstory is symbolic of how we canapproach this subject. In this storyPeter has been fishing all night andnot caught a thing. In terms of evan-gelism some of you may be feelingthat you haven't caught a thing.

And what's Jesus' advice? - �Putout into deep water and let downyour nets for a catch.� Now I thinkPeter's initial reaction must've beensomething like � you what?! He was aprofessional fisherman who had beenfishing all night without success andJesus, the carpenters son, starts tellinghim how to fish. However, to his cred-it Peter did it anyway and caught somany fish that the nets began tobreak. Certainly more than he thoughtor imagined he might catch.

We know that Jesus called his dis-ciples to be fishers of men, so weknow that we can take this story as anillustration of how to spread theGospel. But what happen when Jesuswas there that didn't happen duringthe hours that Peter had already spentfishing?

Firstly Jesus was there. As far as weare aware, Jesus was only there at theend and had not been around for theprevious night's fishing. The presenceof Jesus is central to successful evan-gelism. So pray. Pray that people willcome and ask you questions aboutGod.

Secondly Peter was obedient anddid what Jesus asked him to do, eventhough it didn't make a lot of sense tohim. However it is interesting to notethat what Jesus asked Peter to do wasonly a little bit different to what he hadbeen doing already. Some of us maybe thinking that we have alreadybeen fishing all night without success,but have you done what Jesus said?The chances are it is only slightly dif-

ferent to what you have been doingalready.

In this passage Jesus made twovery clear and simple instructions: Tofish on the other side and to put outinto deep water.

I believe fishing on the other side issymbolic of relying on God and notour own strength. So in terms of per-sonal evangelism this could mean nottrying to win people over with youintellectual understanding or persua-sive arguments alone, but ratheropening up and speaking from yourheart.

Jesus' second instruction was forPeter to put out into deep water.

When was they last time you riskedfishing in deep water to tell peopleabout Jesus? Another example of thiscan be found when Jesus asked Peterto step out of the boat and walk onwater. There is a dangerous elementin evangelism. People might say theythink you are stupid. You might feelembarrassed. However, in my experi-ence stepping out in this way is onlyever a step forward.

Now I am not suggesting youstand on your trolley in the cereal aisleat Kaufland and shout about Jesus.You don't need to be odd for God. Butthere are often situations where weknow we could have said something,but didn't. Don't regret it just let it flownaturally!

This is something I have experi-enced in my own life. A few years, atuniversity, I experienced an real awak-ening in my walk with God. One day Icame back from a Christian meetingabout evangelism. As a teenager I wasashamed of what I believed, and did-n't want admit that I was a Christian toanyone. But on this occasion I was sotouched by what I heard at the meet-ing that I found myself on my kneesjust praying: �If you want me to tellpeople about you, show me.�

God didn't take long to challengeme to fish on the other side. As I was

Last time you heard about living an evangelistic life. This week I want to encourage youwith some practical examples of how to effectively evangelise.

Fishing on the other side...Fishing on the other side...

Copyright Chris Anthony (www.savingsouls.co.uk) 2006. All rights reserved.

praying there was a knock at my door.A friend of mine had come round toask me if I knew where the nearestBuddhist temple was. I said I didn'tknow that, but I did know this...

Looking back, I am quite embar-rassed about that occasion becausethe conversation I had with Vicky wasvery rough and ready! I would do itcompletely differently now. But thepoint it is, it was a real breakthroughmoment for me. And from then on Ihave not looked back. I still feel nerv-ous about it sometimes, but the HolySpirit gees me up to do it anyway.

So, in order to help you avoidembarrassing yourself as I did, here issome practical advice to help you wit-ness effectively.

1.Its not all about talking.

Words are important but, as SaintFrancis of Assisi said: �Preach theGospel at all times and where neces-sary use words.� Remember Godgave you two ears and one mouth!Instead it is about letting God shinethrough your life. A couple of hun-dred years ago a preacher calledSmith Wigglesworth was sitting on atrain one day when a man came upto him and said: �Sir I am convicted byyour presence.� He had not said aword. This is not an excuse not to saysomething, but rather a warning tobe wise. Love people first. Talk second.

2.Be cool. Look to Jesus� example �never in a hurry, never too late.

But I also mean don't compete. Iremember one time a few years ago Iwas sitting in a car with my brother.One of our friends was there too andbegan to ask spiritual questions. And Iremember feeling really put-out thathe was answering the questions. Ithought I could do a much better job!This was obviously pride. We don'tneed to worry about doing it right. Itis much better just to do it.

3.Each to their own.

Different people are gifted in dif-ference ways. Me and Susan.Everyone has the own style and canoperate in different ways. There ismore than one way to preach theGospel.

4.On the inside

Next time one of your friends tellsyou about a problem they are havingin their life. Offer to pray for them infaith � and why not do it there andthen? Mark 16:17 says signs and won-ders will accompany those thatbelieve in the name of Jesus. Let�sbelieve signs and wonders will followyou! Be brave and offer to pray forsomeone in person.

5.Take your time

Most of the time God gives usplenty of space to say what that per-son need to hear. All too often wejump in with both feet and try andexplain everything from Genesis toRevelation in one sitting. Keep youranswers simple and let them ask youquestions. Then they will want to talkabout God all night.

6.Don�t speak Christianese

Avoid the temptation to tell aboutJesus is to show them just how manylong words you have learnt since youbecame a Christian. Don�t do it. Youwill look stupid and people don�trespond to it.

7.Don't try and win

If someone just wants to arguewith you. Let them, but don't getcaught up in it. Be patient and letthem finish, them share your point ofview as calmly as possible. This is espe-cially important with people of otherfaiths or sects like the Jehovah'sWitnesses � they have all the answersprepared. Having said that, you willfind that most people ask the samebunch of controversial questions(where are the dinosaurs in the bible?do you believe in evolution? whydoes God allow suffering, and manymore?) A few years ago I noticed thispattern and so spent time learningabout what the Bible says on thesesubjects. However, if you honestlydon't know the answer, I have twopieces of advice:

8.Answer a question with a ques-tion

Have you ever noticed how Jesusanswers a question with anotherquestion. This was often to uncoverhidden motives. Sometimes whenyou are having a perfectly civil con-versation with someone about God,they will suddenly snap. This mightmean you have hit a raw nerve sorather than getting offended yourself,ask them why they think that.

9.Your song of grace is your secretweapon

People can try but no-one cancontradict your testimony. The story ofhow Jesus saved you is one of themost power things you have. As thebible says in Revelation, �They over-came by the blood of the Lamb andthe word of their testimony.�

Its not about talkingBe coolDifferent people witness differentlyTake your timeDon't speak ChristianeseDon't try and winYour testimony is your weapon

To close, I want to encourage youto �be bold and strong for the Lordyou God is with you.� Realise that thisis like a battle - and suddenly the vio-lent scenes of the old testament willstart making more sense to you. Onething stands out, the battle we arefighting, the harvest we are bringingin is like no other. You see the war hasalready been won and the fields arealready �white for the harvest.� Theonly thing left to is to go and take theland.

One of the Lord�s names isJehovah Nici, the Lord our banner.When you fly Jehovah Nici as youbanner, demons have to flee. In thesame way, at the name of Jesus everyknee shall bow. Every tongue confesshim King of Glory now.

Thank you God that you havecommanded us to be strong andcourageous because you are with uswherever we go. I thank you that thisis true and that you are true to yourword. We look forward in faith toyour supply of miraculous catchesevery time we fish on the other side.

Copyright Chris Anthony (www.savingsouls.co.uk) 2006. All rights reserved.