AIC 12: Moving Beyond My Circle of Confidence

1. Define circle of confidence.

2. What are some principles you can use to help expand your circle of confidence?

Preparing and Sharing a Personal Testimony

Any subject matter can be presented more effectively by careful organization. A carefully prepared testimony, given in the power of the Holy Spirit, can be of immediate and effective use in nearly every witnessing situation. It should be our desire to present Christ in such a clear and attractive, yet simple way, that those who hear will not only want to know Him, but they will also know how to know Him personally.

A carefully and intelligently worded three-minute testimony will communicate far more effectively than a prolonged one that includes a lot of extra material which will distract from, rather than emphasize, the point of personal commitment to Christ and what this can mean in a person’s life.

1. Remember, the same Christ lives in you, whether you trusted Him early or later in life. Do not be concerned whether or not your testimony will be exciting - just that it is interesting.

2. Be realistic. Do not infer that Christ eliminates all the problems of life, but rather than He enables you to live them out with peace and confidence. “I am always with you”, He said.

3. Be positive, not negative from the start to finish.

4. Prepare your testimony so that you can share it in a group situation as well as with an individual.

5. Avoid the following when writing the testimony:

• Including statements that reflect negatively on the church and other organizations and people.

• Mentioning denominations, especially in a derogatory way

• Preaching at people. (This is a testimony, not a “preachimony”)

• Using stereotypes. People who work together for a period of time on a team tend unwittingly to copy one another.

• Speaking in generalities or using overworked terms such as “straightlaced”, “sober and sad”; “fantastic”, exciting and great”; “peace”, “purpose and happiness”; or “changed” (without giving specific changes).

• Using words that are meaningless to non-Christians. Terms like “salvation”, “saved”, “born again”, and “conversion”, need to be defined if used. Terms like “glorious” and “hallelujah” are so ridiculed in some areas that you would do well not to use them at all.

6. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom and guidance as you write.

7. Follow the three-point outline:

• Life BEFORE knowing Christ.

• HOW you came to know Christ (be specific).

• Life AFTER you received Christ (change He has made, what He means to you now)

8. Emphasize the last point above if you became a Christian as a small child.

9. Begin with an interesting, attention-getting sentence and close with a good conclusion. Include relevant, thought-provoking, personal experiences.

10. Write in such a way that others will feel associated with you in the past and present experiences.

11. Give enough details to arouse interest.

12. Use at least one, but at the most two, Scripture verses.

13. Edit carefully and rewrite if necessary before the final draft.

14. Choose something characteristic of your experience that is of general interest to non-Christians. Build your testimony around a theme. Examples are personal success (your past viewpoint), life’s goal (past and present viewpoint), God’s personal plan for you.

15. Emphasize the fact that the thing that made the difference in your life was accepting Christ as Savior and allowing Him to be Lord and Master of your life. Keep in mind that your testimony should give enough details so that someone else would know how to trust the Lord after hearing it. Tell how He entered your life.

Testimony Worksheet

1. What was my life like before I trusted Christ or totally committed my life to Him?

2. How did I receive Christ as my personal Savior and Lord? How did I give Him complete control over my life?

3. What happened after I received Christ? What happened after I gave him complete control of my life?

4. Pertinent Scripture verses:

1. Complete Lesson 6, Lesson 7, and Lesson 8 in Ten Basic Steps to Christian Maturity Step 2 (The Christian and the Abundant Life).

2. Read and take note of key points in Transferrable Concept #8 (How to Love by Faith).

3. Using your testimony worksheet as a guide, write out your personal testimony.