Aim
of a Testimony
A testimony is
giving people
the story of how you became a Christian. This is to help them make the
same decision and to gain a greater understanding on how to become a
Christian.
TESTIMONY
OUTLINE
1. Ask
God to help
you through prayer and to guide you in your presentation.
2. Use
the following
outline for your talk
a. Your
life before
you became a Christian.
b. How
you became
a Christian. Include the specific events that involved your decision.
(eg.
The prayer you may have prayed) your explanation should be such that
someone
at the end of your testimony will know how they can become Christian.
c. What
changes have
happened to your life as a result of becoming a Christian ( If you
became
a Christian as a young child then this may be the section that you want
to emphasise)
3. Begin
with an interesting
story and finish with a thought provoking comment or question. Remember
that the aim of the testimony is to make other think about becoming a
Christian.
4.
Present your material
in such a way that the people will be able to identify with it.
5.
Emphasise that
a Christian is someone who is forgiven by Jesus dying in the cross in
there
place.
THINGS
NOT TO DO
1. Do
not use Christian
jargon eg. Saved, born again, faith, sin, holiness etc. As many people
may not know what you mean or have a wrong understanding of them.
2. Do
not be vague.
eg. Then God told me.. or Then I prayed the sinners prayer
3. Do
not exaggerate
what happened.
4. Do
not mention
Christians or churches in a bad way as this then may become a stumbling
block to them.
5. Do
not be negative
about other people or especially your audience.
6. Do
not imply that
now you are a Christian you are perfect or better than them. As a
Christian
you are only better than one person, who you were beforehand.
7. Don't
belittle
people in the audience by saying such things as "only a real fool
wouldn't
understand this."
SPEAKING
HINTS
1. Pray
before you
speak.
2. Speak
clearly.
3. Know
what you are
going to say and what you are hoping to achieve.
4. Do
not put your
hands across your mouth, mumble or turn away from the audience.
5. Speak
loud enough
that someone who is in the back corner can hear you clearly.
6. Write
it out in
full, then pick you key points and practice it. (Possibly in front of a
mirror)
