Page 45 - Personal Spiritual Life Syllabus w videos

Why Pray?

Witnessing – Sharing Your Faith

Quite often the last thing a person says just before he departs earth is extremely significant. He might
tell his family that he loves them. He might ask them to do something he was never able to accomplish.
Perhaps he rejoices in being able to see Jesus in just a few minutes. But whatever he says to those he
leaves behind is one of most important thoughts on his mind.

The Call to Witness

Jesus had risen from the dead and had spent 40 days with his disciples, getting them ready for his
permanent departure. Finally he took them to the top of a mountain in Galilee and there he gave them
His last words:

Matthew 28: 18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
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and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And
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behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He commanded His disciples that, while they were going, to make disciples of all nations. You cannot be
a disciple until you have received Christ as Savior, so included in this charge is the idea that his disciples
should be witnesses of Christ and make disciples of those who receive their message. Again, he made
one final charge to them. These were His last words to his disciples:

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

This call to witness is of greatest importance, because it represents the heartbeat of God. He came to
die for every man’s sins. He paid the ultimate price in expressing His love for all mankind. And in
departing, He wants every man to hear what He did for them so that they might be saved.

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