Testimony in Hebrew Means “to do again.” As we share what God has done for us, God plants seeds of faith in the hearts of people to grow that testimony. Testimonies of salvation often lead to others being saved. Testimonies of healing give others faith to reach out and receive the same healing from God. There are many, many examples of this happening.
00:00Your Testimony has tremendous power!
4:00 Your Testimony is Personal
4:52 You Must Earn the Right to Share Your Testimony
5:28 What did Jesus think would transform nations?
5:59 Jesus’ Strategy Works!
9:28 We Overcome By the Blood of the Lamb, the Word of Our Testimonies & Courage
10:20 Activation
Preaching and teaching are simply telling the truths of God’s Word. Testimony is speaking about your personal experience that confirms the Word of God. Another word for testimony is witness.
Just moments before Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God, he gave them these instructions in Acts 1: 4-5, 8-9.
These words are all the more significant because they are the last thing Jesus said before he returned to heaven.
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
Don’t leave! Wait! For What? The gift Father God promised. The prophets, especially Joel spoke of this gift. Jesus explains the gift in verse 5.
5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
What is the gift? The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and power. What was the power for?
Acts 1:8 continues:
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Jesus commanded them “Don’t leave Jerusalem. Wait for God’s power. Power to be Jesus’ witnesses
Jesus’ mandate to the early church was to be his witnesses: to tell the world what they had seen Jesus do and heard Him say.
We Need Power to Witness
Your Testimony is Personal
To testify about something in court, a person needs to have personal knowledge. Only what a person saw or heard is admissible. Only their personal experience will be heard. Their ideas, speculations, what they heard others say, etc. is NOT admissible because our courts believe that information is not as reliable as a witness’ personal experience.
We are most credible when we are telling others our experiences with Jesus and what God has done for us. People can argue with your theology (what you think is true about God), but it is hard for them to deny your experience.
You Earn the Right to Share Your Testimony
Acts 1:8
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
What did Jesus think would transform nations?
This was Jesus’ plan – Holy Spirit empowered believers all sharing their testimonies throughout the world. And Christianity going viral!
Can you see it? Can you see the power of your testimony multiplied by untold thousands of thousands of people. Imagine the impact on America (or your nation) if all Christians openly and freely told their stories of what God has done in their lives. And their experiences with Jesus!
Your testimony is not just how you were born again. Your testimony is how God touches every aspect of your life. How Holy Spirit leads you, gives you wisdom, convicts you of sin, and loves you into wholeness. How you hear God speaking to you. How God set you free from addiction, provided for you during tough time financially, etc. God helps us every day. We have so much to testify about.
Your Testimony is Powerful!
Jesus met and talked to a Samaritan woman at a well. She was a woman who had been passed from man to man and now lived with a man she wasn’t married to. Even with her scarlet reputation, what happened when she told her personal testimony about her experience with Jesus?
John 4:39 NIV
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
Her testimony created faith in their hearts.
Acts 4:33
33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.
Great power was released when the apostles gave their testimonies about Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus’ strategy to evangelize the world through our testimonies immediately proved effective. Their testimonies were changing lives and the church was rapidly growing.
We Overcome By the Blood of the Lamb, the Word of Our Testimonies & Courage
Rev 12:11 NKJV
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
Activation – see the activation
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