Increase Witnessing Opportunities

Acts 3 contains another public proclamation of Christ by Peter. Many more individuals were saved as a result. Here are three observations on how this opportunity arose.

You can increase your own opportunities to proclaim Christ by focusing your attention on these things:

1. Opportunity came through normal life activity. Some people view evangelism with an "event" mentality. That is, they break up their life into times of active duty and periods of off-duty. Active duty would be when they evangelize at church events, etc. Off-duty is any other time. In Acts 3, Peter and John were going about their normal activities when an opportunity to proclaim Christ presented itself. They took full advantage. Christians should seek to live a Great Commission lifestyle instead of being event focused. Events may be part of your evangelism lifestyle but we will miss opportunity to proclaim Christ if we stick only to special occasions. Every day is a special occasion from the Lord to meet people made in His image and to tell them of the Savior.

2. Opportunity came through the power of God. We live in a materialistic culture. We have all been trained to look at material resources to see what is possible. That is the responsible thing to do. In Acts 3, we see opportunity arise for ministry and evangelism because Peter and John look beyond their material resources to the power of God. When we walk in the will and power of God we already have everything we need. We may not all possess the ability to heal in the power of God like the Apostles. However, every Christian does possess the ability to rely on the Spirit of God to lead and empower us to accomplish His will. When He leads us to do things beyond our natural ability and means, then only He can receive the glory.

3. Opportunity came when they directed people away from themselves and toward Christ. Humility is hard. After the miraculous healing the amazed crowd gathered around Peter and John. Peter wasted no time in re-directing the attention of the people: "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?" (Acts 3:12). Peter doesn't take even a moment to relax in the glory himself or to receive even a little bit of the praise. He immediately points people to Jesus. When we minister in the name of Jesus we should take every opportunity to ensure that people know we are serving them because of Christ, not because of our own goodness. Serving people can create a great platform from which Christ can be proclaimed. Christians should not serve simply to make ourselves feel better or to receive praise from men. Christians serve to make Christ known to a broken and fallen world. Any time we serve someone an opportunity to proclaim Christ has arrived.

Certainly other observations are possible on Acts 3. Feel free to leave yours in the comments below.

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