but I don't have any friends.........

Don't worry, I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I do have friends and some good ones at that. I have been challenged once again to reflect on my personal sharing of my faith with others, especially those that don't have a faith. One of the dangers of being involved in church leadership at any level is that you can be isolated from those that don't know God and quickly be immersed in a church culture surrounded by Christians. When challenged to invite their friends to church, an event, Alpha course or such like, I  have heard many Christians say the words "but I don't have any friends."

Over the next few Sundays at Aspley I am going to be looking at this very issue. How do we share our faith with others? Maybe the question should be: "Who do I share my faith with?" The main excuse that church leaders use to neglect their responsibility in person evangelism is time. It is easy to use our role as a way of not engaging in evangelism. It is easy to lead and challenge others to do it but it is not always being backed up by our own actions. There are many factors that influence our lack of engaging in evangelism (time, work, family, scared, not feeling gifted) yet these should not become excuses. I have been really conscious of the way I use my time so to be able to engage with evangelism but it is still a struggle. I still find it hard to create regular and meaning time with people that don't know Jesus so that they may see him in me and for me to be able to speak about him  openly.

What I have learnt is that evangelism isn't hard but making it part of my normal everyday life is.

Matt