Mark Gillmore: Hello! I’m Mark Gillmore, once again with you here on our GoMission podcast. And I hope that God’s been giving you opportunities here in this summertime to be a witness for Him as we challenged you last time with the opportunity to have Gospel tracts on you, and just be ready witness on a daily basis to ask folks, “If you were to die, do you know where you would be for all eternity?” 

And if you’ve had some neat things that you’ve seen God do, would you just send an email back to me at gomission@theegeneration.org. I’d love to hear from you. Send me a note of testimony. 

Acts chapter 1 and verse 8 tells us that, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” That word “witness” means a first-hand observer, someone who is talking about something they have experienced themselves, seen for themselves. Something that is real to them personally. They’re not talking about what someone else says they saw, they’re talking about what they themselves have seen and experienced. 

And this matter of being a witness for the Lord, this matter of telling folks about Christ starts with your personal testimony. You may feel like, “I’m just a young person. I haven’t even lived that many number of years. Who’s going to listen to me?”

Well, the fact is that the power of the Holy Spirit is going to use your testimony in a way that’s way beyond anything you could ever do with it. That’s the whole point. The Holy Spirit is in your life to take your story and help others see Jesus through it. 

All of usーwe’re just flesh and blood. Flesh and blood cannot reveal Christ, but the Holy Spirit through flesh and blood can convince people that Jesus is real. So your testimony is powerful. God intends to use it. That’s what He intends to use to convince people regarding the truth and the power of Jesus Christ. 

So I wanna teach you here in these next few minutes together how to give your testimony in 15 seconds. A 15-second testimony. This is, it beginsーyour 15-second testimony is in three parts. It’s (1.) Life Before Jesus, (2.) Life as I Met Jesus, and then (3.) Life After Jesus. And basically for each of those three parts, you just really give a sentence description.  Life before Jesus. Life as I met Jesus. And then life after Jesus. 

So Life Before Jesus is a sentence that simply goes like this: “There was a time in my life when I was….” And here’s where you choose two key words to describe your sense of need. When you came to Christ, what were two key things on your heart, on your mindーa burden that came upon youーat that moment when you were coming to Christ? 

For instance, for me, two good words would be simply, there was a time in my life when I was fearful and guilty. You may be able to identify with that. FearfulーI was fearful because I recognized that Hell was real and that God was holy. I wanted to go to Heaven, but I realized that as a sinner I was disqualified. I could not go to Heaven; deserved to go to Hell. That caused me to be fearful about where I would be when I died. 

The second thing: I was guilty. I knew that I had told a lie, that I had disobeyed my parents, that I had sinned, and because of that I was guilty. So those two things were definitely on my mind. I remember laying on my bed at night, night after night, praying about the matter. I wanted to go to Heaven. I knew I was guilty. I knew I deserved Hell. And I knew I needed to be saved. So that’s my story: “There was a time in my life when I was fearful and guilty.”

So think for a moment, what are the twoーwhat are two key words that describe your sense of need? ーLet me pause here just for a momentー What are your two key words? Can you think about that? You could even pause the podcast for a moment. Write down those two key words. 

Often folks will give words that are like: “I was lonely. I was lost. I was hopeless. I was uncertain.” So many different ways in which God is burdening our heart, leading us to the answer that is Jesus. So think of those two key words that describe your Life Before Jesus. 

Then we come to the second part of your 15-second testimony. This is just a simple sentence that describes how you heard the good news of Jesus Christ and made that choice to depend on Him. You could say simply, “Then I heard the good news of Jesus Christ, and I chose to believe on Him.” Describe in just one sentence your decision to repent and believe on Jesus. 

It might have to do with a War or a Cola-Clash or some event tied with Thee Generation. Maybe you said, “And then I came, and I heard someone give a clear Gospel message about who Christ was, and I knew He was the answer.” 

How would you put in one sentence, how you came to Jesus, how you found out the truth of the Gospel? You’re not trying to give the whole Gospel, you’re not trying to squeeze in all the content about Jesus dying on the cross, Jesus being the Son of God. You’re going to get to that if you have that opportunity to continue the conversation. 

But right now all you’re highlighting is that you came to Christ, you found out the good news, and that knowledge changed everything. That’s what you want to say just in one sentence. Describe your decision to repent and believe on Jesus. You got that? Why don’t you pause this podcast for just a moment and just speak out loud that sentence of your testimony. 

…All right, good, so the first part of our testimony is Life Before Jesus. One sentence, that describes with two key words your sense of need as you came to Christ. Then the second part: Life as I Met Jesus. In one sentence, how you found out the good news that changed everything. The good news of Jesus Christ. 

And then the third part: Life After Jesus. Here’s where you want to use two key words that describe the change that Jesus brought to you. These two key words really parallel the sense of need in your first part of your testimony. So Life After Jesus would be how He met that need in your heart. 

For instance, it could be something like: “Now I have peace and forgiveness of all my sin.” For me, that’s exactly it. Where I was fearful, uncertain, now I have peace, confidence. Where I was guilty, as a sinner, now I am forgiven. I know all of my sins are forgiven and that I have eternal life. 

So what are the two key words that describe the change Jesus brought to you? Can you think about those? Why don’t you pause the podcast for just a moment. Nail down those two key words. 

All right, so here is your 15-second testimony. It begins with just a question like this: “May I share with you my story? There was a time in my life when I was fearful and guilty. Then I heard the good news of Jesus Christ, and I chose to believe on Him, and that changed everything. Now I have peace and forgiveness of all my sin.” 

After you give your 15-second testimony, then simply wrap it up with this question, “May I share with you the story of Jesus, so He can do the same thing for you that He did for me?” (repeats) “May I share with you the story of Jesus, so He can do the same thing for you that He did for me?” Say that, pause the podcast, and just get that phrase down clearly. 

So you begin your 15-second testimony simply with this: “May I share with you my story?” And then you wrap it up with this question: “May I share with you the story of Jesus, so He can do the same for you?” 

You know, when you’re giving the testimony, think in terms of three stories. (1.) You’ve got your story, which is your testimony. (2.) You’ve got Jesus’ story, which is the Gospel. But also, always remember… (3.) You have the story of the person who’s in front of you. 

Do you know everyone has their story? Everyone has a sense of need in their life. Everyone has a God-shaped hole in their heart. When you pause, and before you even ask if you can tell your story, remember in your heart that person has their story. 

This will move you with compassion. Jesus as you looked on the multitudes was moved with compassion. Why? Because He knew their story. He knew their emptiness. He knew where they were coming from. He knew their hopelessness apart from Himself. Remember that. Let God fill you with compassion for those around you by thinking about their story. 

Then as you share your story, and you share Jesus’ story, have a listening ear for their story. Ask God to show you where they’re coming from. Ask God to show you their burden. Ask God to show you their lostness, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to fit Jesus Christ into their story. He can meet their need. 

So this is my challenge to you in these next few days: Give your 15-second testimony. This is an incredible time to be a witness for the Lord. God wants to use your testimony as a living witness that Jesus is real, and He changes lives because He’s changed my life. 

Review this podcast. Get this 15-second testimony down. Practice it. Practice it with another friend. And then go out, pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit, and be ready witnesses for Him. 

And again, get back to me, send me an email at gomission@theegeneration.org. I would love to hear back what God does. I’d love to hear about your step of faith, your step of love, how God moves in your heart as you obey Him in this Gospel witness. 

Remember, the only way to stay at peace in a world of turmoil and uncertainty is to stay on-mission with Jesus in His GoMission.