I recently learned that quite a few people inquire with the RP Witness for practical suggestions on how congregations can find encouragement for reaching out with the gospel.

What comes to mind, and what I’ve found to be heartening, begins with how God’s written Word is its own witness, given to stir up hope. We hear this in the words of John: “Truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30–31). For testimony concerning the direct ministry of God’s written Word, see the bottom of the article for comments of the two men who have served as my executive directors in Metanoia Prison Ministries.

This subject matter is dear to me because God’s Word as direct witness was instrumental in rescuing me from my most intense season of doubt as a college student. Though living in an ideal sort of circumstance for thriving in faith at Geneva College, I found myself grappling with questions for which I felt I had no adequate answers. The struggle was what I might call the epistemology dilemma of my faith. How could I know the message of Christ was the truth?

By grace, Scripture’s deep continuity of theme and forecast and fulfillment became a firm foundation for the restoration of my confidence in what God has given for a permanent record. The Scripture is message, not encyclopedia, and the constant pattern of prediction on theme across the centuries is a kind of witness that ministers to our knowing differently from other kinds of evidences. The finding of key archeological confirmations of the Bible’s content is heartening, but only the living God can declare what will occur in the future and then bring about His purposes for the sake of message.

You know that God’s Word is witness. But do you feel you could meet with someone and open its pages? It is my conviction that doing so is more accessible than it may feel, that fresh consideration of God-as-communicator can wholesomely give courage, and that the choice to simply get ready will richly lend itself to opportunity.

Let me describe an experience early in my ministry—conversations with a neighbor across the alley behind our house. Because my neighbor was disabled, he tinkered in his open garage the better part of 15 hours every day. I’m not exaggerating. That allowed for quite a bit of conversation across the chain link fence. He and I had spoken on occasion about matters of the gospel, but I wondered how to sit down for a more concerted inquiry. He was not very familiar with the content of the Bible.

One day, it crossed my mind to ask him if we could sit over cups of coffee and have me simply tell him the story of it all. We did that almost every week for a little more than a year and a half, each time simply talking about what happened next in God’s record. In doing that, I was struck with how the elements of the gospel that permeated the account emerged as we interacted. The core issues of relationship with God, of alienation, reconciliation, and hope, were constantly present.

Do I mention that experience to say that this is the one great method that will make all the difference? No. But having conversed with my neighbor in that way, I found myself increasingly eager to engage someone else similarly.

Shortly thereafter, a couple in our church was seeking a way to reach out with the gospel to the persons in their sphere of acquaintance, and it crossed our minds to offer the whole story in a short period of time. The whole Bible in six sessions. It was amazing to me how natural the invitation felt: “Would you like to see the whole of the story in just a few weeks of getting together?” People said yes.

Again, my point is not this method versus others (though you can tell I’m pretty fond of it). My point is readiness. Because I spent time with an idea and organized a path for touching on important points, and because I held out the offer a couple of times, discovering a warmer than expected response, I found myself being ready to engage someone in my sphere of acquaintance at the drop of a hat. I found myself watching for opportunities and finding them. Over time, the Lord has granted nearly 20 opportunities to walk through the magnificent whole-Bible story with persons not yet thoroughly acquainted with the gospel.

Let me touch again on the Word-as-God’s-own-witness idea. We don’t have to be fearful that we will not be able to convince others of the authenticity of the message. Since we know the principle that the Word of good news is God’s and not our own, I recommend asking those with whom we are conversing, “What do you see on the page?” Rather than feeling that you must lecture and adequately convince through skills of persuasion, make your quest the understanding of the meaning of what is there. “What do you see? Does it make sense?”

Choices for where to begin can be kept simple. For the sake of the men with whom I work in the prison chapels, I wrote up inquiry questions for every chapter in the gospel of John. You could use that resource or another like it. Those men could say to another in their housing unit or on their yard, “Have you ever wondered about what this Christian faith is trying to get across? What if you would read a chapter or so of the account written by the apostle John, who was with Jesus throughout the time of His teaching and miracles, and interact with the questions? We could talk about it.”

Depending on the response to such an invitation, you could take up a portion of the Gospel of John instead of all 21 chapters. The brief letter to the Colossians is brimming with gospel definition. You could gather a select set of prophecies about the coming of Christ and of the hope that can be found in Him. Brainstorm with others in your congregation about what could be prepared.

The idea is to get ready with something and begin concertedly praying for and watching for opportunity (Col. 4:3–4). I don’t imagine that the response will always be warm or the experience of it comfortable. But the message you hold out is, in fact, good news, and it is not your own. You can hold it out with grace (Col. 4:5–6; 1 Pet. 3:15–16). According to Acts 16:6–10, it is right to keep on trying, even when there is no response, because God has definite plans. You might find, as I did, that people are willing to look together into the message of the Bible more often than you expected.

See Tim McCracken’s entire “The Whole Bible in Six Sessions” series on Rumble or YouTube.

Mark Casson

Ministry Engagement Director

Mission to North America (PCA)

Upon the crisis of his incarceration, Mark writes: “I was converted to Christ on a Thursday evening, through the ministry of a Gideon. He left me that night with a Gideon’s pocket New Testament with the Psalms and Proverbs. Immediately, I went into my cell and I read that Bible cover to cover six times over the weekend, crying out for forgiveness and confessing my sins. The next week I received a KJV of the whole Bible and proceeded to read it for six, eight, ten hours per day. I had no radio, no television, and no other books. What a way to draw close to God!”

Rev. Lowell Ivey

Executive Director

Metanoia Prison Ministries

I was set free in Christ while in a solitary confinement cell in Huntsville, Tex. The prison was a “super-segregation” unit, meant to house the worst of the worst offenders. Most of those housed there were classified as “security threat group” members because of their gang affiliation. I was a member of a white supremacist gang called the Aryan Brotherhood.

One night, while I was scanning the radio dial, I heard the gospel through a weekly Sunday evening program called “Here Comes the Light.” God used His Word to shine the light of Christ into my sin-darkened heart. I began reading the Bible, starting at the book of Genesis. God taught me, by His Word and Spirit, that I was united by faith to Christ and to His body throughout the generations. I learned that Abraham was my spiritual father. I came to see that God has a plan for all nations in Christ and that to be in union with Christ is to be in union with all His people of every race, nation, tribe, and tongue. What a joy it was to see how my little life fits into the great drama of redemption through the death, resurrection, and present reign of Jesus Christ my Lord!