This sermon emphasizes the importance of being prepared to share the hope of Christ with others, highlighting the need to revere Christ in our hearts, be set apart for Him, and rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance. It encourages believers to write a short testimony, memorize a verse of Scripture, and share the message of salvation with love, gentleness, and respect.

Welcome, I'd like to share some truth with you from the Chinese Underground Church. These are Christians who follow the Lord Jesus Christ with all of their heart, their soul, their mind, and their strength. And they have accepted that they have the great commission, and this is one of their number one goals, to share that Christ has redeemed them, that Christ is real, that there is a God of Abraham, Isa, and Jacob who gives us the truth. And I'd like you to examine with me one Bible verse just for a few minutes. In 1 Peter it says, but in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect. And so here the first part says, but in your hearts, revere Christ. Other translations say be set apart for Christ. Acts 1a tells us we need the Holy Spirit to help us to witness, and so it means to set ourselves apart for the Lord so that he can use us through his Holy Spirit. Simply pray and say, Lord, I want to be obedient to you. I would like to give my testimony to anyone who asks me. I need you and your Holy Spirit to do the work through me. I surrender to you, please help me. Then B, you need to write out your testimony. Don't do it on more than a half a page. It just needs to be a very short testimony. And then the question is, how do we get ready for other tasks in our life? Likewise, we must prepare for the task of witnessing. Let me use as an example a road race. If you are to enter the Olympic Games for the one-mile run, what would you do? Would you prepare for it? You say, of course I would. Would you run for quite a time beforehand? Of course I would, you would say. Would you give away a lot of things? Would you deny yourself of a lot of chocolate bars, of a lot of things that do not give you that strength for your body? You say, of course I would. So, beloved, likewise, as Christians, we need to prepare and memorize our short testimony. It need not be long. The reason we do this is because no one can argue with what you experience. You say, oh, I don't know anymore. It happened a long time ago. But, beloved, if it is your salvation, it's wonderful, it's incredible, and there's a song, and I'll quote the song for you. You can write your testimony from that. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful day, day I will never forget. After I had wandered in darkness away, Jesus, my Savior, I met. Oh, what a tender, compassionate friend. He met the need of my heart. Shadows dispelling, with joy I am telling. He made all the darkness depart. Heaven came down, and glory filled my soul. When at the cross, the Savior made me whole. My sins were washed away, and my night was turned to day. Heaven came down, and glory filled my soul. And you can say to someone, you know, my darkness has all gone away. I have a future I have for all, and I love you so much. I'm telling you this because I care for you, and I want you to have this great salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the next step is to memorize one verse of Scripture, because if your testimony fails in whichever way, the Word of God never fails. Scripture tells us that such a verse will not return void, and so you can say, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. This is what Jesus said. Or you can say, what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Now you're ready to give a defense, meaning an answer to anyone who asks you about your hope, but please do not agree. Share in love. You must share in love. If there's no love for the other person, don't share. It's going to be void, and then do it with gentleness and respect. Don't just hand a tract if you can talk to someone. Don't be afraid. The Holy Spirit will help you. I love you, and I hope that God will use you mightily for his glory. Thank you.