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■ Pray together: Give thanks for your experiences, ask God for help where you need it.
■ Pray together to learn new things about God and that your relationship with God deepens and gets stronger.
Acts 1:4-8
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
John 9:1-15, 24-25
1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.4As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
10“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
12“Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.
The Pharisees Investigate the Healing
13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.14Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
25He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
■ Share with a partner one experience according to this structure. It should be an experience that is suitable for a nonbeliever. Pay attention that you are brief (no longer than 30 seconds per story).
■ Pray in groups of two or three for your the people on your prayer list (see unit “The Call”) and for opportunities within the next few days to share an experience with Jesus with them. Pray that the Holy Spirit opens their hearts.
■ Pray that the Holy Spirit gives you courage and that you trust His voice more and more.
When we share our faith with others, we can simply talk about what we experienced – or are experiencing – with Jesus. Share everyday stories. Because these are the things others find interesting, exciting and relatable. People who don’t know Jesus think that He is someone who makes up rules and asks for strict obedience. But obedience is not the starting point; rather, it is God’s abundant, unconditional love and that He wants to live with us as friends do. As true witnesses, we’re only responsible to be filled by the Holy Spirit, to see our friends trough God’s eyes, and to talk in accordance with Him when God provides us with an opportunity. However, we are not responsible for how the listeners react. It is not our job to convince people or to impress them! That‘s the Holy Spirit‘s job.
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