{"id":33594,"date":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/"},"modified":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2005-08-26T00:00:00","slug":"encounter-vision-of-witnessing","status":"publish","type":"sermons","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/","title":{"rendered":"Encounter: The Vision of Witnessing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2005\/08\/18894.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">Introduction<\/h2>\n\n<p>Several\nyears ago, I was enjoying a day of recreation on a ski slope in central\nWisconsin. While other friends from the church had gone over to take on more\nchallenging slopes, I was careening off trees and slicing through underbrush on\na slope that was just one over from the bunny slope. Having lost all of my\nfriends who would not be caught dead in a place where beginners start, I found\nmyself at the bottom of the hill, friendless, but ready to take the chair lift\nto the top to find a little more challenging field, because I thought I was up\nto it. <\/p>\n\n<p>I happened\nto get on the chair lift with a fellow who knew his way around this particular\nsport. He had orange and gold ski pants with matching gloves\nand hat, custom-made boots and skis and bindings, and all those good things.\nIf there was any way that I could, I wanted to slither off the chair and get to\nanother one. But it took off too quickly, and I was off the ground. I had to\nstay. So there we were, he in his\ngorgeous outfit, and I in mine. My ski outfit also happens to double as the\npair of coveralls that I wear to work on my car in the wintertime. I was hoping\nfor everything I was worth that I would be able to make it to the top in\nabsolute silence. <\/p>\n\n<p>But, for\nsome crazy reason, he had the desire to make conversation. He said, &#8220;Do you like this ski resort\nbetter than the one up the road?&#8221; I was trying to formulate the words in\nmy mind so that I might not sound like too much of a novice. But before I could\neven get words out of my mouth, he began to speak and answer his own question:\n&#8220;I like this one much better because the hills are more challenging. The\nmoguls are more perfectly shaped and formed.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n<p>It became clear to me that he had much more in his mind\nabout a good ski scene than just the shape of the slopes. He announced to me\nthat a good bar scene is necessary and absolute for good skiing, a bar that\nmixes its drinks well, one that provides entertainment that could warm the\nsoul. He then began to help me understand that this particular bar at this\nparticular resort had a female clientele that was second to none. <\/p>\n\n<p>He began to articulate, in rather indelicate\nelocution, those particular portions of the female anatomy that he found most\nappealing. He elaborated. This was a conversation that I would not\nescape without embarrassment. <\/p>\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve been in\nthese situations before, and I start running the scenario through my mind. When\nhe gets done talking, he&#8217;s going to ask me what I do for a living. Oh please,\nlet&#8217;s get to the top. Please! I thought we were going to make it; we were\nwithin 50 feet of where we were to get off. All of a sudden the chair lift came\nto a halt. Somebody down at the bottom had had trouble getting on, and that\ncaused everything to stop. Those were the longest few seconds of my life. <\/p>\n\n<p>Just as he\nhad finished his rather sordid speech on the female species, he popped\nthe question: &#8220;By the way, what do you do for a living?&#8221; &#8220;Uh, I&#8217;m the minister of The Church of\nChrist in Janesville, Wisconsin.&#8221; &#8220;OHHHH.&#8221; Somehow the ease of conversation wasn&#8217;t quite there\nanymore. <\/p>\n\n<p>Encounters\nthat take place between Christians and non-Christians are destined to have\ntheir embarrassing moments. Yet those encounters are the ones that are intended\nto lovingly confront the world with the presence of the Lord Jesus. They are\ndesigned to awaken the spiritually insensitive to the reality of the presence\nof God in our world today. They are to be the points of contact with the ultimate\ngoal of saving lost souls. <\/p>\n\n<p>If we are to\ncarry in our minds the vision of the Lord Jesus for lost souls&#8212;for every lost\nsoul in our world&#8212;we must begin with a concentrated effort on understanding who\nwe are and what we are as his witnesses, as his people. If we have seen and known and experienced\nthe presence of Jesus in our lives, we then are witnesses of him and to him.\nThe vast majority of what can be known about him is found by those who carry,\nthrough their own personal experience and understanding, the presence of God in\ntheir lives. <\/p>\n    \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">God prepared Ananias and Saul for their encounter.<\/h2>\n\n<p>Perhaps it\nwill be helpful for us to look at the\nimpact of our own witness by rehearsing the experiences of another. Ananias in\nActs 9 is someone worthy of our contemplation. <\/p>\n\n<p>Ananias&#8217;s\nentrance in the Scripture is precipitated by the predicament of a young man\nnamed Saul. Saul, whose life had been a flurry of purpose and determination&#8212;the\nrouster of Christians from their homes into streets, with the temper\nof a persecutor&#8217;s tantrum&#8212;was the one who had the determined energy to shatter\nall things of &#8220;The Way.&#8221; But his determined energy would be shattered\nby the crisis of physical blindness, a blindness characteristic of a\ndarkness found deep within his own soul. For that hour of crisis, one\nman was called by God for rescue: Ananias. <\/p>\n\n<p>I want you\nto see in this encounter that the power of God is at work in the lives of those\nwho are willing to be used. Look with me at the text of Scripture from chapter\n9, verses 10 through 19. God, in fact, does work through the entire\nexperience of the witness encounter. <\/p>\n\n<p>See, first of all, the encounter prepared:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Now there was a disciple at Damascus\nnamed Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, &#8216;Ananias.&#8217; And he said, &#8216;Here\nI am, Lord.&#8217; The Lord said to him, &#8216;Rise and go to the street called Straight,\nand enquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold\nhe&#8217;s praying, and he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on\nhim so that he might regain his sight.&#8217; But Ananias answered, &#8216;Lord, I&#8217;ve heard\nfrom many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints in Jerusalem;\nand here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy\nname.&#8217;  <\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Notice the mutual preparation of all the participants in this particular\nencounter of witness. Saul is\nprepared by a dramatic confrontation with the Lord. On his way to Damascus,\nwith papers carrying the authority of extradition, he&#8217;s struck down before the\npresence of Christ, a sight clearly more than the naked eye is able to bear.\nHaving seen the Almighty, he now gropes hopelessly in the dark, searching for\nthe meaning of this plague that has come upon him. <\/p>\n\n<p>Even though\nwe consider the confrontation between Saul and Jesus rather\nremarkable, I want to suggest that God continues in this\nday to work through his Holy Spirit by confrontation. Over and\nover again he calls us. He brings us and leads us to points of confrontation\nwhere we cannot help but see him and find him and understand his power in us\nand over us. I think he forces us into times when we must see him, as he did\nPaul. <\/p>\n\n<p>Some time\nago I stood at the hospital bed of a man who was diabetic. If you know anything\nabout diabetics, or if you are close to one, you understand there are a number\nof other physical maladies that will go along with those struggles. For this\nman, his diabetes also caused his blindness. He also had terrible circulation\nproblems, so that any small injury that he received on his body was a grave\nthreat to him. As a matter of fact, he was in the hospital at\nthat time, preparing to have his leg amputated.<\/p>\n\n<p>I went into\nthe room, and we visited for a few moments. He asked if I wanted to see his\nleg. He uncovered the leg, and I saw a foot that was charcoal black, evidence\nthat circulation had not been there for a long time. As I\nlooked up the leg, I saw colors from black to deep purple to other shades of\npurple. Finally I got up to a point where the flesh looked somewhat\nrecognizable, as it should. He covered the leg and said, &#8220;Can we\npray?&#8221; I said, &#8220;Certainly.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n<p>I led in\nprayer but I don&#8217;t remember what I said. But then, when I was finished, he\nprayed. I&#8217;ll never forget what he said. When this blind man prayed, he said,\n&#8220;Lord Jesus, today let me see you. I know that you are the author of all\nthings, and the creator and sustainer. Today, in this time of fear, let me see\nyou.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n<p>As he closed\nhis prayer, it occurred to me that he was seeing more in his blindness than\nmost people see in a lifetime of clear vision. Somehow the vision of Christ\nchanged the perspective of the moment. Somehow the view of the Lord\novershadowed the fears of this turmoil. Seeing the risen Messiah, conquering\nand in control and in the center of all things, made even this particular\ntrauma somewhat bearable. <\/p>\n\n<p>That, my\nfriends, is the vision of witnessing, for every person we meet is blind or lame\nor crippled by a world of personal crisis and struggle. The only thing they see\nthat can lift them above the horror is the vision of Jesus Christ, lifted high\nabove all things. We need to believe that the vision of Christ can change people\ntoday; and it does. <\/p>\n\n<p>Saul was\nprepared for this encounter, as we are, by a confrontation with the Eternal\nOne. For Saul, from this point on, all matters of earthly frustration would be\novershadowed by a life that was put into perspective by the person of Jesus\nChrist.<\/p>\n\n<p>Simultaneously,\nas Saul is prepared for this encounter, so is Ananias. Ananias is prepared&#8212;in\nthe same way that the Holy Spirit prepares you and me to make these\nconfrontations, in the same way that Peter was so delicately and perfectly prepared\nfor his meeting with Cornelius, in the same way that Philip was so perfectly\nprepared for his meeting with the Ethiopian chamberlain. Minds were being\nopened. Consciences were being freed. Inhibitions and fears were being overcome\nby purpose. Ananias was a selected instrument. He and he alone could accomplish\nwhat God desired in those moments, and the Holy Spirit made him ready. Here&#8217;s how.<\/p>\n\n<p>Verse 15:\n&#8220;But the Lord said to him, &#8216;Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to\ncarry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will\nshow him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.&#8217; &#8221; <\/p>\n\n<p>I want us to\nsee the encounter assured. While Ananias expresses reluctance about the task at\nhand, the Lord helped him put things into perspective: Ananias, you see a\nman filled with hate who threatens you. You feel at risk, that he will violate\nor harm your family, your friends, members of the church. But I want you to see\nthat I, God, see him as a chosen instrument. Ananias, I see a man who works so\nwell, who&#8217;s willing to suffer for my sake. See with my eyes. See what I see in\nhim.<\/p>\n\n<p>The\nencounter is assured when Ananias begins to see what God sees, recognizes the\nusefulness that God recognizes, observes the potential God observes. <\/p>\n    \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">The vision of Christ changes the perspective of the moment.<\/h2>\n\n<p>We must\nbegin to see the lost and the hurt through the eyes of the Father. What do you\nsee when you view the world around. What do you see when you observe those nameless\nfaces dressed in punk garb, who loiter on street corners, cursing at the\npassers-by? Do you see rebels and renegades, worthless to the core, or do you\nsee people desperately in need of the filling of the Holy Spirit? <\/p>\n\n<p>What do you\nsee when you notice husbands and wives whose lives are in misery because of\nfrivolous lifestyles? What do you see? Do you see people who are getting what\nthey deserve, or people who are desperately in need of the presence of Jesus\nChrist? What do you see when you notice\nalcoholics, whose lives are overturned by the frustration of past upbringing\nand the present crisis that is too much for them to bear. Do we see people too\nfar gone, or do we see them as children who are lost, in desperate need of\nhealing? What do we see in the world we\nobserve? Through what spectacles do we see? <\/p>\n\n<p>My little brother once had a rather\ntraumatic event take place in his life. He was playing a basketball\ngame in which he took an extremely freak-ish fall. He went up in the air, and he\ncame down with his feet over his head, and landed on the back of his head and\nneck. Immediately he went into convulsions. His toes turned inward and his arms\nand hands pulled in toward his chest. He lay lifeless and silent on the court.\nHis breathing stopped. His heart ceased to function. Some medical personnel in the crowd immediately rushed down and began to administer CPR to him. A number of minutes later, they got him going\nagain. To make a long story short, he is doing fine today. Other than the fact\nthat he is still the ugliest member of the Erickson clan, he&#8217;s fine; he&#8217;s\nabsolutely fine. <\/p>\n\n<p>I wasn&#8217;t\nthere when that event happened. By the time I arrived in Minneapolis, he had\nbeen released from the hospital and was home. But as with most ball games these\ndays, the event was videotaped, so I had an opportunity to see for myself what\ntook place. When I watched the replay, two things were indelibly etched in my\nmemory. Number one is the fall itself and how his body reacted to the severity\nof that blow. But the other thing that I can never forget is the look on my\nfather&#8217;s face as he peered over the shoulders of those attempting to\nresuscitate his son. I want you to know that there&#8217;s something extremely powerful\nabout the way a father looks at his child in distress. <\/p>\n\n<p>Having been\ncalled by God as witnesses to him, we must see with the eyes of a father whose\ndesperate face announces that, even should one child perish, it&#8217;s far too much.\nWe must see with unblinking eyes the renegades who run from God, see them as\nchildren he is not willing to forfeit on any account. If you look at the\ngrowing churches around you, you will notice that they are churches consumed\nwith the Lord&#8217;s vision for hurting people: Not one shall perish, not one. <\/p>\n\n<p>The Lord did not place Ananias in the world to see only with physical\nvision,but to see the world as he sees it. The encounter is assured when Ananias begins to see with godly\neyes. Once that vision is instilled in his mind, he&#8217;s compelled to go. <\/p>\n    \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">Witnessing encounters turn the lost into members of the family.<\/h2>\n\n<p>I want you to see the encounter completed. Verse 17: <\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>So Ananias departed and entered\nthe house. And laying his hands on him, he said, &#8216;Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus\nwho appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may\nregain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.&#8217; And immediately\nsomething like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he\nrose and was baptized, and took food and was strengthened.&#8221; &#8220;He entered the house and laying his\nhands upon him, he said, &#8216;Brother Saul!&#8217;  <\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>What a\ncanyon has been hurdled in the mind of Ananias, from the hesitant fear of\nSaul&#8212;hating his work, fearing him&#8212;to the point where he now calls him\n&#8220;Brother&#8221; and accepts him in the same kingdom! To be counted as a\nbrother in Christ after his attempts to ruin the church must have been a great\nshock and astonishment for Saul. What a blessed introduction into Christian\nfellowship&#8212;no word of reproach for his persecuting activities, no vehement\nwords that Saul should pay for what he has done, no silent undercurrent of\nridicule, nothing but the soothing sound of a brother from the lips of another\nindividual who has experienced God&#8217;s grace.<\/p>\n\n<p>What a\npicture for the church! The church is that vehicle where the brotherhood of God\ncomes to life&mdash;where people&#8217;s disturbing pasts and presents are measured by the calculator of God&#8217;s grace. Everyone else in\nthe world seems determined to hold us tightly to our pasts, measuring the\nconcept of who we are and what we might become against the picture of days gone\nby&mdash;but not the church. The church is that unique institution that experiences\nand expresses the very character of God&#8217;s grace, the place where I&#8217;m not afraid\nand I&#8217;m not ashamed to call a fellow sinner &#8220;Brother.&#8221; It&#8217;s the\nincarnate body of Christ today.<\/p>\n\n<p>Like the\nwoman with the issue of blood, who crawled her way through the streets to touch\nthe very hem of the garment of the Lord Jesus, our world is filled today with people who are in need of the touch of\nbrotherhood that comes from the presence of God: his church.<\/p>\n\n<p>Please\nnotice the progression that Ananias makes in this text. Witness is a temporary\nterm in a personal sense. You serve as a witness of Christ for someone, leading\nthem to a point where they become family members themselves. <\/p>\n\n<p>It\nfrustrates me when I listen to people who boast of their value as a witness of\nthe Lord, announcing all sorts of experiences when they have said something\nreligious, yet they&#8217;ve never observed the progressive nature of the call of the\nChristian witness. Witness is an introducing experience that culminates at the\ncelebration of brotherhood in the family. When we have invested our lives in\nanother, learning their hurts, sorrowing in their sorrows, feeling their\ninadequacies as our own&mdash;when we&#8217;ve experienced the tug of war of life with\nthem to the point where we call them and they call us &#8220;Brother&#8221;&mdash;then\nand only then is the encounter of witnessing completed. <\/p>\n\n<p>See the\nhealing in the process. It is when Ananias calls Saul &#8220;Brother&#8221; that\nthe scales&#8212;those crusty blinders that obstruct our vision of God and the church\nand his people&#8212;fall from his eyes. He regaines his sight; only this time, he\nhas new vision, seeing both God and man in a way that he had never seen them\nbefore.<\/p>\n    \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">Conclusion:<\/h2>\n\n<p>Several\nweeks ago during our missions emphasis week, one of our students shared with us\nan article by Amy Carmichael. It helped all of us see the calling to which we,\nas witnesses of the Lord Jesus, have been called. Let me share briefly some\nexcerpts from that: <\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>One\njungle night the tom-tom stomped all night, and the darkness shuddered round me\nlike a living, feeling thing. I could not go to sleep. So I lay awake and\nlooked and I saw and it seemed like this: that I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer\ndown into infinite space. I looked but saw no bottom, only clouds, shaped black\nand furiously coiled. And great shadows shrouded hollows and unfathomable\ndepths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth I saw. <\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Then I\nsaw the forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making\nfor the edge. There was a woman, and it was her baby in her arms, and another\nlittle child holding onto her dress. She was at the very verge. Then I saw that\nshe was blind. She lifted her foot for the next step, and it trod air. She was\nover, and the children with her. And oh, the cry of them as they went! <\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Then I\nsaw more streams of people flowing from every quarter. All were blind, stone\nblind. All made straight for the precipice edge. There were shrieks as they\nsuddenly knew themselves to be falling, a tossing up of helpless arms clutching\nempty air. And then I wondered, with an agony of wonder, why no one stopped\nthem at the edge. <\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Once a\nchild caught a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of the gulf. The child\nclung convulsively, and it called for someone. But no one seemed to hear. Then\nthe roots of the grass gave way, and with a cry the child went over, too. <\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;And\nthen a voice thundered from heaven, and it said, &#8216;Whom shall I send?&#8217; And I\nsaid, &#8216;Lord send me.&#8217; And the Lord said, &#8216;You shall be my witnesses.&#8217;\n&#8221; <\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>It would\noccur to me that we have been called by God to speak to a world blinded by sin,\nsaying, &#8220;Brother, receive sight. Brother, receive sight.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n    \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead1\">For your reflection:<\/h2>\n\n<p><strong>Personal growth:<\/strong> How has this sermon fed your own soul? <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Skill growth:<\/strong> What did this sermon teach you about how to preach? <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Exegesis and exposition:<\/strong> Highlight the paragraphs in this sermon that helped you better understand Scripture. How does the sermon model ways you could provide helpful biblical exposition for your hearers? <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Theological Ideas:<\/strong> What biblical principles in this sermon would you like to develop in a sermon? How would you adapt these ideas to reflect your own understanding of Scripture, the Christian life, and the unique message that God is putting on your heart? <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Outline:<\/strong> How would you improve on this outline by changing the wording, or by adding or subtracting points? <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Application:<\/strong> What is the main application of this sermon? What is the main application of the message you sense God wants you to bring to your hearers? <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Illustrations:<\/strong> Which illustrations in this sermon would relate well with your hearers? Which cannot be used with your hearers, but they suggest illustrations that could work with your hearers? <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Credit:<\/strong> Do you plan to use the content of this sermon to a degree that obligates you to give credit? If so, when and how will you do it? (For help on what may require credit, see &#8220;<a href=\"\/skills\/themes\/purity\/200503.48.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Plagiarism, Schmagiarism<\/a>&#8221; and &#8220;<a href=\"\/skills\/2008\/april\/stolengoods.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Stolen Goods: Tempted to Plagiarize<\/a>&#8220;.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[306],"tax_ctp_authors":[1307],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[170],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[412],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_sermon_series":[],"tax_ctp_tags":[3368,3458,3897,4109,4209,4394,4470,4579,4614,4877,4971,5115,5202,5242,5284],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-33594","sermons","type-sermons","status-publish","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-david-erickson","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-acceptance","tax_ctp_tags-authenticity","tax_ctp_tags-evangelism","tax_ctp_tags-guidance","tax_ctp_tags-illness","tax_ctp_tags-lostness","tax_ctp_tags-ministry","tax_ctp_tags-outreach","tax_ctp_tags-paul-the-apostle","tax_ctp_tags-salvation","tax_ctp_tags-sickness","tax_ctp_tags-surrender","tax_ctp_tags-unbelief","tax_ctp_tags-vision","tax_ctp_tags-witnessing"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Encounter: The Vision of Witnessing - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Encounter: The Vision of Witnessing - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Introduction Several years ago, I was enjoying a day of recreation on a ski slope in central Wisconsin. While other friends from the church had gone over to take on more challenging slopes, I was careening off trees and slicing through underbrush on a slope that was just one over from the bunny slope. Having Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/\",\"name\":\"Encounter: The Vision of Witnessing - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2005-08-26T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2005-08-26T00:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Encounter: The Vision of Witnessing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Encounter: The Vision of Witnessing - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Encounter: The Vision of Witnessing - CT Pastors","og_description":"Introduction Several years ago, I was enjoying a day of recreation on a ski slope in central Wisconsin. While other friends from the church had gone over to take on more challenging slopes, I was careening off trees and slicing through underbrush on a slope that was just one over from the bunny slope. Having Read more...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/","og_site_name":"CT Pastors","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@CTpastors","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/","name":"Encounter: The Vision of Witnessing - CT Pastors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website"},"datePublished":"2005-08-26T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2005-08-26T00:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermons\/encounter-vision-of-witnessing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Encounter: The Vision of Witnessing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","name":"CT Pastors","description":"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization","name":"Christianity Today","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg","caption":"Christianity Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors","https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors"]}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/33594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermons"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/33594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33597,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermons\/33594\/revisions\/33597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_audience?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_authors?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_categories?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_field_guides","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_field_guides?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_format?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_multimedia","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_multimedia?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_point_editor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_point_editor?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_publications","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_publications?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_sermon_series?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_tags?post=33594"},{"taxonomy":"tax_ctp_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tax_ctp_topics?post=33594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}