The proven methods, step by step, with the words to say on the street. Pass each class’s checkpoint to complete it.
🌿 After the Prayer: Follow-Up That Lasts
Fruit That Remains · The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) & the Apostolic Pattern (Acts 2:41-42)
⏳ Not completed yet
John 15:16 - "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain..."
Jesus did not call us to collect decisions but to make disciples. Learn to give a new believer biblical assurance, follow up in the first 48 hours, connect them to a local church, water baptism, and the promise of the Holy Spirit, and to plant the seed with dignity when someone is not ready. "Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Colossians 1:28).
Step-by-step blueprint
1 Assurance: Resting on Christ, Not Feelings
Know, Not Hope
"And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:11-13).
Salvation rests on Christ's finished work ("It is finished!", John 19:30), not on feelings and not on the exact words of a prayer. A prayer expresses repentance and faith; it is not a magic formula.
Feelings rise and fall; God's promises don't. Show them John 5:24 and John 10:27-29.
Be honest about what comes next: the Holy Spirit begins to change them from the inside (2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 1:6), and they will still face temptation.
🗣️ On the street, say it like this"Tomorrow you might not feel any different, and that's okay. Your salvation doesn't rest on your feelings; it rests on what Jesus did. Let's read 1 John 5:13 together. God wants you to KNOW."
2 The Next 48 Hours
Contact • Text • Read
Exchange contact information, with permission. Ask; never pressure. Where possible, men follow up with men and women with women.
Send a text within 24 hours: encouragement, a verse, and an open offer to answer questions.
Start them in the Gospel of John: one chapter a day for 21 days. Give them a printed Gospel of John or a Bible, or help them install a Bible app.
Answer their questions. When you don't know, say so, and find out.
Pray for them by name every day.
Encourage them to talk to God simply and honestly, and to tell one person what Jesus has done (Mark 5:19).
🗣️ On the street, say it like this"Would it be okay if I got your number and texted you tomorrow? I'll send you a plan for reading the Gospel of John, one chapter a day."
3 Church & Baptism
Connect & Obey
Connect them to a local Bible-believing church near them, not necessarily yours. Offer to go with them the first time and introduce them to the pastor (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:24-25).
Water baptism: Jesus commanded it: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Peter said, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38), and the first believers were baptized that same day (Acts 2:41; see Acts 8:36-38). Baptism is not a work that earns salvation; it is the new believer's first public step of obedience.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit: Jesus promised power to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). At Pentecost "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4), and Peter declared, "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off" (Acts 2:39). Encourage them to ask the Father, who gives the Holy Spirit "to those who ask Him" (Luke 11:13).
Feed them the Word: "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2).
🗣️ On the street, say it like this"Is there a church near where you live? I know a good Bible-believing church about ten minutes from you, and I'd love to go with you this Sunday."
4 When They Don't Pray
Plant & Trust
Not everyone is ready, and that is not failure. "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).
Keep their dignity. Thank them sincerely for talking. Jesus "loved" the rich young ruler and let him walk away (Mark 10:21-22). No pressure, no guilt trips, no "you'll regret this" parting shots.
Leave Scripture: a Gospel of John or a Gospel tract. God's word "shall not return to Me void" (Isaiah 55:11).
Pray for them: ask if you may pray for them right there, and keep praying for them by name.
You may be one link in a chain."One sows and another reaps" (John 4:37). Someone else may reap what you sowed today, or you may reap what someone else sowed.
🗣️ On the street, say it like this"I really appreciate you being honest with me. Can I leave this with you? It's the Gospel of John. Read it when you're ready. And would it be okay if I prayed for you before I go?"
🎯 Checkpoint
Answer as you would on the street. Get 3 of 4 right to complete this masterclass.