Acts 3:12-16 :

When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, “You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses. By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

This section gives us an excellent pattern for good evangelism. I don’t think that every time we evangelize we must follow a pattern, but this example gives us some important general instructions to follow in common situations we may find ourselves in when talking to others about Jesus.

First of all, notice that Peter completely disallowed any glory that was directed toward John and himself. When we perform signs in Jesus name, absolutely none of the glory goes to us. All glory goes to Jesus Christ. Some people today may try to gain glory for themselves in Jesus’ name, but this is clearly sinful.

People started attaching special significance to humans who did great works by calling them “Saints.” This foolishness continues to this day. These men were just men who had faith in Jesus, by their own admission. All believers are “Saints” according to the Bible.

Next, we read that the people had to recognize that they had done evil in God’s sight. This is the same today. All men are evil in God’s sight and it is important that those who we evangelize to, clearly recognize the mess that they are in because of their own sin. Until they understand this, there will be little use for the “Good News” of the gospel.

Then, we must understand who Jesus really was. He wasn’t just a nice teacher or a good guy or a person who was cruelly murdered without cause. He was the “Holy and Righteous One,” “the Prince of Life.” The Jews knew that this meant that He was the Messiah. You can’t bring people to Jesus if they don’t really know who He is.

Finally, it is important to remember that Jesus physically resurrected. This was a real event in history and it changed the rest of history for mankind. Without a resurrected Jesus, there is no hope in Christianity. Death would still win in the end.