If time allows, all these components are important.

You must know your audience!  Ask what and why questions before you start talking. I watched a video of a “professional” evangelist spend several minutes sharing how the person is a sinner and the consequences of sin to someone whose eyes glazed over and later responds saying, “I believe in reincarnation.”  They believed they were a sinner but didn’t believe in the Bible and walked away even more glad they believed what they believed. They’ll just get it right next time. So, ask questions first!  One that fits everyone is, “What do you think happens when you die?” Everyone dies so you’re on common ground. They may say they are going to heaven, or be reincarnated or there’s just black out there. An effective question to ask after that is, “Why?” or “What makes you believe that?” Just asking these two questions will tell you very important things about your audience.

Establish common ground.

If they believe in Heaven, a great follow up question is, “Do you think Heaven is a perfect place?” If they say yes, you’ve established that they believe in some sort of god or God, and an afterlife that includes Heaven. The person may be an atheist. You might find your common ground is that they have moral values.  Then you could ask them why humans have moral values.  Where do they come from?  If they have a different religion, you could ask how their religion differs from Christianity. That brings you into the next step.

Reveal truth from the Bible.

For example, should they not know what’s different, you could share. (No grave, No Pride: Justification) Even if they are an atheist, revealing the Bible story to them is important. You could say something like, “Did you know the Bible is the most read book in the world?” Then follow up asking, “Do you know what the central theme of the Bible is?” They won’t. You can then share something like this. God made man. Man did wrong and turned away from God. God sent His own Son Jesus into the world to die for all of man’s sins to restore the relationship for all who receive His gift.”

Share the good news. 

If you shared as above, you’ve already shared the good news while revealing truth from the Bible. If you haven’t, this is a good time to share the good news, that Jesus came into the world to offer eternal life to those who believe He died for their sins.  John 3:16

Share the problem.

If you used the above example sharing the central theme of the Bible, then you’ve already done this in general terms. It must be specific to the person. Seldom does a person believe they are sinless. That said, they must know they need a Savior to receive Jesus. If you haven’t already asked, there are two simple questions that can be asked for those who believe in Heaven. “Do you think heaven is a perfect place?”

Assuming they say yes, you can follow up with, “As far as doing good things, do you believe you are perfect?" If they say no, they’ve admitted they’ve fallen short of a perfect standard, the very definition of sin. Now you can share the real problem with another question. They don’t have a way. “So, I’m curious, when you die, how do you change from being imperfect to being perfect so you can get into your perfect heaven?” 

Most people will have no answer, at least not one that even they believe.

Share the solution.

It can all be done with Rom 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This includes revelation, good news and the solution.

Limited time   2-5 minutes.

Most people will have no answer, at least not one that even they believe. 

1. Pray and pray specifically for a way to connect. You want to bridge to spiritual things and there isn’t much time. The following is an example, not a script to follow unless you feel it really fits you. You could use a current issue.  “Do you know people still really worried about catching Covid?”  “I’ve had fears in the past. When I trust God, I have peace. What gives you peace?” Unless the answer confirms this person is a Christian, the door is open for spiritual talk. “I’ve done a lot of searching and come to the conclusion that this universe didn’t make itself. So there had to be a God of some sort. What better way do you think God could use to communicate with people than the most read book in the world?. They may say they don’t know.  Well, I’ve done a fair amount of reading the Bible and learned about how much God loves me. You’ve probably heard the verse, “ "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life?”  ‘Well, I know I’ve done wrong in my life and sure can’t get into a perfect heaven without something happening, so I accepted the gift God gave us, payment for our sins through the death of Jesus. What do you think of that?”

2.  Another method is once you find a way to connect, to ask 5 questions followed up with 1 verse.