3 Everyday Ways to Share the Gospel (Hint: Listen Well)

We recently asked people in our church how they felt about “sharing the gospel” and it confirmed what I already knew in my gut: most people don’t know what to say about Jesus and are worried about losing friends if they try! What if the entry point for the gospel is something you are already doing? -- listening and trying to help as your friends ‘go through stuff.’ 

Your friends give you clues all the time what kind of “good news” they need to hear as they talk about the stuff going on in their lives. If they’re hurt or longing or lost there are different ways to share the good news about the hope, power, forgiveness available through Jesus. Scripture itself gives us different angles on the same good news: Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead according to God’s plan (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). You can shift the depth or emphasis of this message depending on what ‘stuff’ is on the table. 

If you listen, your friends will give you a pretty good idea of how the gospel might truly sounds like “good news” instead of something preachy, judgmental or unwelcome. Here are three common ways in.

1. When someone says, “I feel so bad.”

This one’s easy to recognize. Maybe you hear it after they snapped at their kid, or when they confess something they regret deeply. People feel bad because we all mess up. Guilt and shame are some of the most common human experiences—and they point to our deep need to be made right again.

The Bible calls this sin. We share the moments with our friends where we are carrying the guilt of being wrong or doing wrong. And that can be a heavy weight! The good news is that God has already made a way to deal with it.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:3, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”

And Romans 3:23–24 explains, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

That’s the best news for anyone weighed down by guilt: there’s a way to become guiltless, acceptable, and right before God—apart from getting cleaned up first. You don’t have to perform religious rituals or earn forgiveness. It’s all a free gift of grace.

I learned this deeply at Dayton Correctional Institution, a women’s prison. I met moms, wives, daughters, and sisters just like me—except they were serving sentences. Some were deceived, some abused, some made terrible choices. All had broken the law and had sentences hanging over their heads —just like all of us before a holy God. Every single woman there understood what it would mean to hear someone say, “I’ll serve your time. You can go home.”

That’s exactly what Jesus did for us. Romans 3:25 says, “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” Jesus took our sentence. He stood in our place as the criminal on the cross so we could take His place as a beloved child in the family of God.

That’s not just good news—it’s unbelievable news.

2. When someone says, “Nothing’s ever gonna change.”

We all know this one too. It’s the sound of hopelessness—when life feels powerless, when someone’s strength runs out, or when things seem stuck for good. Maybe it’s a failing relationship, an addiction, or a deep disappointment.

My daughter felt this during a tough cross-country season. She trained hard but raced poorly week after week. “Maybe I just suck,” she said, totally defeated. Eventually, we discovered her iron levels were dangerously low—her body literally couldn’t carry enough oxygen to her muscles. She was powerless, and no amount of trying harder could fix it.

That’s what life feels like without the power Jesus has. We hit walls. Our own strength fails. And no amount of positive thinking can raise the dead.

But this is the gospel’s good news for the hopeless: there is power available for life, no matter what kind of death you face.

Paul says in Romans 6:4, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Then in verses 6–7: “Our old self was crucified with him... that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”

That means you don’t have to live powerless. When you receive Jesus by faith, His resurrection becomes your new source of strength. The same Spirit that raised Him from the grave now lives in you. There’s hope for change because resurrection is real.

So when your friend feels like nothing will ever change, you can share that the same power that rolled away a stone can roll away their despair. The resurrection isn’t just a story about the past—it’s a promise of new life and new power in the present.

3. When someone says, “I’m in the dark.”

Sometimes, people don’t feel guilty or hopeless—they just feel lost. They can’t see their way forward. Maybe they’re grieving, confused, or stuck in a fog of pain or doubt. They’re trying to make sense of the world and can’t find the path ahead.

Diddy recently admitted to the judge that sentenced him to prison, “I lost my way—got lost in my journey… ” That’s honest. Most of us hit seasons like that. Research even shows we experience predictable “life crises” about every decade—our twenties, thirties, forties, and beyond. I met a woman in one at a hair salon one day. While my highlights were processing, she shared about losing someone she loved. Her grief left her searching for signs, lost for how to live her life now. She said, “I just feel in the dark.”

I told her gently, “I know you do. But there’s someone who will come find you and walk you out of the dark. His name is Jesus. Walking people out of darkness was His whole mission—and He’ll be glad to do it for you now.”

That’s exactly what Colossians 1:13–14 says:

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

When Jesus paid for you, He gained the right to take you wherever He wants—and He wants to bring you into light. That’s a transfer of kingdoms! From darkness to light. From confusion to clarity. From wandering to being found.

And He’s good at it. Because He’s already done it—He went into the darkest place of all, the grave, so He could walk you into life and light again. That’s what the resurrection means. That’s why it’s good news.

These are just three ways the Bible describes the good news—three angles that connect with real human need. Whether your friend feels guilty, hopeless, or lost, the gospel speaks right into that space with a message of forgiveness, power, and light.

So as you listen to people in your life, don’t stress about saying everything just right. Listen for what their heart is already asking or needing. The gospel isn’t a sales pitch; it’s a story that meets us where we already are—and points us to a loving God. 

Because no matter who you’re talking to, the same historical truth stands: Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. By faith in Him, anyone—your neighbor, your coworker, your friend—can have a resurrected life of forgiveness, power, and hope.

And maybe that’s the best news you’ll ever get to share.