(In the Spring and Autumn 2003 Alpha Courses, the talk on "Why and How to tell others" was not included because of other re-scheduling. Below is the talk on this subject from the previous Business Alpha Edinburgh courses.)

My wife and I were on holiday on Skye. The B and B was full. Breakfast was an unusually communal affair with people sitting round a large dining table. Somebody asked me what I did for a living. I told them I was a minister.

While some suddenly found the toast particularly interesting... a young Swiss man said that he was a biochemist and as a scientist believed that all this God business was nonsense.

At 8.30a.m.I am not very good at theology. While I took another bite of bacon and egg, I heard a voice beside me saying: "Well, if wasn't for God, I couldn't get through the day."

It was my wife. The young man made a smart comment, and then we let the subject die a death.

That evening we returned to discover that most of the guests had moved on except for an American couple - he was a lawyer in a top Washington firm and she taught law at university.

We had a fascinating conversation about many things. Then the man said that he had been very impressed by what had been said at breakfast. I couldn't think what words of wisdom I had spoken, but he quickly put me right. "Not you - your wife. You are paid to talk about God. As for your wife, I have never heard anyone speak so personally about God before." We talked for hours after that about God and faith.

"If it wasn't for God, I couldn't get through the day," is what was said.

Telling others about God and Jesus Christ is simply about being honest about who we are.

As this Alpha course goes on, I have no illusions about where the real communication goes on. It is in the conversations of ordinary folk sharing their questions and telling their stories. That is what makes the connections. People talking to people about a person that means or will hopefully come to mean a lot to us.

Of course, this all begs the question about why we are here at all. Clearly people have gone to a lot of bother to offer this opportunity for us to learn together about the Christian faith and about Jesus Christ in particular. Why bother to go to the trouble of telling others? Why not just keep it all private?

Why tell others?
1. Christians believe in the "go" of God. We believe in a God who is always going out of his way to draw other people into a loving relationship with him. Apparently the Bible uses the word "Go" 1514 times! (Who counts all these things?) The Gospel of Matthew uses the word 54 times, ending with the risen Jesus saying: "Go and make disciples of all nations."

That is the "go" of God. Christians walk in step with a God who goes ahead of us - and wants us to explain to others what he has done in Jesus Christ to let us know him. This Alpha course is one forum for that discovery.

2. Christians believe there is a spiritual hunger for something more. David Hay and Kate Hunt of Nottingham University have recently published research into the "spirituality of people who do not go to church". They found that people are 60% more likely to talk of a spiritual experience today than they would 15 years ago. People are privately very interested in the spiritual.

The researchers go on to say:

"Spirituality has not been snuffed out by consumerism; rather it may have been heightened as the treadmill of 'spend, spend, spend' leaves people feeling empty inside."

3. Christians have made discoveries in their own lives - about the reality of God, the person of Jesus Christ and the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit. We would like to share that in a way that is clear, but open to question. We share what has excited us or meant most to us about God.

How do we tell others?
And yet, it is not always easy to talk about our faith. Either we don't know how to start or we don't know when to stop! We are either too embarrassed to open our mouths in case people make a fool of us; or we are so eager to tell others that we end up being preachy and pushy - and people make off in the other direction. The key is to be unembarrassed and unembarrassing! Here are five "p"s about how Christians can tell others:

1. Presence
Just our very presence can be of way of telling. Communication is 5% words, 40% our ways of speaking and 55% body language! The Christian faith is expressed in "the body language" of people who claim to follow Jesus. The way we treat people, do our work, treat our families.

Have you heard of the "Four W" way of sharing your faith. It is based on the advice of the Apostle Peter to wives about winning their husbands. "WWWW": "Wives win (your husbands) without (a) word."

For Business Alpha that might be "Workers win (others) without (a) word."
As St Francis of Assisi said: "Preach the Gospel. Only use words if necessary."

2. Prayer
We may not say a word out loud at all. We can pray silently. This too can be a way of "telling". Why? Only God can make God real to people. As you go back into your office this afternoon, carry two words in your mind: "Bless you." Take a look round at each person. "Bless you." Before you answer the phone, "Bless you." Especially for those who give you hard time: "Bless you."

Let God do the rest.

Some people go further and ask God for opportunities to share their faith with others. As a friend said: "God always gives the opportunity. The problem is that I don't recognise it till 7 seconds after it is past!"

3. Presentation
If the opportunity does come up to talk about our faith, how do we go about that? Try "tale of three stories".

a. The Seeker's story. Listen well to what people are actually asking and ask questions that help you know what would be helpful. We have been given two ears and one mouth. Please use them in that proportion!

b. The Sharer's story. Sometimes all that is needed is a part our own story of how Jesus Christ has influenced our lives. Personally, I often find that the aspect of God's goodness which means most to me today is what may well relate to the other person's need.

c. God's Story. What aspect of God's story in Jesus will make sense to this person? Often it is worth picking up on a story from the Bible that makes the desired point. Jesus told stories and asked questions. These open people up rather than close them down.

4. Persuasion
This too is a means of telling. Paul said that he was "persuaded" about Jesus Christ - and spent long hours of debate in persuading others. You don't leave your brain at the door to become a follower of Jesus!

Sharing the Christian faith requires an open dialogue where we have to "give a reason for the hope that is in us", to quote Peter again, but we can do it with gentleness and quiet confidence that points people beyond ourselves to Jesus Christ.

5. Person
Finally, the best focus of our telling. One thing I always try to remember in these conversations is that truth is not a proposition to be proved. Truth is a person - the living person of the risen Christ. When we are having our conversations about Jesus, we are talking in the presence of Jesus. He has his own ways of making himself real to people. Like Mary in the Garden on Easter morning: she heard her name, "Mary". Again and again, Jesus turns up. He is his own best argument.

And that is sheer mystery!