Page 45 - Finding Jesus with Good News report A5 WEB

• Those from lower income backgrounds were more likely to report
the impact of a conversation with a church leader (24%), sermon
(19%) or testimony (17%) than other groups.
• Older participants (aged 65 and over) reported reading the Bible
(46%) and talking to a friend about it (29%) at well above the sample
average.
• Those with no faith background were strongly impacted by
experiences of God (49%) and answered prayer (27%).
• Very young adults (aged 18–24) similarly reported high levels of
spiritual experience (45%) but were also twice as likely to just trust
their gut (it felt like the right thing to do – 23%) or logic (it made
intellectual sense – 19%). As already described, they were using both
head and heart to make a decision to follow Jesus.

Spiritual experiences
As we’ve seen in earlier sections of the report, spiritual experiences play an
important part in many people’s journeys towards Jesus. Sometimes they spark
the process or are significant milestones along the way. But there seems to be a
particular clustering of these experiences very close to or at the time of conversion.

People’s experiences vary. They include physical healing, physical sensations,
intense emotional experiences, hearing God and/or a tangible sense of God’s
presence. Around two fifths of those who completed the survey, and the same
proportion of those we interviewed, said that it was a spiritual experience that
finally ‘sealed the deal’ for them.
God is involved throughout the whole journey in people finding Jesus; spiritual
experiences are not the only marker of God’s divine intervention in people’s lives.
However, they do remind and encourage us that, as we seek to play our part in
helping others discover Jesus, God is directly involved. It’s not all down to us! It’s
also helpful for us to be aware that spiritual experiences are common, and that
those who have them often find it helpful to speak to a Christian about them.

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