By: Zeke

Over the last few weeks we have been talking about sharing the Gospel. Spreading God’s words to those around us in order that they might come to know him too. One of the things we talked about is the idea of using our story to tell others the gospel. We can talk about how we met Jesus so we can help them relate and see that they too can know him. What does that really look like though? What is your story? 

It’s easy enough to say a moment or two where Jesus influenced your life, but what’s the full story? We don’t often get the chance to tell our whole life story, and that is ok. We don’t have to tell everyone everything about us. However, oftentimes we end up not using any part of it, and we don’t even see the blessings that we experienced throughout our lives. 

Many of us might look at our story and say there isn’t much there, or it isn’t unique, or it’s not worth telling. Maybe you’re on the other side and think there is just too much brokenness to tell or that your story can’t be used because of mistakes you’ve made. Whichever lie we hear and believe, the end result is that we tend to downplay and look at our own story as not worthwhile. We minimize the work that God has done in our lives and we lose sight of who and what he saw in us when he chose us and saved us.

But God has told us that we are each made for a purpose. Each one of our stories can be used to impact someone that no one else’s story can reach in the same way. Even if we don’t see it, our story is unique and specially designed to bring us closer to God and to impact the people that are in our lives.

We talked in youth group this week about Paul’s testimony. How he came to be Paul and not Saul anymore. We touched some on his background before he met Jesus but I want you to go read the story for yourself. Read Acts 8:1-3 (bonus reading Acts 7 for more context on Stephen’s execution). Saul was in many regards the worst of the worst to the early church. If there was anyone they saw as unsavable, it would have been Saul.

Saul was uniquely qualified then to have the testimony that no one else could have. He could reach people that no one at that time could reach because of his testimony.

Later, at the end of his life, Paul used his status as a Roman citizen and a former Jewish Pharisee to gain council with high officials in order to continue preaching the gospel to even more people and to others that no one else could get to. 

Now our testimony certainly isn’t as wild as Paul’s, and in fact, many of us read his testimony and it makes ours seem small. But that isn’t the point here, the point is that our story cannot be replicated and it cannot be diminished, God wants us to use our testimony to grow closer to him and to bring others to Christ. 

For me, I viewed my testimony as boring for a long time. I saw my story as one that was not impactful because I didn’t have some big event that happened to me and I didn’t ever live some crazy life that made for an amazing story. My story was one that wasn’t worth telling because someone else’s story would be more impactful and better suited to help people come to know Jesus. It wasn’t until I wrote it out and actually told it (because I was required to) that I realized my story was impactful to others in ways that I didn’t even realize. And it was through writing it, telling it, and reflecting that I realized the impact it had even on me and how I viewed God. It deepened my relationship with him when I saw the way he moved in my life even if I didn’t see it for a long time.

Question:

Read Acts 8:1-3 and Acts 9:1-31 What is unique about Paul’s testimony? Why was who Saul was before he met Jesus significant?

Challenge:

• This week write your testimony.
• As you write, write down a few key takeaways that you could use to help share the gospel with others. Share these takeaways in the chat.

This should be a longer in depth look into your life story not just a paragraph.

Your testimony is how you came to know Jesus and what he has done in your life.

It should include who you were before you knew Jesus, How you met Jesus, and who you are now.

You can include things like how you were raised, key moments in your life, key challenges you faced, mistakes you made, miracles in your life, How Jesus entered your life, specific examples of life Post-Jesus, etc. 

Be as detailed as you want to be. You are NOT required to share the entire testimony in the group (although I do encourage you to do so). This challenge is for you to be able to look at and see how God moved and how your story can be impactful to others and what it reveals to you about God and how he shows up in people’s lives.

If you need help or want an example, please reach out to one of us. I am happy to share my own examples if you need it!