What’s Your Story?

A community wide Praise  and Testimony night – “What’s your Story?” – will be held on Sunday,
November 6^th at 6:00 PM. The event will be hosted by Living Water Church of the Nazarene (www.livingwatermorris.org)
at 508 W. Illinois Ave in Morris. (Canal Port Plaza next to the Grundy County Historical Society)

Faith and Hope are built when we hear how God has answered prayers, provided for needs or strength, given guidance,
healed, or restored relationships.

God is always working in the lives of His people. Join us for a night of fellowship
and encouragement as we hear and share testimonies of how God is working in our
lives. The testimonies will be your story through God. A few minutes of sharing
a scripture verse or a God moment in your life.

When we hear testimony of how God healed, saved, encouraged,
uplifted, taught or delivered someone, then many times our friends, neighbors,
coworkers, family members, and others will give more thought to examining the
claims of Christianity, attending a worship service, or turning to God in
prayer. A simply told Christian testimony can provide a more effective witness
for Christ than the most skillful rhetoric or the most intelligent apologetic.

The key phrase to  remember when delivering a testimony is the same key phrase of any story: but  then ….

• I was hopeless, But then …
• I didn’t care who I hurt or
  which bridges I burned, But then …
• I was addicted, heading for the
  grave. But then …

This phrase and these stories will will grip you. We all want to know how and why someone changes.
But often, testimonies skip over the “but then.” We go from “I was lost”
immediately to “I am found. I have peace. I’m assured of heaven.”

Maybe this is because few of us have a Damascus Road experience – a dramatic voice from heaven or
miraculous encounter that changes everything in one instant. More often, we
give our lives to Christ and then believe our new life is not interesting to
others. Or we experience some life setbacks and minimize God’s continued work in our life.

But your life is  interesting. Your life with God’s story is valuable and helpful to others.
Don’t think your testimony isn’t worth telling if it doesn’t contain a
miraculous game-changing event. To many people – especially those who are
hurting – rarely realize the importance of the miracle when even one person
invests time, energy, and emotion into the life of another. These are God
ordained moments in our life.

Tell your but then… story, and be specific. Do not move to but now until you’ve covered but
then. If you’ll do that, and follow these few, quick suggestions, then
you’ll have a solid Christian testimony that you can share with the world,
regardless of your command of grammar, syntax, wit, or rhetoric:

1. Read A Testimony From The Bible

Read one of the great testimonies of people in the Bible. Abraham and Isaac, Joseph, Moses, King
David, Esther, Joshua, Peter, Paul, John and the countless other people that God worked in and through.

2. Pray For The Spirit’s Help

Sometimes our thoughts get so jumbled we don’t even know what we should ask for when we pray. But the
Bible says the Spirit prays for us. (Romans 8:26). In the same way, God knows
our story better than we do. He can help us tell it well.

3. Remember

Before writing your Christian testimony, think about your life prior to Christ. What obstacles were
you facing? How did you feel whenever you were alone with your thoughts? Why did you need to change?

4. Outline in Three Steps: Before…, But Then…, After…

There is a reason why the three-point outline is so effective for a wide range of testifying to God’s
presence in your life – it’s clear and it works. Stories traditionally have a
beginning, middle and end. In the first point, tell us what life was
like before, and why you needed to change. In the second point, tell us what
brought about that change, and how the change occurred. In the third point,
tell us where you are now – how you feel, and what you expect in the future.

5. Be specific.

Make your testimony concrete by including details. Obviously you need to exercise wisdom as your
testimony relates to other people – especially if it casts them in a bad light.
There is a time to refrain from naming names. But in general, include specific
events, places and people. This will make your testimony more concrete to
others. For instance:

“At Starbucks I ran into my old friend Carla, whom I hadn’t seen in ten years. As we talked I could tell
there was something different about her. When she invited me to come to [Your  Church Name] with her, it surprised me.”

Instead of:

“I ran into someone I used to know. She invited me to church.”

The power of specificity even makes fictional events seem real — how much more so, a story that is true?

6. Most importantly, remember it’s all about Christ.

You didn’t save yourself, heal yourself, or become more like Jesus on your own effort. The gulf
between sinners and our holy, perfect God is only surmountable through the
cross of Christ. Keep the focus where it should be, on God’s work in You
through His Son, by His Spirit, rather than on your own self-help plans.

“If you are a Christian you have experienced God’s power. You might say, “I don’t have one of those
crazy stories, like …drug lord to ‘Jesus is Lord.’ But that’s lame. Your
testimony and God’s story is powerful and interesting to others.

Every testimony is a tribute to God’s power. It’s only by God’s power that we step out of death into
life, that we are transformed out of darkness into the kingdom of light, with
God’s son Jesus Christ. We need to pray for wisdom to communicate this message.

Once again, you and your family are invited to a community wide Praise and Testimony night on Sunday,
November 6^th at 6:00 PM. The event will be hosted by Living Water Church of the Nazarene (www.livingwatermorris.org)
at 508 W. Illinois Ave in Morris. (Canal Port Plaza next to the Grundy County Historical Society)

Please email your  testimony to Pastor Steve Cook at cooksd7@aol.com or call 815.252.4744 if you are
unable to attend this evening. With permission someone will read the testimony  during the evening.

To God Be The Glory,

Pastor Steve