How God Can Use Your Life Story (John 4)

We are currently in the "Tell Someone" message series about sharing your faith with others. This week we are going to look at John 4 and see how the Samaritan woman ran to get all her friends and neighbors to come see Jesus down by the water well. She told them her story of meeting this amazing man and John 4:39 says, "Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, 'He told me everything I ever did!'” Be encouraged to share your faith story with others so they will experience Jesus, too.

Maybe you will even recall stories and teachings from your mother. Faith hero John Wesley said, “I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England.”

NOTES
Rockwell Church     May 12th, 2024     Pastor Chris Teien
How God Can Use Your Life Story 
John 4:39-42

A. Jesus knows all about our PAST (John 4:39)

B. Jesus gives our Life Story a NEW BEGINNING (Titus 3:4-5)

The Story of Your Salvation:
‌1. I am a Sinner (Romans 3:23)
2. I was given a Gift (Romans 6:23)
3. God Loves Me (Romans 5:8)
4. I Believe in Jesus (Romans 10:9-10)
5. I Answered the Call (Romans 10:13)
6. I Belong to Jesus (Romans 8:1)
7. I am Secure in Jesus (Romans 8:38-39)

C. Jesus gets us through the HARD TIMES (2 Cor 1:3-5)

D. Jesus wants us to be READY to share our Story (1 Peter 3:15)

An additional resource for this message series is the small book
“Tell Someone – You Can Share the Good News” by Greg Laurie.
Also available as an e-book or audio book.

Watch Livestream Video https://youtube.com/live/BTq1QMwegqA

The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:16

God can use your life story, and you are still making your life story. Every choice that you make, every every new experience you have, helps contribute to your life story. Hopefully, your life story is going well. Hopefully, it is focusing on your relationship with Jesus. So it's amazing that kids are often able to tell all sorts of things about their mothers and grandmothers. They can tell stories about that. Hopefully they're good stories. Hopefully, when you think about your parenting or grandparenting, you're thinking, huh, someday they might tell stories about this. I hope it's good. So I read an old story that was pretty good, actually. When Robert Ingersoll, the notorious skeptic, was in his heyday. Two college students went to hear him lecture. As they walked down the street after the lecture, one said to the other, Well, I guess he knocked the props out from under Christianity, didn't he? And the other boy said, Nope, I don't think he did. Ingersoll didn't explain my mother's life. Until he can explain my mother's life, I will stand by my mother's God. That's a pretty awesome thing. Read another old story about a little boy who forgot his lines in the Sunday school presentation. His mother was in the front row, frantically trying to help him to remember his lines, trying to prompt him, trying to help him, forming the words silently with her lips, and then it didn't work. So her son couldn't remember what he was supposed to say. So finally she leaned forward and whispered the cue. I am the light of the world. And the child beamed and with great feeling in a loud, clear voice said, My mother is the light of the world. And hopefully that's what you talk about when you talk about your mother at Mother's Day. But sharing your story is huge because it is a bridge to help people go from who you are and what you've experienced to Christ in your life. So hopefully your story is always leading to Christ in your life. And I found over the years many different stories lead to opportunities to bridge the gap to talk about Christ. It's like spiritual fishing. You should throw something out about your story and then see if it can lead into something about Christ. For instance, um, so I had a 1970 International Scout. And back when I had it, it was not a cool vehicle. I mean, it was cheap, it was one of the cheapest things you could buy. And now, if you had a 1970 International Scout in good condition, it would be worth a lot of money. I also had a 68 Chevelle station wagon that was not worth anything, which is worth a lot now. Things change. The value of time, which shows the older you are, the more valuable you are, right? But anyway, so I have the stories about these cars. And if you find other people that are into cars like that, you can start to tell stories. And stories something like, yeah, I had a 1970 international scout kind of like that. And for the life of me, I couldn't get it to stop overheating. So I changed the coolant. I even ran acid through it, and it didn't seem to be working. So in desperation, I laid hands on it and I prayed, Jesus, I need this transportation. Would you please help me to fix it? And I ran another can of acid through it, ran the water through it, and I never had that problem again. And I can't imagine it was just the can of acid. God answers my littlest prayers when I cry out to him, and he doesn't answer everyone, but I have a personal relationship with Jesus. How about you? And that is a bridge to hear. Maybe they'll say, Well, yeah, or well, no, tell me more about it. But is your story can be a bridge. So we're going through John chapter four. I'm just gonna keep going through the book of John until we get uh to Labor Day because there's so much good stuff in there. And so this church is so kind and gracious. So I didn't realize till after after I was here for a while that when I first came, I did a series on Philippians, but your interim pastor had just done a series on Philippians, and it's like you didn't even say anything. You're like, we already heard this. So anyway, you're so kind. I'm pretty sure you guys haven't gone through John for a while, so I think that's a safe one. But to share your story, like the Samaritan woman, the woman at the well, the woman that Jesus went out of his way to meet with, to talk with. So let me just jog your memory by reading the context of the verses. So um Jesus had been talking, oops, I just hang on one second. Somehow I lost my presentation. Okay, one moment. I'm back. Okay, so anyway, so Jesus goes out of his way. He's talking to the Samaritan woman. Uh, Jews don't talk to Samaritans, men didn't talk to women. Um, it was awkward for him to ask for water. Um, the disciples were out getting supplies, and so anyway, so he's having this conversation and he's like sharing um stuff about her life, and um, it is just really an awesome thing to think that Jesus cared so much about the outcasts that he went out of his way to talk with them. And so anyway, so then the disciples show up and they're like, Jesus, what are you doing? And they're like, Did you get something else to eat or what? But anyway, so Jesus in verse 34 says, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. He says, Don't you have a saying, it's still four months until the harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields, they are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together, thus saying, one sows and another reaps is true. Even now, the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life. Whoops, hang in. I already read that. So I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of your labor. So, okay, so Jesus is talking about a spiritual harvest here. So Jesus is talking about leading lost people to Christ. Jesus is talking about the importance of helping people, you know, across that line from uh the temporary to eternal to come into a right relationship with the Lord. And so we can plant seeds by sharing scripture and our story and things about the gospel of Christ. We can plant seeds or we can and we can also harvest. There might be people out there that are just ready and waiting to hear from you. They are literally praying, what was I, what must I do to be saved? They are looking for someone to come alongside of them and help them. And maybe you are the person. Maybe God has given you an experience, a perfect experience to connect with someone else who's going through a hard time, and you're gonna tell them how you went through the same kind of hard time or the difficulty, and um how God got you through, and how he can forgive that sin and how he can um give you comfort in your loss or whatever it is that he can help you. And then um, verse 49 or John chapter 4, verse 39 says, Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything I ever did. So here, this Samaritan woman, when the disciples showed up, uh, we're talking to Jesus, she disappears, she leaves her water jar behind, so it means he's probably coming back, and then she goes off to the village after the neighbors, off to everybody, and she's like, Hey, come see this guy who's like told me everything I ever did. And so we don't know how long they were at the water well, how long that conversation is. There's another part of scripture that says that there's not enough room to write down everything that Jesus ever said and taught. But maybe in that conversation, Jesus just didn't say, Oh, you know, you've had, you know, you've had five husbands, and the guy you're living with right now isn't your husband. Maybe, maybe he went more in depth with her and said, you know, I know at that first marriage that you really had great optimism and you were you were in love, and then and then he then he died and in that accident, and then on the rebound, you married that other person, and then that happened. And um, so I know that it's not that it's your just desire to like be like a Hollywood celebrity and just marry and divorce and marry a bunch of people, but that your heart really was in caring and wanting to be loved and to have a relationship, and it's just been so bad. And I know that while everybody this isn't in scripture, and this isn't an episode of the chosen or anything like that, but just to be, you know, you know, thinking about what could have been said. Maybe Jesus said, you know, everybody in town thinks that you're shacking up with with that guy, and that um I know that you don't have another place to live. He offered you a place to live, and you're not the immoral woman that everybody thinks that you are, your heart is in a different place or something, you know, just just saying that maybe Jesus really did, told her everything she ever did. And what if in the list, what if it was the other way? What if it was like you really are a wicked woman? Um, uh, you did this, this, and this, and this, and you're so sick of it, you want a life change, and you want you want things to change now, and you've been even praying, God, help me to change. And um, so what if her story was so bad, and Jesus knew every part of it, yet still reached out to her in care and said, You have not sinned beyond forgiveness. There is still hope for you. Um, so she runs to the village and she tells everybody, You gotta see this guy, you gotta come hear this guy. And so um, so maybe in their white clothing that they wore, maybe they're all racing towards him, and then Jesus is telling the disciples, look, the fields are white unto harvest of all these, you know, all the people from the town are coming in their in their white clothes or whatever. But because she went, she told her story to the others, other people believed, were interested in hearing about Jesus, and then they became believers. And that is a pretty cool thing to think about. That Jesus knows everything we have done, yet still offers us love and forgiveness. That he knows everything we have ever done, yet still offers us hope. In first John, it says that he doesn't, if we're truly in Christ, we're not going to continue in sin. You know, if you just continually have a besetting sin and never get over it, um, never find uh victory from it. Maybe you need counseling, maybe you need help, maybe you need treatment, maybe you need something. Um, maybe uh you can invite someone into your life and say, I've got a problem with a besetting sin. Um, can you help me with it? But again, um told her everything that she had done, and she says, I can see that you are a prophet. So um, and as all these people believed, then it made a difference in their lives. It made an exciting difference in their life because the Samaritans weren't your likely characters for Jesus to show up. They were um outcasts, they were religiously confused, they were considered um like half Jew, half Gentile, half breeds, unwelcome, unwanted. Matter of fact, it was so bad that they weren't welcome to come worship with everybody else at the temple, temple. So they made their own worship spot. You know, they're like, okay, well, we're gonna just gonna have our own little worship temple over here instead of the official one, because they were trying to reach out to God. And so Jesus, he could have walked, he could have totally walked around their town. He could have said, you know, I'm just gonna take the expressway and avoid the traffic, um, avoid those people, but instead he didn't. And I think that he was on a mission to show us that God cares for the unlovely, maybe unlikable, uh, the un the ones that you once suspect. Um we're gonna come to Jesus. So, and when he does that, when Jesus changes us, he gives our life story a new beginning. He gives our life story a new beginning. Uh many people are able to tell their life story about what their life was like before they came to Christ, how they came to Christ, and what their life has been like since, which is actually a good three-point formula on how to share your testimony. And so, but when you think about what your life was like before you came to Christ, you might think about what I'm assuming. I'm assuming we're talking to believers in Christ here. So just assume that. So, whatever I'm saying is primarily for those of us who have given our life to Jesus as Lord and Savior. All right, so what would we be like? What would our story be like if we never came to Christ? What would our personality be like? Who would we be if we did not have Jesus in our life? If we did not take the Bible and rightly apply it and apply it to our lives as it changes our character, as it changes who we are. Um again, nobody's perfect. We all struggle in many different ways, but we are trying to live a life for Christ. What would it be like if we weren't trying at all? What would it be like if the redeeming power of Christ and the transformational grace and um you know God making us a new creation, uh giving us the Holy Spirit to help us to live the Christian life? If we didn't have any of that, who would we be? And how sad would that be? Now think about that as you look at other people and think, okay, that person is exactly like what I would be if I hadn't received Christ and they need to hear about Jesus. So I am going to pray for courage and opportunity and look for ways to um share part of my story with them so that they too can have a new beginning. In Titus 3, when God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. And that is transforming. That isn't, we didn't do things so that we could be made right with God, except by placing our faith in him, except by believing the message and receiving Christ into our life. Um, so he saved us not because of the righteous things we had done. So we don't do a bunch of works to be right with God, but because we are right with God, because we're saved, then we want to do a bunch of good works. So that's our motivation. So it's not to be right with God, it's because we are right with God that we want to do these good works for the Lord. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth through life in the Holy Spirit. So in our lifetime, we have many different stories and many different stories that can be shared. And some are best shared privately with certain people, not to be shared publicly, because it's nobody needs to know that about you. On the other hand, there's other ones that are public that are great to share with everybody that you can proclaim from the rooftops or post online or whatever, because it just glorifies God and it doesn't really um cause embarrassment or shame for certain people. I remember the Christian um apologist Josh McDowell, who um wrote evidence demands a verdict and a bunch of other things. He's like, I never really spoke publicly about my father and all the pain that he put us through until he died. After he died, then I started to share so people could kind of understand and it would be a bridge. But it's not to be disrespectful, it's to help other people. But I never wanted to share that while he was still alive. And I think that's pretty honorable thing to do. But so we in our lifetime we accumulate stories, and um as we um think about you know how it played out and who it made us to be, it is a really good thing to share those stories of our new beginning. It is a really good thing to share those stories with our children and our grandchildren and others so that they can know maybe their spiritual family history, so that they could know um you know some things that um you know made their parents or grandparents uh you know the way that they were. I think I shared this before an Easter or two ago or something, but um it was Easter time, and so you had grandma, mom, and one of the daughters in the kitchen cooking the ham. And so anyway, uh they cut the ends of the ham off, and uh they were making it, and the daughter says to the mom, she's like, Why do we cut the ends of the ham off? What's the purpose of that? And the mom says, I don't know. We've always done that way, done it that way, ask grandma. Um so the daughter says, Grandma, why do we cut the ends of the ham off? She's like, Oh, you still do that? No, um, we cut the ends of the ham off because my pan was too small to hold it. That's why we cut the ends of the ham off. And so uh sometimes we just do things over and over again if nobody like starts to question and say, hey, you know, why why why why do we do that? What what what is the purpose of that? What's the story of that? And sometimes traditions are really good, and sometimes traditions are are just different. So traditions can be a fun family thing, and sometimes you just need to stop and ask. Maybe you need to retrain um your mind, maybe you need to read like Christian books on parenting and grandparenting, um, Christian books on finance and all sorts of different things to try to step it up so you're not just um you know following the chain of what your ancestors did before you, but maybe with prayer and wisdom and commitment, maybe there's some things you can change to make the next generation even better. But the exciting thing is that part of your life story talks about a new beginning, a new beginning in Christ. On that day, whatever that day was, you know, I think I was like in tenth grade. On that day, I truly, I believe I truly received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. So I could tell you that from at least second grade on, I would pray the prayer a lot. I would pray the prayer at camp. I would pray, Jesus, forgive me of my sin and come into my life and save me. And every time I sinned, I thought I needed to do it again. Matter of fact, I was baptized a couple of times, actually, officially three times. I was baptized at the Catholic Church, but that wasn't my choice. And then in like second grade or so, I couldn't third grade, maybe I was baptized again. And then when I was in a teenager, I'm like, I'm not sure if I was really saved then. So I was baptized again. But um around 1982, I'm pretty sure that I was truly saved. So I bear, I believe the Spirit bear testimony in my heart that I truly was a child of God. There are life-changed stuff, and I think that is the beginning of the time when I was truly saved. But there's still a story before that of what God did in my life to help me hear the gospel through my stepgrandparents and other things and uh camps and all this stuff. There's lots of stories all along the way, and nobody really wants to, except maybe the person writing your biography, nobody wants to hear every one of your stories unless you're in a fishing boat and there's or a nice house and there's nothing to do. But there are times when your story will totally intersect with someone's life, and the Holy Spirit will like tell them the story about how I did this through you, or tell them the story about how you didn't know what you were gonna do for a job and how I came in and helped you get that job, or tell them the story about how you thought you were so sick that there you weren't gonna be able to go on, and then you prayed and had everybody pray and how you think maybe God healed you of that. Tell them that story, and there'll be different times in the stories of your life that God will bring people into your life and you will tell them whatever the story is that they need to hear, and it will totally connect with them, and they will go from hearing your story to looking towards your savior, the savior who is writing your helping you write your story, the story of your salvation, the story of your salvation. So I already wrote it or put it in your outline, so there's no fill-in-the-blank there, but these are seven things of the story of your salvation, that if you are truly saved, I believe these things are true. Um first of all, that there was a time when you acknowledged that you are a sinner, Romans 3.23, for everyone has sinned, we all fall short of God's glorious standard. So you acknowledged that you were not living right, that you were not doing right. When you heard about what sin would be, it was missing the mark, missing the target. Um, it was doing anything outside of God's will. And so um lying and coveting and lusting and stealing and all those things were part of it. But you acknowledge before the Lord that I am guilty of sin. And so, and hopefully, as you came to Christ, then you went from uh you could say I was a sinner, but actually, even in Christ, we still sin. But um, we're forgiven of that sin, especially when we fall into sin and then we ask God to forgive us. First John 1 9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So as soon as we realize we've fallen into that sin as a believer, we're like, oh. Lord, forgive me for and name it, and maybe you need to apologize to someone, or but um anyway, so it's just a constant uh living, reflecting, confessing, uh, accepting forgiveness, and moving forward. So I am a sinner. So I was a sinner, I am a sinner. Uh I was a I was given a gift. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So there was, I heard that this gift was available. So I received the gift. The gift came from God through Jesus Christ, and so I received that gift. I did not deserve that gift, I did not earn that gift. There wasn't anything I could do to acquire that gift on my own. Instead, I heard it was available and I asked the Lord for it. I received it, I was given a gift. Number three, God loves me. So a lot of people have a hard time thinking that God could love them. Many people ask, you know, what is love anyway? So is it a feeling? I mean, there's lots of love songs that talk about, you know, feelings, but uh it's not this kind of unconditional love that God gives us. So in your story, um, God loves me, God demonstrates his love and love for us. And while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So God made the first move. God loves me, God cares for me. Um, that should be in your story. Then, number four, I believe in Jesus. So there was a time maybe that you crossed the line where I think that it's wise, maybe because prayer is talking to God. I think it's wise that you go to the Lord or that you lead people to go to the Lord and in talking to Him in prayer, um, you know, make a commitment. Say, forgive me of my sin, come into my life and change me. I want to follow you, I want to turn from my sinful ways, I want to learn of you. And uh, you know, it doesn't have to be a you know a specific uh wording of a prayer, it's not the prayer that saves you, it's the heart desire. But here it says, Romans 10, 9, if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. It's with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it's with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. And then um, in addition to that, Jesus told us to make disciples baptizing them, and so um he was baptized to fulfill all righteousness, and every just every New Testament believer was baptized. So believers' baptism, we have a water tank right there, or sometimes we have baptisms at the lake or whatever, but uh that is a time for you to publicly proclaim your faith and to um follow Jesus' will that you be baptized by immersion. And it's a landmark in your Christian life and a great time for you to declare that Jesus is Lord and uh profess your faith and be saved. So it's not baptism that saves you, but saved people should be baptized. Number five, I answered the call. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. I the Holy Spirit called and convicted, and I responded and came to Jesus. And as a result, number six, I belong to Jesus, therefore there's no no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus in Romans 8:1. And so um your life is now in Christ. And then number seven, number seven, I am secure in Jesus. You know, I have no idea what's gonna happen in this coming year. I mean, the political arena is just crazy. So I always feel like I'm watching one of those end time videos, you know, when you watch the news, it's like, are you serious? Is this really happening? And you know, everybody's animosity for Israel and um hate for the Jews, and um so I think Jesus could return at any time. And so, but you have no idea, you know, what's gonna happen next. Uh, you know, when we had COVID and those diseases and all that threat, and now, you know, supposedly bird flu is gonna hit the cows, and then it's gonna hit the people. And you know, there's just always all these fears of everything. Uh war, my goodness. Uh, there's a lot of sword rattling going on among uh enemies around the world. It seems, you know, that it would be really easy for everybody to just start firing bombs and blowing everything up. Um, or uh, you know, terrorists to start taking out, easily taking out power stations and um all sorts of stuff. So you don't know, but this is one thing that you can know is that you are secure in Jesus. Romans 8 38. I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love, neither death nor life, angels nor demons, neither our fears for today or our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below. Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. I am secure in Christ. So um can somebody grab the lights? What do people think about you when you are at the restaurant, at the coffee shop, at the store, uh as you maybe go out to eat after you leave the service and you have your conversations and your server is there, hearing what you say and um wondering, you know, what you're talking about? Um, do you ever try to share your story with the server? Do you ever try to share your story with the people around you? Do you look at people that are sent to you and pray about it? But sometimes people that are sent to you or across your path has an opportunity to share Christ with someone. I don't always feel that everybody that shows up at my door is an opportunity, but sometimes I do. And so to think about, you know, what did they think when they leave your presence? So you want to grab the lights, Jerry, and we will we'll show a video of a server at a coffee shop restaurant and what she thinks of Christians.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Every Sunday I see you guys come in here from your church, and don't get me started on your tipping. The girls gotta eat, right? Just a little server humor there. Seriously. I don't know everything that goes on in there, but I know something does because I hear you. Every time I drop by your table, I hear how great the message was from the pastor and how you wish more people would hear it. I don't go to your church, I don't know. How am I gonna hear it? Are you gonna share it with me? Or I stumble through the doors of your church with my symbol. You're not ready to talk to me. My hair, my clothes, my language, my music. I know that you don't mean for it to come across that way, but you have a little different mindset. You think I have a problem that my life needs something missing in it, you have it. Or at least you know what can fill that missing part. Okay, yeah. I've tried to figure out what would make me happy. I've tried to figure out what would I not make me feel like I'm worthless. Okay, so I'm not the greatest of the people. But if I'm so lost and so far gone, aren't you the one that's supposed to help me? Aren't you the one with this so-called good news that is supposed to tell me the truth? Because what I've been trying is not working. And I need to know that there is more than just coming in here every day serving you your coffee and pancakes to your lovely family. I need to know that there is more to my life than this. And guess what? You have to be the one because no one else is saying the things you say. How much do you have to hate someone to keep what you have to yourself and your family? How much do you have to like your own comfort to leave me to myself? I need you. Okay, said it. And if you think that that was easy for me to say that you try living my life. I need you to pursue me. I need you to set aside your comfort and pursue me. Because I'll run. When I get scared, I run. And you have to come after me. You have to follow me into the darkness and show me the way out because you were there once. You went from death to life. And I know that those are your words, but if it's true, then this is more important than your safety and your ego. Oh, I'm still gonna call you a Bible thumper, and I'm probably gonna make fun of you. But don't give up on me. Okay, talk it over. I've got tables. You're moved.

Chris T 31:48

I'm sorry, it's not David. I need more caffeine or something. Part of your story is how Jesus gets us through the hard times. And the Bible is full of stories. David in Psalm 66, 16, says, Come and listen, and I will tell you what God has done for me. And in Psalm 71, we're supposed to declare God's salvation to the next generation, to all who are to come. And so many stories. Acts 4.20, Peter and John say we cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we have seen and we have heard. And so as we go through these difficult times, we look back and we see how God has helped us through, and then we tell other people. 2 Corinthians 1.3, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also comfort abounds through Christ. Through persecution, through difficulties, through the hard things of life, um, through the seasons of life. There's all young couples have hard times that younger, that older people can help them find courage through. Um, people that have gone before you in certain areas uh will be able to share advice and encouragement and prayer. And then D, Jesus wants us to be ready to share our story, ready to share our story. We all have a story, no one has your exact story. You are the only person that has that entire story in your in your testimony. We should do what we can to uh tell other people um what they need to hear, the things that they need to know, the things as the Spirit leads that really matter. So the Old Testament and New Testament are full of stories that to encourage us in our faith. So again, what your life was like before you came to Jesus, how you heard about Jesus and came to Jesus, and what your life has been like since how you've been growing in Christ. So um to tell your story. There's this book that you could get on the table there. So it says suggested donation,$5, but you could have it for free if you'd read it. But it basically has a lot of the stuff on how to share your faith from Greg Glory that is good. It's a small book, tell someone, and it is encouraging. But we want to tell our stories, but we want to make sure that we don't exaggerate or glorify the past. So when someone says, I struggle with alcoholism, and you say, Well, I struggle with alcoholism too, and this is how God got me through it, leave it at that. Make a beeline to the cross, focus on Jesus. Don't start to tell them about, oh, is that what you did? Well, I did 10 times worse when I lived on the range when it was my birthday. We would drink all the bars in Virginia, and then we'd go to all the bars in Chisholm, and then we'd go to Hibbing, and if I was still standing, my friends would take me to Grand Rapids because I've I was a good drinker. That person might be like, oh, that sounds like a lot of fun, instead of, oh, I need help and I need Jesus. So do not glorify the sins of your past. It's not helpful. But focus on the salvation and help from the Savior who changed you, who's helping change you, who's helping you to move forward. And focus on the things of Christ. You do not know if you will have another opportunity to share Christ with that person. So you don't know what comes next. I mean, um, they could be heading to Duluth and hit a moose right after they and die, right after they meet with you. You just never know. Um, life, there's no guarantees of tomorrow. But I hope that as we think about this, that we take this seriously, that we're supposed to share our faith with others. 1 Peter 3 15, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks you about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. Do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. So this is part of a tell someone series, and it goes on for a couple more weeks, but there's a bunch of audio and video from the past if you missed any. So, how will you respond to this as you think about worshiping, encouraging, learning, and loving? So when we worship, we want to put God first in everything. And so we can worship through our actions, we can worship through our priorities and our desire to share Jesus with other people. We can be encouraging, we can encourage people in their faith, we can encourage other people to share their faith. Uh, we can encourage people with our evangelism to try to lead lost people to Christ with our stories. Literally look for opportunities. I shared this before, but I was driving down the road and I saw someone sitting on the side of the road in a Chevy Avalanche, and I have a Chevy Avalanche, and I'm part of the Chevy Avalanche clubs on Facebook or whatever. I know a lot about Chevy Avalanches. So do I pull up to this guy and he's just sitting there because he's locked out of his apartment temporarily, uh, waiting for the landlord to come, and we start talking about Chevy Avalanches, and then pretty soon we start talking about Jesus, and pretty soon I'm handing him one of those how to find God New Testaments, and so um, and you know, I see him around, and so I made a new friend. And it was based on something that I had that he had. And so, what is your deal? What are you into? What is it that is a connecting point that you God might be able to use to be the bridge to help people hear about Christ? We need to keep learning. There are so many books on evangelism I could recommend so many. Next week I'm going to recommend some more books and some ways that you can learn more about uh how to share the message of Christ. Um, so to be learning and loving, loving for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. And if we love people like God loves us, we will share our faith. Other ways that you can respond to this message is if you are watching online, um, you can go to rockwell.churchforward slash connect, or you can grab that connect card in front of you and let us know how we can pray for you. Let us know how you'd like to get involved. Um, maybe you would like to become a member and uh we would love to help you with that. The worship team can come on forward here. Uh maybe you come to church or you watch online. Maybe we're your online church and maybe you want to give to support the ministry. You can go to rockwell.church forward slash give. But there's just so many ways that you can take action because of the great gift that you've been given. And everything that you do leads to a story. Everything that you do, when you become faithful with giving, it leads to a story of God's provision. When you become faithful in prayer, it becomes a story of how God answers prayer. When you become faithful to share your faith, it becomes a list of stories about how God used you to lead someone to Christ or how someone stumped you and discouraged you, and how you researched stuff and grew as a Christian because of it, so many things. So I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna sing hope for the nations. But Jesus, I thank you that you give us the opportunity to be your ambassadors, your ministers of reconciliation, um, storytellers that tell faith stories to help other people get interested in hearing about you. We don't we don't convince them, we don't convict them. That's the Holy Spirit's job, but we're to be faithful in sharing Jesus and sharing how you've worked in our lives and sharing how they can have that same thing. So we just pray that you would take today and make it part of our lives. Lord, I thank you again for all the mothers, and we pray that they would be honored today. And we just thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's sing.