The Power Of Your Story
Part of For the One
April 10, 2022

The difference between a great story and a sad story is… HOW IT ENDS!

Yours is only a great story if it ends well! Every great story ends with redemption, and redemption comes through Jesus!

John 9:1-33 (NIV)

How does a man who has no earthly education or authority end up confronting religious leaders?

He had a story to tell… a story based in an experience that produced a life change.

“A man with an experience is not at the mercy of a man with an argument.”

The biblical word used for his story is TESIMONY which is used and understood in our courts to this day and the Greek word for testimony means:

Martyrion = there is evidence, an eyewitness, a tangible example.

This is the power of your story, your life is evidence of the change that only God can bring!

Four components to a powerful, transformational story:

*1. Jesus initiates our redemption story. *

Jesus apparently walked up to this guy unannounced… Jesus initiated the miracle, and this is the pattern, the consistent way that God deals with us: He initiates, we respond.

John 6:44
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day”

John 15:16 (voice)
You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I orchestrated all of this so that you would be sent out and bear great and perpetual fruit.

So he chooses, he draws, He initiates, this is how our redemption story starts.

*2. We respond in simple obedience.
*

This is a repeating pattern in scripture.

The pool of Siloam which means “sent.”

Go wash in the pool of willingness… WILL YOU GIVE GOD YOUR YES?

*KEY: God ask us to do the small and seemingly insignificant, even ridiculous things in simple faith and obedience , then he does the big things… The Bible is filled with these examples: *

*Romans 10:9-10

• LUKE 9
• 2 Kings 4
• 2 Kings 5
• Exodus 14*

3. Our Encounter qualifies us to be a witness.

“An encounter with God is all the credentials you need to have a powerful story”

It’s not information but transformation that empowers our story!

*4. The telling of your story becomes the invitation. *

Your story will flow out of conversation that comes through relationship.

Use the “story sheet to aid in writing out your story.

  1. Keep it as concise and to the point as possible while still conveying the key moments.

  2. It’s a brief story you could tell in less than 2 minutes.

  3. Divide it into 3 sections.

*WRITE YOUR STORY *

• WHAT MY LIFE WAS LIKE BEFORE I MET JESUS.

• DESCRIBE YOUR LIFE-CHANGING ENCOUNTER.

WHAT MY LIFE IS LIKE NOW (how has my life been changed?)

Discussion Questions:

1-What are some tangible, eyewitness examples of how Jesus has intervened in your life?

2- What are some examples of how God has asked you to obey in simple ways and you’ve seen him come through in big ways?

3- Do you believe your Jesus story is worth sharing with others? Why or why not?

4- Take some time in groups or in personal time this week to write out the key moments in your life of before you encountered Jesus, when you encountered Him and what your life has been like now. Use the story sheet provided if you need a guide.