Close Window

For the remaining days of the Lenten season, The Evangelism & Witness Ministry here at Broadway, in conjunction with the Holston Conference 50 Golden Days of Evangelism Campaign will be submitting daily devotionals designed to both to teach and to inspire each of us to go forth, to tell our faith story and to encourage others to join our church.

The goal of the Holston Conference 50 Days of Evangelism is that we begin during this Lenten Season with 40 days of Prayer. For our part, Pastor Amy has begun a sermon series “Lord Teach Us To Pray” “An Understanding of the Lord’s Prayer” that series will culminate with The Resurrection on Easter Sunday morning. From that point, there will be 50 days until Pentecost and the goal of the Conference will be to bring and to baptize 3000 new converts into the church.

Your Evangelism and Witness Ministry is fully supportive of these efforts and will work with you during these next 90 days to “Offer Them Christ” and offer ourselves, to members in our own community and we will encourage you to invite your friends, your family, your neighbors and co-workers to our church, Broadway United Methodist Church. We hope that you will join with us and that you will include our church and these efforts in your prayers.

In HIS Service

Julie Hays

____________________________________________________________

Your Faith Story Need Not Be Dramatic

Your faith story doesn't have to be dramatic!  We sing... I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see. (--John Newton)  The apostle Paul, known as Saul, did not start out as a admirer of Jesus. He thought Jesus and his followers were heretics that needed to be run out of town. He made that his mission.  Luke tells us: Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Acts 8:3 TNIV

That's his 'before story'.  Then one day on the road to Damascus...Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." he replied.  Acts 9:3-5 TNIV

After Jesus appeared to Paul, everything changed. Saul was blinded by the light for three days. God sent Ananias to Saul.  Ananias told him about Jesus and baptized him.  When Ananias put his hands on Paul's eyes, a whole new world opened for Paul. Suddenly, Paul saw grace.  He saw freedom. He saw forgiveness. He saw a whole world of people who needed the Gospel.

Paul's new faith in Christ sent his life in a brand new direction. Instead of being an enemy of Jesus, he was an envoy for Jesus. He told crowds of people about the Gospel. He wrote much of the New Testament. Paul was a new man. Paul knew what a difference it made in his life to be a Christian.   Paul could say...I once was lost but now am found Was blind but now I see.

However our faith story doesn't need to be dramatic. It rarely is for those of us who grew up in church.  Christian faith is natural to us.  It is all we have ever known. Trying to talk about it though can be difficult because there's not a definitive 'before and after' for us. It's been with us all our lives. Many of us can't remember the first time we knew God loved us. We can't recall the first time we heard about Jesus. We've always known about baby Jesus in the manger. We've always known about the empty tomb. 

Those of us who have grown up in church may feel somewhat inferior to people like Paul who have a dramatic testimony to tell. As a result we rarely share what our faith means to us. We don't know what to say!  Even pastors have a hard time with this. In 'Unbinding Your Heart', Martha Grace Reese writes about a group of pastors she took on a retreat. She asked these pastors what difference being a Christian made to them. She says it was extremely, painfully quiet for a l-o-n-g time. Just silence. Finally, one pastor said hesitantly... Because it makes me a better person?

Surely there's more we can say than that! But putting words to our faith is hard for many of us. Would you use your imagination with me?

Imagine that you do not go to church for worship. Ever.

Imagine that you do not know any hymns or Christian songs.

Imagine that you do not know any Scripture. You don't know even the simplest Bible stories.

Imagine that you are not sure if God hears you when you pray, or what words you should use to pray.

Imagine that you don't know who to call to pray for you.

Imagine that you don't know how God feels towards you.

What if you didn't have a church family?

What if you didn't even know that God exists?

Imagine.

What are the things you would miss if you were not a follower of Christ? What difference does being a Christian make in your life?

Once we get clear about what being a Christian means to us, it's more natural to share our faith with others. We can tell our friends who don't go to church about our faith because we know what it means to us. Our motivation for sharing our faith is like filling up a pitcher. Maybe it is so others will go to heaven. Or...

I know that I am forgiven every day. 

I receive comfort from my church. 

I feel a purpose in my life.

I get direction and hope from the Bible.  

I don't ever feel alone. 

I have hope that everything will turn out alright one day.  

I am a part of God's work in the world.  

Life simply goes better with Jesus.

All of these fill us up so that we are overflowing. We are motivated to share with others because we know what a difference Jesus Christ makes in our own lives, right here and right now!

The Holy Spirit was working on Ananias. Ananias was a reluctant evangelist. He had every right to be. Saul was the last person he would have ever tried to tell about Jesus. Saul had been a part of the killing of the first Christian martyr. Christians were running scared because... Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. Acts 9:1 TNIV

Saul was an unlikely candidate for evangelism. But Jesus had plans for Saul. Jesus needed Saul for the ministry of God. And Jesus needed Ananias to reach Saul. Ananias gets to be a part of what God is doing in the world. He is a key player in God's plan to spread the good news of Jesus. Ananias gets to be the domino that tips another person into God's love.

He gets to be the hands of God that heal someone's pain.

He gets to be the light that shines on Saul's dim path.

He gets to do something for God that only he can do.

He gets to be a part of God's redemption of the world.

Now, that's some motivation! Not guilt. Not, because I should. Not, because it makes me a better person. Not some begrudging obedience. Just a sheer, passionate desire to be part of what God wants to do in the world. Ananias had the opportunity to make a difference in the world by going where God sent him.  It doesn't have to be dramatic.  No extraordinary story is needed. All you need is an ordinary willingness to see what God can do through you. Amen

Rev. Amy R. Probst

Close Window

MARYVILLE, TN