ARE YOU TELLING YOUR STORY?
July 30, 2017
Luke 21:12-13 (NLT)
12 “But before all this occurs, there will be a time of great persecution. You will be dragged into synagogues and prisons, and you will stand trial before kings and governors because you are my followers. 13 But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.[a]
Mark 5:19 (NLT)
19 But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.”
Philippians 1:12-18 (NLT)
12 And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters,[a] that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard,[b] knows that I am in chains because of Christ.14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers[c] here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message[d] without fear.
15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.
Psalm 107:2 (NLT)
2 Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
One Sunday twenty-seven years ago while sitting in a Women’s Bible Class I felt compelled to share a portion of my personal story. I can’t remember the exact topic of the lesson that day, but whatever it was, some kind of way I felt that sharing my story could be a worthy contribution to the discussion.
I had gone through a very stressful and violent divorce and only those very close to me, such as my family and one or two friends really knew what my journey had been.
