What's your story?

What’s your story?

  Hopefully, he doesn’t read this or I’ll never hear the end of it. But Jane’s brother-in-law, Fred Froman, is a great storyteller. When it comes to jokes, not so much. Fred pastors Holt Baptist Church in Holt, Michigan. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been friends for over forty years. Like most preachers, every once in a while Fred will attempt to tell a joke in a sermon as an illustration. You know that you’ve probably laid an egg when you tell the joke, no one laughs so you have to follow it with, “Uhm, that was a joke,” That’s usually followed by nervous laughter from the crowd.

  Yet, what Fred lacks in joke telling, he overachieves in storytelling. Fred can have an entire room captivated as he tells what are affectionately known as “a Froman story.” He has a gift for making the mundane mesmerizing.

  Each New Year typically means making some new friends. It’s a fairly familiar conversation that all of us have had. In fact, when our children were young, we taught them how to have it so that they could engage others in a conversation.

  It nearly always begins with your name. Then, is often followed by…where do you live, where are you from, what do you do? Favorite sports teams will often be shared or where you went to high school or college? Perhaps even your dream vacation or favorite type of food.

  Many questions will be asked but one that’s rarely, if ever asked is: Where are you going? Yet, isn’t that the most important question of all. Every Christian, when it comes to that question, Where are you going? should be able to tell their story. The bottom line is that every Christian should know their story and while they’re all unique, at the same time – they are all the identical. So, what’s your story?

  The Apostle Peter talks about sharing our story as he wrote, “…Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” (1 Peter 3:15-16). Every Christian’s story includes certain key chapters.

  Chapter 1: My life before Christ. This can be a little more difficult if you grew up in a Christian home with parents who loved the Lord Jesus because there may be little difference. Yet, all of us had a period in our lives before we came to know Christ. No one is born a Christian. None of us are “good” people. We may be more moral than others, but it’s all relative. None of us are good compared to the perfect standard of a holy God. We’re certainly not “good,” because we go to church. That’s as silly as suggesting that you’re a doctor because you walked through a hospital. Though we attempt to fill what Blaise Pascal called that “God-shaped vacuum” in each of our hearts, only God through Jesus Christ can fill it.

  Chapter 2: My awareness that apart from Christ, I’m hopeless. If you’ve ever dealt with a cancer victim, you’ll find that the one thing that sustains them is hope. Without hope, they have nothing. Every one of us has a disease that’s called sin and it’s incurable. It carries with it, if we’re honest, deep guilt and shame. It’s true that some of us are “less” guilty than perhaps others. After all, most of us aren’t Charles Mansons, but the standard is God’s perfection.

  It’s a bit like attempting to jump off a pier in Racine all the way across Lake Michigan to the coast of Michigan. Someone who is athletically fit, will obviously jump further than someone who is middle-aged and out of shape. But no one can jump all the way across. God’s standard of perfection means that we must jump all the way across, so while some may jump a bit further, in the end, we all miserably fail and fall terribly short.

  Chapter 3: How I trusted Jesus to carry me across. Unless you have a pilot’s license, when you fly you’re totally dependent upon the pilot. You’re completely committed to him and his abilities. That’s similar to salvation. You know that your sin debt is too high. For you, it’s an impossible debt to pay. Because you know that you’re not perfect you know that can’t get yourself into Heaven. You’re totally dependent on someone else.

  Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The only way to be forgiven and go to Heaven is to trust Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. John 3:16 is the gospel and that truth summarized. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Salvation is a free gift that one must accept based on Jesus’ death on the cross. It cannot be purchased. After all, it is a gift.

  Chapter 4: My life after coming to Christ. When someone has trusted Christ as their personal Savior, there are revolutionary changes in their life. That’s what 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” If there are no changes, something is terribly wrong. There are changes in your character, attitude and perspective on life. Your motivation, what you live for and think is important should change. It’s not that you’re perfect.

  It’s a bit like marriage. In fact, the Christian life is compared to a marriage (Ephesians 5). Something is seriously wrong with a marriage if there are no changes. The Christian life is not external conformity. As Galatians 5:22-23 teaches a Christian will be known for spiritual fruit in their life (“the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”). 

  This coming year you will have multiple opportunities to share your story. Please be sure to share the most important part of your story, Where you are going and why? That’s a story worth telling again and again. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.