Each one of us has been given a story by God to share with the world. It is a story of God’s redeeming love and grace to save us from ourselves and the eternal consequences of sin.
Observations & Conclusions: Testimony 2 Options
- What God has done in my life – Your Conversion
A. Lost – Your testimony must give an honest assessment of our sins as a non-Christian
– identify your blindness, mistakes, and sins
– “that saved a wretch like me”
B. Found – Your testimony must elevate God’s grace and mercy as abundant
– identify God’s blessings, mercy, and saving grace
– “I once was lost but now I’m found”
C. Loved – Your testimony must reveal God’s redirection and restoration
– identify the new direction of your life and calling
– “was blind but now I see” - What God is doing in my life – Your Discipleship
A. Lost – Your testimony must describe the immovable or the impossible
– identify the trial that you couldn’t break though on your own
– “through many dangers, toils, and snares”
B. Found – Your testimony must credit God’s grace of provision
– identify the lessons and actions that God provided
– “Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far”
C. Loved – Your testimony must reveal your continued growth in discipleship
– identify how His provision becomes bridge towards growth
– “And grace will lead me home”
Application:
- Pray
- Practice sharing your testimony. If you were called as a witness on trial for giving evidence of God’s work in your life – what would you say?
Luke 24:45-49
“Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 9:1-6
“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, 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. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Acts 22:1-10
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.” ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.'”
Galatians 1:13-16
“For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.”
1 Timothy 1:12-16
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”
1 Corinthians 15:9-11
“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.”