Sharing Your Faith Story
	I just love the season of Advent and the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends. I also have a chance to meet new people at parties and gatherings. Often I find that God gives me opportunities to connect with people at a deeper level, but I feel I am not adequately prepared to do so. Do you know how to share your personal faith story in a genuine and unrehearsed way? Have you ever tried and bungled your attempt? Sharing what we have seen, heard and experienced in our lives when done with sensitivity and respect can have remarkable power. Perhaps you have been moved while Pastor Walter Ray has so winsomely shared his story with us. He has left for us a great legacy that we should model. 1 Peter 3:15-16 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
	Sharing Our Faith Story How do we get started? We need to put our story into words so that we can remember it well enough to briefly share it with anyone who may ask. Pray that God will help your memory and synthesize your experiences into words that you would normally use. As you answer the following questions, your story will take shape and then you can refine it as you rehearse it out loud. You will need to rehearse it and make it yours so that it will sound unrehearsed when you share it.   Follow this outline: Write out your story in simple terms beginning with your family background, your beliefs, and your lifestyle before you began following Jesus as you do now. Don’t try to be profound, dramatic, or eloquent. Even if you came to Christ as a child, background, beliefs, and lifestyle are still part of your story. Family Background: What was growing up like for you? Beliefs: What were your attitudes toward God, religion, and good and evil? Lifestyle: What were the most important things in your life?   Explain any turning points (a crisis, an invitation, a relationship with another person, a response to a believing friend, reading the Bible, and so on) that caused you to consider committing your life to Jesus.   Explain what brought you to the point of decision. Then describe the moment you asked Jesus to come into your life.   Finally, honestly describe how your life has been changing since you started following Jesus.   Be prepared to share I have found that as I share with people, what I share depends on where I am and who I am speaking with. I may just share part of my original story and then jump to a more recent event. I may share how God has been faithful in an area of my life that relates to the conversation we are having. I try to listen well and think of the other person’s needs. And finally, I am growing in listening for God’s words and timing as I share. One thing is for sure, each of our stories with God is important. Why not take some time to write yours down and be ready to share it when God next gives you the opportunity? He may call on you to share your story sooner that you think. Adapted from “Irresistible Evangelism, Natural Ways to Open Others to Jesus” by Steve Sjogren, Dave Ping and Doug Pollock. Group, Loveland, Colorado, 2004.