Sharing your Testimony

Opening

Bible Trivia

Review of the week

What is coming up for you this week?

Dodge Hunger

Camp

Lesson: Sharing your Testimony

Six Simple Principles

Adapted by an article by Shelby Abbot

1. Keep it short.

Communicating too many details about your life can distract listeners from the central point: how you met Christ. Keeping it short can help with that. Three minutes is a good target. Remember that the purpose of telling your story is not about you; it’s about God. Clearly and succinctly communicate what He has done in your life. Listeners today have a very low tolerance for long-windedness. Being concise helps keep people engaged.

After sharing your short story, you can help them with questions and go further in your story.

2. Have a before, how, and after.

There should be a pretty clear timeline and logical flow to your story. Talk about what your life was like before Christ, how you met him, and what your life’s like now. This timeline is different for everyone, of course, but it brings a sense of structure to what you’re saying and helps keep your listener tracking.

This will be important in helping them understand their need to make a personal decision concerning the claims of Christ.

3. Have a theme.

A theme helps people walk away from your story remembering one main idea. There may be many themes in your story, but try to boil it down to one. Loading your testimony with multiple main points makes your story muddier, not more poignant. It’s much more likely to stick with people when there’s a single, memorable theme.

Example from last week, “I was once blind but now I see.”

4. Clearly present the gospel.

If people aren’t pointed to Christ, they’ll be pointed in another direction, which will (of course) ultimately fail them. We want people to come away from our story thinking, “Isn’t Jesus amazing?” or “What will I do with this awareness of my sin?”

Your testimony should show people that God loves them, they’re sinful, Jesus is the payment for the penalty of their sin, and they need to trust Christ as the payment for the penalty of their sins in order to have a personal relationship with God.

If you haven’t shared the gospel in your testimony, you haven’t really shared your testimony.

Don’t be tempted to omit this part of your story—it’s the most important element. It’s the message that changed everything about you and brought you to where you are now. If you haven’t shared the gospel in your testimony, you haven’t really shared your testimony.

5. Avoid ‘Christianese.’

Avoid Christian slang—those words believers use all the time in everyday Christian circles but make no sense to anyone else. We’re trying to be clear about what we’re communicating, and we need to understand the importance of speaking a language that can be easily understood. We want anyone and everyone to have intellectual access to what we’re saying, so eliminate alienating language (or at least be willing to quickly define it).

6. Practice, practice, practice! or better yet share, share, share!

You should know your testimony by heart without having any notecards or outline in front of you. If someone asks about your life out in public, you won’t be able to whip out a piece of paper for reference—so have your story memorized and ready at a moment’s notice. It’s a good idea to write it out or make an outline, then practice it aloud on your own or with a friend. Eventually you’ll know it by heart.

Your Story as Part of God’s Story

Remind yourself as you prepare that it’s not just about how God and the gospel fit into your story, but also about how your story fits into the greater story of the gospel. God will use your testimony to affect those around you if you’re faithful to speak up. How he has changed you can change someone else. Isn’t that amazing?

Remember it’s not just about how God and the gospel fit into your story, but also about how your story fits into the greater story of the gospel.

Prayer Time with Grant

Tonight will be a time of prayer.

Please, come and be an example to the younger ones.