Testimony Workshop

Good Morning Church

We just started Jonah, but we are going to take a week off from Jonah and get into what we call a Spiritual Discipline workshop

We do these once a quarter…

We do these to help equip us as Christ followers to both live a life in the Spirit, and lives worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

What does that look like practically??? in every day life???

Once a quarter we are looking to the word of God to both show us what that looks like and how to implement it in every day life…

We want to live a life that does nothing else but glorify Jesus!

Now hear me on this…our own spiritual disciplines don’t get us into a righteous standing with God…

ONLY JESUS COULD DO THAT FOR US!! He made us righteous…through His shed blood!

BUT…because we have placed our faith in Christ…we have the Holy Spirit…

And because the Lord is literally dwelling inside of us…

His presence causes us to have godly desires…to live a life for Christ!

We are being refined…shaped and molded by the Holy Spirit…

AND SO WE AS THE BODY OF CHRIST MUST LEAN INTO THAT CALLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…AND TRULY WALK IN THE SPIRITS DESIRE TO LIVE A CHRIST GLORIFYING LIFE….

So how do we do that????

1 Timothy 4:7–8 “... Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Discipline and train yourself for the purpose of godliness!

SO that is what we as a church are going to be intentional about…

Training ourselves in the ways of righteousness…

And the Lord tells us that His Word is profitable for this work…

So once a quarter we tackle a discipline that God calls us to in His word, and let the word teach us how to live by these disciplines in our lives…

This is boots on the ground stuff…

We will tackle all kinds of spiritual disciplines: Prayer, worship Fasting, stewardship, Bible intake, serving…

Today, as we have come out of Jonah 1, it seemed fitting to discuss the calling each of us shares to be ambassadors for Christ…

How to effectively share the gospel…the ministry of reconciliation…

One of the ways we see the gospel being shared in Gods word…is through Personal Testimony…

So thats what we are going to dive into today..

Bibles Out to Acts 22.

Acts 22 Background:

We will see the personal testimony of the apostle Paul…

Paul has just left Ephesus and is heading back to Jerusalem

On his journey he meets a prophet named Agabus…

Agabus tells Paul that he will be persecuted when he gets to Jerusalem (bound, beaten, and delivered to the romans)

When the other disciples heard this, they didn’t want Paul to go…

But Pauls response is this “I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but to die for the gospel”

SO they arrive at Jerusalem…and Paul is found in the temple, bound, beaten, and delivered to the Romans…

Paul is facing harsh persecution…he tells the Roman Tribune…let me speak to the people…(the Jews)

And on what is maybe the last opportunity Paul has to speak to his people all at once…what does he do???

HE SHARES HIS TESTIMONY…

READ ACTS 22.

Lets break this down…

3 parts (before, encounter, after)

A life without Jesus (v.1-5)

Background- Who Paul was before (relatable to his audience)

A Jew

Pharisee

Zealous for the the the Lord and the Law as all of you are today

Pauls life focus-

Galatians 1 Paul says his focus was to advance in Judaism…

Sin- Persecuting the church (violently murdering, beating, imprisoning)

ALL THAT CHANGED IN ONE INSTANCE

A moment of encounter with Jesus (v.6-10)

-Jesus is Lord “who are you Lord???…I am Jesus!)

-Exposed as unrighteous (Gods glory and holiness unveils our sinfulness)

We see the Lord in His true form and it exposes our true form

-Repent ( change of mind)

Paul was against Christ, he believed he was holy in his actions, BUT NOW his mind is changed

HE REALIZES HE ISNT HOLY…HE REALIZES HE NEEDS SAVED!!

He see’s his actions as unrighteous…because the literal words of the Lord say so… “Paul why do you persecute me”

HOW CAN HE BE SAVED!!!

-Faith in the shed blood -now Paul is calling Jesus Lord!!

EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED!!!

From persecutor to follower!!!

A life in obedience to Jesus (v. 11-21)

Pauls eyes are opened...He can see clearly now

WORSHIP

Paul worships “calling upon His name”

Acts 9 tells us Paul immediately began to proclaim Jesus as Lord in the synagogs

WALK

He immediately begins to obey the word of the Lord...

“go to damascus” “arise and be baptised”

He begins praying to the Lord Jesus…

Seeking him for direction…

WORK

God said I have a work for you to do…

Not to the Jews but go to the gentiles…

WITNESS

Paul states that His testimony is causing causing people to glorify the Lord!

Galatians 1:22–24 “And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.”

God placed Paul on a mission to bring the gospel to the gentiles

This is the same mission you have!!!

To go and be ambassadors for Christ (we talked about this last week in Jonah)

WE ARE ALL CALLED TO DO THIS (multiply disciples)

SO WE ALL HAVE THE WHY…

NOW YOU HAVE THE HOW….

GO SHARE YOUR TESTIMONY!!!

BEFORE WE CAN SHARE IT…WE HAVE TO ORGANIZE IT RIGHT…

WE CAN USE PAULS TESTIMONY AS A TEMPLATE FOR OUR OWN…

SO THAT IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO…HELP YOU WRITE YOUR OWN GOD AT WORK STORY!!

HELP YOU GET IT DOWN ON PAPER…

THEN YOU GO AND MEMORIZE IT…Write it on your heart…

SO WE CAN STAND BEFORE A LOST PEOPLE AS PAUL DID AND PROCLAIM HOW THROUGH FAITH IN THE DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS WE WERE TRANSFORMED!!!

Writing your testimony

Notice Pauls testimony is:

-Simple and Clear (no dates, times)

-Relatable (Paul knows his audience)

-Focus on Jesus and His finished work (God glorifying, not man glorifying, JESUS DID THE WORK IN YOU? not a parent or grandparent, not a spouse, not a friend…Jesus saved you through faith in Him alone!)

Hear this though…

NOT EVERY TESTIMONY IS COOKIE CUTTER (It may not sound exactly like Pauls)

3 types of testimony format:

-Adult Conversion

You came to Christ as an adult (more before than after)

Pauls testimony is like this…

-Childhood conversion/ Deeper adult commitment

You encountered and placed your faith in Jesus as a child but grew deeper in your faith as an adult (more after than before)

Saved young…then a drifting (sin struggles)…then growing

falling down and staying there for a little while…

-Early conversion/ Consistent growth

You were saved early in life and have had a consistent walk with the Lord (balanced)

Not a perfect life…but one that has been consistent in walking with the Lord…(falling down and getting back up quickly)

Experiencing grace in your growth…hope in suffering

ALL 3 OF THESE ARE GOD GLORIFYING TESTIMONIES THAT ARE RELATABLE AND SHOW THE redemptive power of Jesus!!!

WHICH FOMAT BEST FITS YOUR STORY…

NOW WRITE IT!!!

HOMEWORK:

WRITE YOUR TESTIMONY THIS WEEK!!!!

Who were you before Jesus?

-How were you raised? (personal and relatable)

-What was your life pattern/focus before Jesus?

-Sin? A life dedicated to fulfilling your own flesh desires.

What was your moment of encounter with the Gospel?

-Jesus is the Lord

-Exposed as unrighteous

-Repent (changed mind) (think differently about your standing with God)

REALIZE YOU ARE A SINNER AND THAT YOU NEED TO BE SAVED!!!

-Faith in the Gospel (moment you placed your faith in the shed blood of Christ)

What is life like now?

WORSHIP

Life dedicated to worshipping Jesus in all of your actions and words

WALK

1 John 1:3 “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

Fellowship with the Lord- Prayer, bible intake, obedience, relationship with your father

WORK

Serving the body of Christ…seeing Gods faithfulness…being the workmanship of Jesus

WITNESS

Proclaiming the Gospel

Acts 9:15–16 “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.””

Sharing your testimony

1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, 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,”

Write out your testimony…memorize it…always be prepared to give it…to show people the hope in you…

Through Gods word we got the call to do this and the template of how to do this…

REMEMBER YOUR TESTIMONY IS STILL BEING WRITTEN!!!

Everyday God is adding to it…

And we are called to share all that God is doing and and give Him all the glory!

BUT YOU MAY BE THINKING…I WISH I COULD SEE IT DONE FIRST…

EASIER TO WATCH SOMEONE DO IT FIRST…LEARN BY WATCHING

WE ARE GOING TO GIVE YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT TODAY…

THIS MORNING YOU ARE GOING TO HEAR THE TESTIMONY OF ONE OF OUR OWN…

ADAM FOGG

Adam Fogg…

Been with us since core group…

WATCHING WHAT GOD HAS DONE IN ADAMS LIFE AND HOW HE IS USING HIM HAS BEEN INCREDIBLE…

AND HAS GROWN MY FAITH JUST WATCHING…

Adam how old are you?

Who were you before Jesus?

-How were you raised?

-What was your life pattern/focus before Jesus?

-Sin? A life dedicated to fulfilling your own flesh desires.

What was your moment of encounter with the Gospel?

-Moment you realized Jesus is the Lord

-How you viewed your own sin/ exposed as unrighteous before the Lord

-Moment of repentance

-The moment you placed your faith in the Gospel

What is life like now?

Life in worship to the Lord?

How has your walk through life been with the Lord?

-SIN STRUGGLES?

-What has life been like being refined by the Lord?

-How you experienced deliverance?

Hebrew 5:12-14.

Luke 23:26.

How has God called you to witness for Him?

Thank you for sharing brother…thank you for being vulnerable and showing us how the Lord has healed and delivered and is leading you.

Join me as we pray for not only Adam but also that we would be a church that goes out and shares our testimony

PRAY