The Testimony

Good morning and welcome. I am glad to be here this morning. It is always a pleasure to be able to bring the word of the Lord this morning. Let us open with a word of prayer.

Testimonies

One of the joys of growing up in the church are some of the different ways that people worship. Over the years I have seen worship services run differently from place to place. Every church has their own unique traditions and quirks that make that body of believers unique. While often the core of a worship services stays the same Music, prayer, sermon there are things that churches do all the time but not what can make them unique.

One service that you will see at a lot of churches but not everyone is the Testimony service. I remember growing up and Sunday evening service always was the time for this. There was a significant portion of the service designated for people to share testimonies of what was going on in their lives. While I have been a part of churches that have had time for testimonies i have not been a part of one since that had it as a weekly occurrence that was planned for and open for all. There are times that makes me sad because the church can be missing out on some amazing stories of faith. At the same time as a Pastor I understand the worries about that because it means giving up control and trusting that people will let the Spirit speak through them. Giving up control is hard for many pastors.

The Testimony service though is an amazing thing. I can remember listening to people share the things that God has delivered them from has always been an amazing. Yet, as amazing as they are I have also noticed that there are some aspects of the service that are challenging for a lot of people. Every now and than you will have someone share an testimony of How God saved them from so many of the evils of this world. Drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality and so on. It is one that you hear the amazing story and you celebrate.

Than sometimes something else happens. I know I can speak for myself for this but I am curious how many of you can relate to this. You hear this great story and you start comparing it to your story. You might even say this to yourself.

“I wish I had a story like that to share”

We struggle with the idea that we don’t have the same story and compare ourselves to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Or we slip into the idea that we don’t have a story at all because God didn’t save us from those things. We couldn’t possibly get up and share because we weren’t delivered like them.

It is always hard when this happens and it got me thinking about this mornings passage. Turn with me to 1 Timothy as we look at the word that God has for us this morning.

1 Timothy 1:12–17 NIV

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 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. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 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. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Paul’s Testimony

Paul reminds Timothy of his testimony in this passage. It is really the cliff notes version of Paul’s Testimony but it is still a testament to what Paul has been saved from. Talk about a Testimony to compare ourselves to. I don’t know about you but i don’t know many people who were delivered from the Sins that Paul was committing. Look at verse 13 one more time. Paul was a

Blasphemer, a Persecutor, and a violent man.

Put this in simpler terms. Paul spoke evil against God, he hunted down Christians of the early church, and he sought to kill these people. In the eyes of Christians Paul is one of the worst people ever. He was someone that i am willing to bet if you asked people in the early church they would have never thought could be saved from his ways.

Yet, God had other plans. Christ came and changed his life. He transformed Saul and he became a new creation as He so often shares in his letters. Paul new and recognized that Christ was the one who did this in his life and that became his testimony. In fact that is the hallmark of a good testimony for anyone. It is the recognition that God is the one who does the changing and it is not anything that we have done.

It would be easy for us to look at Paul’s story and start falling into the same trap that we can slip into during that testimony service. Looking at Paul’s story and saying how can we compare to him? How do I measure up?

This is the mistake that we so often make and must guard against. At the end of the day we have to be reminded of what Paul is sharing with us. It is God’s grace being poured out that saves all of us. That none of us deserve the grace of God but we can receive it.

Grace Abundantly

I love v. 14 becuase it reminds us the power of what God has done.

1 Timothy 1:14 NIV

14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

That word abundantly is an interesting one. In the original languages that word is a unique word to this passage of scripture. Paul coins a new compound word to help emphasize his point. He uses language that intensifies the word to increase the power of what it means. He adds that exclamation point to the word that we use. If he was typing this out in a text message to someone he would be using all Capital letters, bold font, underlined. He is grabbing our attention. He wants both the original readers and us to see that it is The grace of the Lord that saved him. It reminds me of

Romans 5:20–21 NIV

20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul had a lot of sin that had to be covered and God poured out the Grace to defeat that sin. The Grace had to be poured out abundantly to save Paul.

I got thinking about this. I realized that yes Paul needed more grace than most because of the things he had done. That is the love of God in his life. God loves us that he will pour out his grace as needed.

Some might say well i want to experience that same level of Grace. I have news for you. We have all seen an abundance of Grace poured out on us. In fact Paul warns about this kind of thinking

Romans 6:1–2 NIV

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

That’s the thing about Grace. IF we have come to except Jesus into our lives we have recieved far more than we deserve. None of us are deserving of forgiveness but his grace is poured out abundantly for us. WE dont’ need to seek out more grace for the sake of grace we need to accept what grace has been given us and see that even the smallest amount of grace is far greater than we should expect.

We know this because Paul gives us a trustworthy Saying

1 Timothy 1:15 NIV

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

A Trustworthy Saying

It is so important that we remind ourselves of this passage. When Paul uses a phrase like here is a trustworthy saying, it informs us that we can know that this statement has been tested and is agreed upon by the people of the church. Paul sums it up so well. Jesus came to save sinners and he recognizes that his failures are horrible. It is the recognition that he needs Jesus to save him. We can trust this statement because it also doesn’t come from Paul. It comes from Jesus

Matthew 9:13 NIV

13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Mark 2:17 NIV

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Luke 19:10 NIV

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Jesus came to free us from the bonds of sin. He called us to be more. He called us to recognize our need for him in our lives. God sent his son to die on the cross so that we could be free from the bonds of sin. No matter if we are as bad or horrible as Paul or if we have been a good person our whole life and have not sinned as much as others. No matter where we are at some point we need to recognize that we need Jesus. No matter if we made the decision a long time ago or we need to make the decision right now. Jesus is the way that we come to reconciliation and hope for the future. To return to relationship with God.

It is also important to remember that this isn’t only for us as individuals but for all the people of the world. The message of the Gospel is one to be shared. It is to be testified to. It is to be shared. It is to Glorify God to spread the message of hope that is found in Christ.

Testimony service

Like Paul we need to be ready to testify to the work of