Tell Your Story!

Published: Oct. 3, 2022, 6 a.m.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story\u2014those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. \u2026 Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord. (Psalm 107:1-3, 43)

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Have you been saved by the Lord?\xa0 Redeemed in Jesus?\xa0 Then tell your story!\xa0

There is a significant movement across churches in North America to move more deeply into faith storytelling.\xa0 Some Baptist traditions might call it \u201ctestimony time;\u201d Pentecostals: \u201ctestifying.\u201d\xa0 But in the Reformed church and other mainline churches, we\u2019ve not been so good at this.\xa0 Psalm 107 tells us to start practicing.

The story of God\u2019s salvation\u2014any story of God\u2019s salvation\u2014is good news!\xa0 There is the big, first, primary story of how we have been saved in Jesus, yes.\xa0 But our God is in the business of saving and redeeming his people who cry out to him each and every day.\xa0 He saves us time and time again, no matter the mess we\u2019ve gotten ourselves into, because \u201chis love endures forever!\u201d \xa0

Don\u2019t believe it?\xa0 Just listen to the psalm: there were those wanderers who were perishing from hunger and thirst\u2014they cried out to the Lord, and he filled them with good things!\xa0 There were those imprisoned in darkness, enslaved to their labors\u2014they cried out to the Lord and he broke their shackles, setting them free!\xa0 There were those sick and despairing, near to death\u2014they cried out to the Lord and he rescued them from the grave by his word!\xa0 Others\u2014merchants, business people, and trades people\u2014were adrift in storm-tossed seas riding the markets up and crashing down to the depths where their courage failed, but they too cried out to the Lord and he stilled the storm and brought them to a haven of rest.

Two of these stories are about God\u2019s salvation from sin, but the other two are about God\u2019s salvation from a peril that befell these people through no fault of their own.\xa0 \xa0\xa0

Every one of these threads of God\u2019s saving work can be found in Jesus, yes, but every one of them is also unique to a personal situation.\xa0 So, what is your story of God\u2019s salvation? \xa0Where and from what has God saved you, concretely, in the course of your own life? \xa0We need to share and to hear these stories of \u201cGod sightings\u201d so that we might all remember and believe that our God is alive and active.\xa0 So let all those that the Lord has redeemed\u2014including you\u2014tell their story so that all may rejoice in God\u2019s unfailing love and his mighty works of salvation!\xa0 And, may we all be made wise and faithful because of it.\xa0

The psalm finally declares that it is only the wicked who are silenced: those redeemed by the Lord always have a good word to share!\xa0 So, tell your story to someone today!\xa0 If you\u2019re not sure how, I\u2019ve linked some prompting questions here in the notes from our denomination\u2019s Faith Formation ministries that can help you think about where you have seen God at work in your own life!\xa0

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