Faith Stories

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 - 1:53 PM CST

Stories are powerful, memorable and personal; everyone has one. Helping students
“give the reason for the hope you have” can be as simple as training them to know and
share their faith story.

Faith stories tend to fall into one of two categories.

1. Salvation Story
2. Growth Story

The Salvation Story is a student’s story about having a heart awakening to the grace of
God in such a way that they shift their trust, hope and love from themselves or other
things and place them fully and solely in the person and work of Jesus.

The Growth Story is a student’s story about a time in their Christian life when the grace
of God helped them overcome a wrong belief in their heart that was being manifested
in sinful behavior or negative emotions.

The basic outline of faith stories:

1. BEFORE: What was your heart like? What lies did you believe? How did your lifestyle reflect those heart issues?
2. ENCOUNTER: What truth of God’s Word and/or what about the person and work of Jesus created a heart change in the way you live and love?
3. AFTER: How does your heart love differently now? What lasting impact has it had on your life and relationships?
   

One of the pitfalls of student faith stories is that they tend to make someone or
something other than Jesus the hero of their story.

Whether it is a salvation story or a growth story, the hero is always Jesus! He alone is
the rescuer, He alone changes the heart and upon hearing a faith story the listener’s
interest, and even their affections, should be drawn toward Christ.

Watch my recent conversation with NY youth pastor, Mark Freeman, for more
information on this topic: http://youtu.be/mDHmgzuUMgg