We continue in our journey with the good news of the gospel and sharing it with others. Today, the third of four parts toward becoming "walk across the room" people—"The Power of Story." Our Scripture reading is one verse from First Peter, chapter three. (Read 1 Peter 3:15)

Let’s play a word association game. I’ll say a word and you turn to someone sitting next to you and say the first word that comes to mind. Ready? "Mona." How many replied, "Lisa?" In our church, some of you probably replied, "Baxley," for the name of one of our members. I won’t ask how many! Ok, here’s another one—"Super Bowl." Anyone reply, "Denver Broncos?" Not this year! Ok, another one: "Vacation." How many replied, "Wish I were on one?" One more: "President." I’m not going to ask for any replies to that one! Ok, one last one: "Born-again Christian."

I’m sure our replies to that one would be very interesting because it is a very misunderstood expression. It would be especially interesting, however, to ask some people who are very far from God what their first response would be. I can imagine such words as "pushy," "judgmental," perhaps even "mean." There’s no doubt a lot of damage has been done in the name of faith.

Part of our purpose in these four weeks is to turn that around. Rather then representing a faith that comes across as pushy or judgmental, worse yet, that is perceived as mean, becoming a "walk across the room" kind of Christ-follower seeks to bring to others the care and compassion of Christ. Wouldn’t it be terrific if people’s immediate response to the words "born-again Christian" would be "caring," "loving," "compassionate?" How about "helpful?" Wouldn’t it be terrific if that was the attitude followers of Jesus Christ took into their relationships? Rather than running from Christians, others would be attracted to Christians! That’s what happened with Jesus. And that’s what we seek…by being willing to enter into the Zone of the Unknown, willing to be led by the Spirit’s prompting and willing to listen to other people’s stories rather than push our agendas on them. Actually, more than being willing, but actually developing such an attitude, with God’s help, that it becomes our default nature. If we would do that, then evangelism occurs in a way that is natural and a part of our lifestyle.

Also, if we would do that—enter the Zone of the Unknown, develop friendships, discover other’s stories, all the while listening for the Spirit’s prompting—the moment will come where we can appropriately and effectively tell our story. And there is power in stories.

As an example of that natural moment developing in a good "walk across the room" attitude, I’d like to tell you a story about my brother, Mick. Many of you have heard me mention him on occasion. Some of you have met him. He and his wife, Gail, have been very meaningful in Kim’s and my faith development…but, that’s another story…which I’m going to tell in a moment! Mick’s story is similar to mine—brought up in the Lutheran Church, played sports…which became a hindrance to growing in his faith, later became serious about following Jesus—so, I’m not going to tell you that part of his story. What I want to tell you is his open door opportunity to share his story with someone in a natural, inviting way.

In the 70’s, my brother officiated high school basketball. He was frequently paired with another official from Greeley, a guy by the name of Bob. They would travel together across northeast Colorado officiating in places like Sterling, Ft. Morgan, Julesburg and the like. As you might suspect, they had plenty of time for conversation.

Now, before committing his life to Christ, Mick had…well, he had a bit of a temper! And it would come out on the basketball floor. A player or coach would question his call and he was quick to get in their face about it! Also, he and Bob would talk all the way home about their experiences in the game they just refereed. Often in colorful language! That was their experience for a couple of years.

In between seasons one year, Mick returned to the Christ of his youth with a renewed sense of commitment. Seeking to seriously follow Christ, he began to address his behavior—including on the basketball court! The basketball season began and Mick was a very different referee. With the Spirit’s help, he brought his temper under control. No longer did he dive in with relish to arguments with players and coaches. And, certainly, no longer did he discuss games with Bob in the same colorful style as before. He was a changed person.

Mid-way through the season, Mick and Bob were returning home from a game, the type of game that used to bring out the worst in Mick. Bob was driving. Suddenly, Bob pulled onto the shoulder of this two-lane highway, late at night, in the middle of nowhere. Mick must have wondered what in the world was up. Bob stopped the car, put it in "park," turned and looked at Mick and said, "All right! What’s up with you? There’s something different about you!"

Talk about an open door opportunity! Look at the steps that had taken place: Mick had developed a friendship with Bob; He had listened to Bob’s story; He had not prematurely pushed his new found faith experience onto Bob while, at the same time, living out as best he could before Bob what it meant to follow Christ. And there, on that dark, deserted highway, Mick was able to tell his story to an attentive, interested listener in a very natural way.

The result of that experience was that, eventually, Bob committed his life to Christ. Bob and his wife, Karen, became members of First Presbyterian Church in Greeley—Mick and Gail’s church, later, Kim’s and my church also. Bob and Karen also were members of a small group Bible study Kim and I participated in, along with Mick and Gail.

I think that is a good example of the principles of faith sharing we’ve been talking about these past few weeks.

The question for today is, Are you prepared to tell your story? More to the point, Are you prepared to tell your story in a brief, interesting and powerful way? Let’s consider some ways to do that.

First of all, are you prepared to tell God’s story? That’s the bottom line goal—to ultimately tell the good news of God’s love for people. Can you give a summary of the hope that is in you? Can you briefly state why the gospel is good news? Given an open door opportunity like Mick had, what would you say? In the Sunday School hour next Sunday, we’re going to look at some possible ways to do that. For today, however, I’d like to share one example. It’s called the Bridge illustration and it’s something Kim and I learned a long time ago in a discipleship training course. It’s something that you can sketch out on a napkin in a restaurant, or on a small notepad in the office or some similar place. Basically, it goes like this:

Sin has brought a separation between humanity and God. It is a chasm that we cannot cross on our own—our best efforts fall short. However, God has provided a way across this chasm. It is through the death of Jesus on the cross—where the penalty for our sin was paid—that this separation from God has been bridged.

There are opportunities within sharing the Bridge illustration to expand just a bit more on God’s story, but just a bit! It needs to be brief, clear and concise. And there are opportunities within that to share more of your story as to how you came to Christ, how the gospel was good news in your life. You have a story too, learn to tell it well. Given an open door opportunity like Mick’s, what would you say regarding your story?

It might be helpful to think of our stories in a "before and after" frame. Before accepting Christ in my life, I was like this—after accepting Christ, I was like this. For example:

Striving------------------------ Grateful

Self-destructive---------------Healthy

Guilty-------------------------- Liberated

Fear-stricken------------------Confident

Despairing---------------------Hopeful

Framing your story in such "Before" and "After" images can be very helpful to the person you’re trying to share the good news with. And, telling your story—in a relationship that has been developed with care and compassion can be very, very powerful. You have a story, learn to tell it well.

As an example, I’d like to tell you my story. Whether I tell it well or not—you be the judge. But, as an example of someone’s story…

Like Mick, I grew up in the Lutheran Church. Both of us were confirmed in that church—after two years of hard labor in the confirmation class! We knew the stories of the Bible. We knew the story of Jesus. We knew it here {pointing to head}, but did not know it here {pointing to heart}. I don’t blame anyone for that, the church certainly tried to get the message through. What was blocking the way to Christ being THE priority in our lives was sports. We were religious…about sports. For Mick, it was football—he played four years of football in college. For me, it was baseball—I played four years of baseball in college. Leaving home for college, I left behind my church activity as well. I didn’t darken many church doors while I was in college—mostly only the rare occasion when I came home to Denver on a weekend for laundry and home cooking! Then, our regular routine while growing up of attending church on Sunday morning would kick back in.

What I realize now is that I had made baseball into a god in my life. You know about my love for baseball, but, hopefully, you know that I keep it in the proper perspective. That wasn’t always the case. Baseball was my god in college. Baseball grabbed most of my attention, my commitment and even dictated my behavior. One didn’t behave too badly out of fear of losing one’s position on the team or, worse yet, one’s scholarship! So, for four years, baseball was my god. And, for four years, my baseball god served me pretty well—our team was pretty successful and I made some contributions to that.

Then…my god died. My four years of college eligibility were up and the harsh reality staring me in the face was I wasn’t good enough to play at the next competitive level—professional baseball. I tried—I didn’t want to let that god go—but, it didn’t work out. I was done. My baseball god had died.

Fortunately, during those four years, Mick and Gail had been walking before me as committed followers of Christ. They were not pushy about it, they simply modeled their life in Christ before me. The transition in Mick was obvious to me. But, I can be a slow learner and it took another year-and-a-half after my baseball god died for it to sink in. What happened is a good example of the Biblical story that some disciples will be sowers and some will be reapers. I was finishing up my degree and had to commute to Greeley from Denver. In doing so, I would frequently hang out at Mick and Gail’s house. More opportunities for them to share, more opportunities for them to model what life in Christ was like.

One evening, I stopped by Mick and Gail’s before my night class started. They were eating dinner. The weird thing was their neighbor across the street, a guy by the name of Leonard, was sitting at the table talking with them. He wasn’t eating dinner with them, he was just sitting there talking with them. It looked kind of rude to tell you the truth. However, now that I had arrived, Leonard began talking with me. And he began talking about matters of Christian faith. It became obvious to Leonard that while I understood the basics—after all, I’d had two years of Lutheran confirmation and Mick and Gail had been sharing with me for five-and-a-half years—I wasn’t following Christ as Lord of my life. And Leonard said to me, "Gosh, Ron, you’re really close. I think you should accept Jesus into your life right now." And I said, "Ok." I was convinced at that point in my life that I needed something more in my life than where I had been. And so, right there before Mick and Gail, Leonard led me in a prayer of commitment to Jesus Christ. They were stunned—kind of frozen right there in mid-fork! Then, Leonard left! In fact, my first words as a newly committed Christian were, "Who was that masked man?" I’m convinced that God led Leonard there for me that night. Mick and Gail had sowed for five-and-a-half years and Leonard reaped that harvest in five-and-a-half minutes. That’s what happens sometimes in this "walk across the room" evangelism…or, in this case, "walk across the street" evangelism.

My "before and after" picture is this—before Christ, I was seeking to find meaning and purpose for my life in things that were fickle and temporary. I was great when things were going great in baseball. I was not so pleasant when things were going badly. I knew there had to be more to life than that. After Christ, I found the true God who is neither fickle nor temporary. Whatever else might be happening in my life in this fickle and temporary world, I have found the firm foundation of Jesus Christ in my life…and that has made all the difference.

What is your story? If you haven’t re-visited it in a long time, I encourage you to do so now. How is God’s story good news to you? How might you simply state it when given the opportunity to do so? What does your "before and after" picture look like? How might you convey it concisely, yet meaningfully, to someone hungering for some meaning and purpose in their life? Everyone has a story! And, when carefully thought out, when prompted by the Holy Spirit in the journey of getting to the appropriate moment for sharing your story, every Christian is called to be prepared to give a defense for the hope that is in them. That is to say, to tell your story, and God’s…for there is power in such stories.