This is obviously not exactly what I'm going to say, but the main points will be the same...
A few months ago, Josh Barton (jr. high pastor) and I sat down to plan out nearly a full year's worth of sermons. It was such a rich time for the two of us to bounce thoughts off one another, one of which was the concept of taking off your mask.
And Josh spoke last week on what our student's masks may be and he did a phenomenal job.
And this week, my job is to tackle how taking off our masks and telling our stories are crucial in order to advance the kingdom of God.
A big reason why I usually refrain from sharing my story is because I feel like it is insignificant. I have never had something crazy that I have been redeemed or rescued from. I never woke up from a crazy night of drinking and had a huge epiphany that I needed to change my life around. So I shied away from telling my story.
But that type of self doubt is basically like me saying that my story is insignificant.
And that is not true.
My story matters. Your story matters.
And what is beautiful is that our stories are no where near the same. But both are vital to the health and growth of Christianity as a whole.
“It was July 1, 1885 when Edward Kimball felt the tugging of the Spirit to share his faith with a young shoe salesman he knew. At first Kimball was unsure if he should talk to the man because he was fearful. But he finally mustered his courage and went into the shoe store. There Kimball found the salesman in the back room stocking shoes, and he began to share his faith with him. As a result, the young shoe salesman prayed and received Jesus Christ that day. That shoe salesman's name was Dwight L. Moody, and he became the greatest evangelist of his generation.
But the story doesn't end there. Several years later a pastor and well-known author by the name of Frederick B. Meyer heard Moody preach. Meyer was so deeply stirred by Moody's preaching that he himself embarked on a far-reaching evangelistic ministry. Once when Meyer was preaching, a college student named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ as a result of his presentation of the gospel. Chapman later employed a baseball player to help him prepare to conduct an evangelistic crusade. That ballplayer, who later became a powerful evangelist himself, was Billy Sunday.
In 1924 a group of businessmen invited Billy Sunday to hold an evangelistic campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina, which resulted in many people coming to Christ. Out of that revival meeting a group of men formed a men's prayer group to pray for the world. They prayed for Charlotte to have another great revival. God sent another evangelist named Mordecai Hamm. Hamm went to Charlotte in 1934 to hold a crusade. Ham's crusade went well, even though it did not have many converts. On one of the last nights under the big tent one tall, lanky young man walked up the aisle to receive Christ. That man's name was Billy Graham.
Talk about a chain of events! And it all started with an ordinary Christian named Edward Kimball, who reached D.L. Moody, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who reached Billy Sunday, who reached Mordecai Ham, who reached Billy Graham. Look at what God has done over these many years because of the faithfulness of one person.”
But the story doesn't end there. Several years later a pastor and well-known author by the name of Frederick B. Meyer heard Moody preach. Meyer was so deeply stirred by Moody's preaching that he himself embarked on a far-reaching evangelistic ministry. Once when Meyer was preaching, a college student named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ as a result of his presentation of the gospel. Chapman later employed a baseball player to help him prepare to conduct an evangelistic crusade. That ballplayer, who later became a powerful evangelist himself, was Billy Sunday.
In 1924 a group of businessmen invited Billy Sunday to hold an evangelistic campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina, which resulted in many people coming to Christ. Out of that revival meeting a group of men formed a men's prayer group to pray for the world. They prayed for Charlotte to have another great revival. God sent another evangelist named Mordecai Hamm. Hamm went to Charlotte in 1934 to hold a crusade. Ham's crusade went well, even though it did not have many converts. On one of the last nights under the big tent one tall, lanky young man walked up the aisle to receive Christ. That man's name was Billy Graham.
Talk about a chain of events! And it all started with an ordinary Christian named Edward Kimball, who reached D.L. Moody, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who reached Billy Sunday, who reached Mordecai Ham, who reached Billy Graham. Look at what God has done over these many years because of the faithfulness of one person.”
This is one example of one man who overcame his fear of insignificance and, in doing so, Christianity was forever changed.
On a smaller scale, my mom went to school with a guy whom we'll call Johnny. Johnny knew my mom was a Christian and used to endlessly tease and mock her for her beliefs. However, my mom remained unwavering in her stance and her beliefs. She refused to back down.
And the days and years went by and soon, my mom forgot about Johnny. Until an email made its way to her inbox from her long lost friend, Johnny. It's contents told her that when he was teasing and mocking her, he was actually testing her resolve. He wanted to see if she would turn away and recant her faith in order to save faith.
My mom, and several other people he encountered who were Christians, refused to turn from their faith. And Johnny got to the point where he was so miserable he was either going to commit suicide or convert to Christianity. And, thankfully, he chose the latter.
Both of these stories are significant. One changed millions of lives. One changed one life.
1 Corinthians 12 talks about the parts of the body making up the whole. According to this passage, we need one another. We are all significant. No member of the body and no one person is more vital than the next person or part.
One of my very favorite things about this chapter is found in verse 27, which says, "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
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But I need help with more stuff! So if you have any suggestions, please let me know! Please pray for me as I continue to prepare. I am so excited to speak in front of our students!
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