STORY ENVY

Good Friday to You, 
All of us enjoy a good story. Friends and family members regularly share personal stories from their lives. Hollywood masterfully tells stories in our favorite movies and TV series. Companies spend millions to develop commercials telling compelling stories in only 30 seconds. Stories are so powerful and enjoyable that we frequently find ourselves thinking, “I wish I had a story like that!” 
Here’s what I mean: 
Everyone at the party is laughing at someone else’s childhood story. 
I wish I had a story like that! 
Your friend gets out of a speeding ticket. 
I wish I had a story like that! 
She gets a deadline extension for her project. 
I wish I had a story like that! 
For years, I had the same thought about my spiritual journey. 
Sam is delivered from drugs and becomes a pastor. 
Jeremy is delivered from drugs and darkness and passionately follows Jesus. 
Clay grew up in church but accepted Christ as an adult and experienced dramatic life change. 
These are real examples from my life, and every time I heard their stories I thought… I wish I had a story like that! I felt like their stories were better than mine. In fact, I viewed my story as boring and complicated. Boring because I grew up in church and chose to follow Christ at age 7. There were no big indications of radical life change. At age 7, I didn’t have much more on my “sin list” than a fib about cleaning my bedroom or being mean to my sister. Thus, my story seemed pretty boring compared to the stories of people like Clay, Sam, and Jeremy. My story was also complicated, because the years between ages 7 and 19 didn’t exactly display my identity as a follower of Jesus. Instead of representing life in Christ, I took a walk on the “dead side.” 
Come to find out, many followers of Jesus struggle with their stories. Others, like me, struggle with feeling that their early conversion story is boring. Others, also like me, had seasons of sin that seemed to disqualify them from sharing the message of a life-changing Gospel.
Stories are powerful! As a follower of Jesus, your spiritual story is one of the most powerful gifts you have to share with those in your life. Your story reveals the grace and power of God! If you live as I did (ashamed of my story), you are missing out on powerful opportunities to share the grace and power of God. 
This Sunday, we’re going to talk about the Story of the Gospel and the power of your story. If you have been ashamed or confused by your story, this is a week you will not want to miss. You can get a head start by looking at Ephesians 2:1-10 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2:1-10&version=ESV). It is here we find the outline for ALL of our stories. In those few verses is the recipe for powerfully telling your Jesus Story. I can’t wait to share some of my story so all of us can better understand and share the story of what God has done and is doing in our lives! 
Hope to see you Sunday, 
Pastor Michael