In his book The Wilderness Within Father Nicholas Buxton writes: “Practically everything we say, hear and see is a story of one kind of one or another. . . . Storytelling is both what makes us human and how we articulate, signify, and understand what it means–to us–to be human.” I think Father Buxton is on to something.
 

The heart of the Gospel is the story of Jesus. As I noted last week, John tells the story of Jesus “so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God” (John 20:30). Like John, our storytelling can also lead to faith. We need to talk about how Jesus moves our lives.

When I wrote about inviting others to “come and see” last week, I suspect some people were expecting me to tell them to invite others to church. While I think it is a good thing to invite believers to worship with us if they don’t have a church of their own, I am not convinced that simply inviting non-believers to a worship service is an effective way of introducing them to Christ. I think the introduction to Christ comes through us, through our telling our story.

We don’t have a lot of experience doing that. From my observation, little of the conversation among people at church is about the affect of Jesus on their lives. So we need to practice. Tell your story of Jesus to someone you know, another believer, a family member. It will make a difference in you.

Read John 4:7-29, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+4%3A7-29&version=NRSV