Defining Moments with Jesus.

by Paul Sewell

This is a project that will help you tell people about your defining moments with Jesus. And to do it in a natural way that flows in everyday conversations.

All of us who follow Jesus have experienced defining moments where Jesus has done good in our lives. These stories can be a beautiful way to tell others about Jesus and describe what life with Him looks like.

The problem is that most of us have not thought through our stories and crafted them into concise interesting stories that can be dropped easy into conversation.

This project and the workshop that goes with it, will help you do exactly that.

Let me first clear something up. Defining moments with Jesus go far beyond your “testimony.” I have heard hundreds of christians tell their “testimony” and they all sound pretty much the same…

I grew up in a christian home (or a non christian home) and my childhood was like this… I went to church… I am a christian… Here is a bible verse I like.

These “testimony” type stories work okay with other Christians. But they don’t normally connect well with people who don’t know Jesus. Here are some problems with the normal christian “testimony.” The story is usually:

too long to drop into conversation
includes too much backstory and details
is more about the person telling it than it is about Jesus (often Jesus is never mentioned at all)
there is no transformation or life change in the story

This project is not about dusting off your old testimony and trying to workshop it.

Let’s start fresh and try to craft your story that is:

interesting,
concise, &
makes Jesus the hero (not you).

You can certainly tell the story of how you began following Jesus (I do!). But don’t feel limited to that. I’m sure Jesus has helped you and changed your life through many defining moments outside of salvation. Here are some powerful new stories that have emerged out of this workshop:

When my church friends betrayed me, I had a dark night of the soul. Jesus met me in that place and was kind to me. He showed me how dark and empty life was without Him and how full and satisfying life was with Him.
My three year old son was diagnosed with cancer. As I drove away from the hospital, I talked to Jesus like He was sitting in the front seat next to me. That was 30+ years ago and I haven’t stopped talking to Jesus…
My business was failing and I did not know what to do. I went to Jesus and here is how He helped me…
I used to compete at everything. I wanted to win at business and life no matter who was crushed in the process. As I grew in Jesus, I learned that it is more valuable to collaborate instead of compete. Now I have this peace and generosity to others I never had before.

What are your defining moments with Jesus?

Think broadly about this.

If Jesus has ever answered one of your prayers, you have a wonderful story (or many!)

If Jesus has shown you mercy in a time of need, you have an important story to tell.

If Jesus has guided you in life or protected you or satisfied you or given you peace, you have a story to tell people who don’t know Him. The world needs to hear your story.

Your Search for Satisfaction

We are all on a search for satisfaction. Every person is seeking satisfaction, though not everyone realizes it. Most would describe their search for satisfaction in other ways, but certainly all people are longing for happiness, peace, enlightenment, or significance in their life.

This search is natural, because we all naturally do it.

At the same time, this search is profoundly unnatural because it is not what God originally intended for us. God had a perfect design for us. He designed us to live in perfect harmony with Him and His creation. In this original perfect design, we had full satisfaction with nothing was lacking. There was no search for satisfaction because nothing was missing.

But mankind rejected God and went our own way. This way led us into brokenness, and we lost our satisfaction.

Because God designed us to be fully satisfied, we now have a longing for what is missing.

Whether we consciously identified this longing or not, we move through life seeking that which would satisfy. We move from toy to toy, relationship to relationship, experience to experience, job to job, and place to place. We are seeking the satisfaction that is missing.

People pursue power, pleasure, and wealth.

Sadly, these things don’t satisfy. Many of them are not just lacking, they are destructive.

Many search for satisfaction in religion. Sadly, religion too falls short in the search. Even Christianity falls far short of satisfying.

The only thing that does not fall short is Jesus.

Jesus truly satisfies our longing.

One barrier to being satisfied in Jesus is “cultural christianity.”

When some people are searching for satisfaction, they find themselves in a church or in a conversation with a Christian, but they don’t actually hear the good news about Jesus. They instead hear about “cultural christianity.”

Cultural Christianity is a devotion to Christian values and Christian traditions, but without actually experiencing new life with Christ. These are people that go by the term of Christian, but have not actually been “born again” as Jesus described it to one religious person.

Cultural Christians are sometimes hard to distinguish from true followers of Jesus. And cultural christianity might initially be hard to distinguish from the Way of Jesus. But once God gives you eyes to see the difference, you will not be able to “unsee” it.

Cultural Christians often have great morals based on “Christian values.” They may have an intricate set of rules they live by. They may go to church every week and might even hold some position of church leadership like deacon or pastor. They may read the Bible every day. They may have a strong devotion to a denomination or a particular version of the Bible.

But sadly, cultural christians can have this kind of life without ever actually experiencing the life of Jesus and being a true follower of Him. Devotion to “Christianity” without actually following Jesus is just another religion. Any religion, including Christianity, that works to earn righteousness before God is actually repulsive to God. Plus it does not satisfy. There is clearly no good news in cultural christianity.

While Cultural Christianity is repulsive to God, the cultural christians might not look repulsive to you. They probably make great neighbors because they don’t cause trouble. You want to work with them because they work hard and don’t cheat. You want your kids to play with their kids because they are well behaved.

So how do we know the difference between cultural christianity and the ways of Jesus?

To answer this, let’s talk about the Treasury Department and counterfeit currency. When the Treasury Department trains its agents to spot counterfeit currency, they don’t actually give them counterfeit currency and teach them what is wrong with it and how to spot it.

Instead they give them real currency and teach them examine it closely and deeply. They spend lots and lots of time with real currency. They are taught to “touch, tilt, look at, look through.”

As they have lots of experience with real currency, the counterfeit currency just feels “wrong.”

Let us not fall for counterfeit cultural christianity. Let us be true disciples of Jesus. Let us be true learners and students of Him. People who experience Jesus and the life He gives. Let us encounter Him and spend time with Him. Let us read His ways in the Bible. Let us study them deeply. Let us learn to tell His stories in our own words.

Christianity and performance will never satisfy, so we have to recognize it in ourselves so that we can unlearn it. This unlearning is an important part of learning to enjoy Jesus. Trying to follow Jesus while also continuing the performance and pressure of cultural christianity will keep us from truly enjoying Jesus.

When something falls short in satisfying, we will just keep pursuing the next thing that we think will satisfy. So people try cultural christianity, and then move on to something else without ever actually experiencing Jesus.

Some people keep up this pursuit their whole lives. Others despair that they will never find it. When this despair is great, people even think of ending their own lives.

Let us end our search. Let us help others end their search. Let us be people that will help those we know see the true Jesus and not cultural christianity.

Jesus has good news for all who are searching for satisfaction.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you will recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

– Matthew 11 The Message

Action.

Part 1.

Answer these prompts to reflect on your story:

What was the defining moment in life?

How did Jesus help?

How did you feel before?

How did you feel after?

Your story of searching for satisfaction and then finding satisfaction in Jesus is also a wonderful story to reflect on.

I searched for satisfaction in my life by pursuing…

This search left me feeling…

I heard about Jesus from…

I become interested in Jesus because…

I trusted in Jesus and followed Him because…

After following Jesus, I felt…

Jesus has changed me…

from ____________________ to ____________________

Part 2.

Next you will pick some (not all) of these elements to craft into a story that you can tell to others. This story, once written, is a beautiful way to tell your defining moments and the good news of Jesus to others.

Don’t feel like this story needs to be perfect. This draft will not be your final version. Just write your first version. Because you have to have a first version before you have a final version.

Look back over your answers in part 1 and look for highlights to share. You will not necessarily use everything from part 1. Just pick the highlights.

Read the following tips on how to tell a good story. Then write out your first draft. This is what you will workshop later.

Jesus was a masterful storyteller.

We have a lot to learn from not just the truths in His stories, but also how He told his stories. His stories were just a few minutes in length. He used common words and language. He jumped right into the story just the right amount of context to get into the main idea of the story. Jesus did not include unnecessary or boring context in his story.

Most notably, he used visual imagery to help you picture what was going on in the story.

As followers of Jesus, let us learn story telling from the master. Let us become great story tellers. Great story tellers are not born that way. We are all born naked, afraid, and unable to say words much less tell great stories. So every great story teller became they way through practice and improving over time. Story telling is a skill that can be developed.

Followers of Jesus could be the best story tellers in the world. We have the master to learn from, we have power from the Holy Spirit, and we have the greatest story in the history of the world to tell.

Here are story telling tips to use when you write your story.

Make the story about 3 minutes in length.

Jump right into the story, don’t bore your listener with too much context.

Use word pictures to give imagery to your story especially right at the beginning.

Go for interesting, concise, and memorable over detailed.

Since most people are “spiritual” or say they believe in God, be sure to emphasis Jesus in your story.

Avoid “Christianeze.” These are the words that are used in christian circles, but are not in common use outside those circles. Here are some examples of Christianeze: redeemed, saved, under the blood, righteousness, accepted Jesus, walked the aisle, etc.

Talking about how you felt before and after Jesus makes your story personal and relatable to many people. Talking about your specific sins from before Jesus usually does not connect well with a variety of people. The way you felt that led you to those sins is very relatable.

Those are some tips to help make your story relatable and interesting to others.

Now… Go write your three minute story!

Then workshop your story with others.