Okay - so I've been slacking with posts!
But let's recap quickly - so everyone can share their story, you are able to share your faith just the way you are, and you need to build relationships first, share your story second. I think that about sums it up right? God can use you however you currently are, you don't need to become a preacher to impact people with your faith. And in order to impact people, you need to first get to know them. So like Kat said in class - each lunch with someone. But there is no need to feel some kind of crazy pressure to say "Hello, my name is Steven. Do you know Jesus?"
So this past week we talked about a couple of things. The first was image. We went through various images from McDonald's to Aflac to Geico, and on. And our point in that was that when we see certain images, we instantly think of something. And the challenge was - what do people think of when they see you? What image do you have to others? And is it possible to build your image to the point that people will think - There's Steven, he loves God and loves people.
And second to that was how to share your faith story. We talked about how it breaks down into three parts: before Christ, meeting Christ, after Christ. So in general, if you were to tell someone about your faith, you will typically start off by talking about where you were before you believed. What you did, what life was like, etc. Then you'll talk about the experience of meeting Christ - how you truly "came to faith". What did it feel like? What triggered it? And so on. And lastly you will tell them about how your life has changed since you have known Christ. So this is the after story and usually in comparison to the before. "I used to...now I am..."
So it is a pretty simple concept that really comes very naturally when you think about it. But don't forget the other things we've learned. This is typically not a first conversation with someone. Take the time to get to know a person. Take real interest in them and connect with them where they are. Over time there will be opportunities to bridge your building relationship with your faith and when you take advantage of those times then the discussion will more naturally flow that way. And when the question comes up "Why do you believe?" then you know you can easily break it down into "before Christ, met Christ, after Christ" and very easily tell the story.
You all continue to be great fun in class and I hope you keep thinking about more ideas for videos! I will be giving our two new videos to Brad and hopefully we'll get them posted online or something like that soon.
I hope you all are having a great week and look forward to seeing you this weekend!
