This is Part 4 of our Summer Leadership Lesson Series: Imaginative Evangelism. As we lead our groups and ministries, we must strive to forcefully advance the Kingdom of God through strategic evangelism, exponential discipleship, and sacrificial service. And that begins by understanding and being able to clearly communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today, we will start writing our autobiographies.
In Reimagining Evangelism, Rick Richardson said, “The art of telling our own story is also the act of discovering and declaring our identity, and of finding the meaning in our lives.”
In 2003, I attended a church retreat where we were encouraged to write our autobiographies. We were encouraged to divide up our life into 5-10 chapters and write a chapter title at the top of each page. Then, we spent the next two hours recording significant events, decisions, and people in each of those life chapters.
As we share the Gospel with others, we are really sharing how God’s story has intersected with our stories. Instead of focusing only on stories of conversion, we should also share stories of on-going transformation. Dan Allender said, “All stories of redemption come to have a common center. The story line may differ, but the result is the same: transformation.” The places where God’s story has intersected our story both before and after the conversion experience. Writing our autobiography will help us discover the fingerprints of God in our lives.
Here are some steps for writing your story:
Set aside 2-3 hours.
Don’t attempt to complete the whole project in one sitting. But get started.
Divide life into chapters.
Make note of defining characteristics in each chapter:
- Significant People
- Significant Places
- Significant Events
- Big Decisions
- Big Dreams
- Big Deals
- Big Days
Give each chapter a theme, based on one of the following:
- What God taught you
- What big prayer God answered or did not answer
- What big questions consumed you
As you see the evidence of the fingerprints of God beginning to emerge in your life, look for the following “life lessons” that could be turned into or incorporated into stories of transformation:
- Hearing God’s voice
- Importance of Scripture
- Importance of community
- Forgiveness
- Healing
- Importance of worship
- Importance of service
- Characteristics of God
- Fruit of the Spirit
- Trust
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