In my previous post, I encouraged sharing your Sunday School testimony. Not only is a Sunday School class a natural place to help attenders prepare and practice a Sunday School testimony, it is also a natural place for helping attenders develop their salvation story. More people will receive the training if it is done in Sunday School than any other place in the church besides worship.
My friend, Tim Smith who is the Sunday School/Open Group Specialist for the Georgia Baptist Convention, wrote a great Sunday School Leader blog post entitled Expect Every Member to Share Their Story of Faith. Here are Tim’s thoughts and a memorable visual to help you explain how to prepare a faith testimony to your class:
Give them some basic guidance on writing their story. Their testimony should be well thought-out and short. It needs to be clear and to the point. They should always be positive and never should they appear to be bragging about previous sinful lifestyle. The words that they use should be words that an unchurched person could understand. Their testimony should also be current in that they have something to say about what Jesus has done in their life recently.
There should be three parts to your spiritual testimony. The first is “MY LIFE BEFORE I BECAME A CHRISTIAN.” A short sketch of your life before you became a Christian. Include how you became aware of your need for Christ. Don’t use churchy words. Read Acts 26:4-5. The second is “HOW I BECAME A CHRISTIAN.” Include the gospel clearly and briefly. Read Acts 26:12-15. The third part is “HOW I’M CHANGED SINCE SALVATION.” How is your life different because you are a Christian? Provide a current example of how being a Christian has made a difference. Read Acts 26:19-20.
The personal testimony is like a baseball bat. The first part of the testimony is the knob, small but still very significant. The second part is the handle, larger than the knob but very few hits come from the handle. The third part is the barrel of the bat, the best place to hit a home run. All parts of the testimony are important but they must work together to get a hit. (For the rest of Tim’s blog post, press this link: Expect Every Member to Share Their Story of Faith.)
From your experience, what would you add to these instructions? I would only add that once an unchurched person has responded to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, it is important to get him or her connected with an encouraging body of believers, and a Sunday School class can serve well there. Help your class prepare and practice sharing their salvation story. Lead them pray for opportunities to share. Pray. Share. Invite. Enroll. Be revolutionary!
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