April 26, 2018
He replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’ (John 9:25 NIV)
Jesus has healed this blind man. However, the Pharisees claim that Jesus is a sinner because Jesus heals the man on a Sabbath. The former blind man tells them that he does not know whether Jesus is a sinner or not, but one thing he knows; he was blind but now he sees. This is the unique thing about testimonies. Our stories about experiencing God in our lives very often speaks about how God has intervened in our lives when things got challenging. When we share these stories, we are also expressing our gratefulness to God for what God has done in our lives.
In the first 2 Sundays of May, we will be hearing the testimonies of 2 people from our church family, Patrick Taylor (May 6) and Nancy Simpson (May 13, Mother’s Day). My hope is that we will be able to orientate our selves to share our stories naturally as we meet our co-workers, friends, neighbours, and family. It can be a simple sentence like, “I am thankful to God for keeping me safe when I drove through the snow storm yesterday.”
AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND
THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME
I ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW AM FOUND
WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE
For me, testimony is captured by the words of this song. There are 3 phases to testimony:
a. I once was lost…I was blind
- What was my life like before I became a Christian? (struggles, sins)
- What was tormenting me?
b. God intervenes… Amazing Grace…
- What did God do to knock me out of my senses?
- How long did it take for it to happen?
- What did Christ do for me?
- Who helped me understand the gospel?
- How did God heal me?
c. But now I am found…But now I see
- What is my life like now?
- What does the Bible and church mean to me now?
- What does God/Christ mean to me now?
- What struggles do I still have in my life?
- How does God empower me daily?
God’s amazing grace is not only revealed to us when we give our lives to Christ. It is also revealed to us after we give our lives to Christ. You can share God’s intervention in your lives in at work, in your family life, at school, at sports etc.
Pastor Pye