“Declare how much God has
done for you.” – Luke 8:39
“We cannot keep from speaking about what we
have seen and heard!” – Acts 4:20
We all have stories to
tell: humorous happenings, learning experiences, news about our families,
triumphs and tragedies, and plans for the future.
And as the people of God,
we have stories to tell about what God has done for us and about the difference
that God’s grace has made in our lives. Sometimes we are less aware of these
stories until they are coaxed out of us—but they are there, part of whom we
are.
That’s not all. Whether we
know it or not, we also have stories to tell about what God has done through
us—stories about how God has used us to make a difference in the lives of
others. Getting to know those stories makes us even more aware of God’s grace.
God has given us so
much—and the gifts of God are for sharing.
The Bible is a collection
of stories about people with gifts to share—stories about people whose lives
were so changed by God that they were able to make a difference in the lives of
others. For the next four weeks, we will be focused on storytelling and
on giving—and to think of both storytelling and giving as grateful
responses to the grace of God.