Tell Your Story

Maybe you're watching online and thank you for being with us. I'm really looking forward to this message today because it's challenging, but it's not so much step on your toes challenging. So you don't need stilto boots today, maybe work boots still, but not stilto. It's going to be more empowering than it is going to challenge you, but like it in a empowering kind of way. Sometimes we can preach and we should. Sometimes the words we preach are like, "Oh, man, that got me." And it should happen for sure sometimes, absolutely, but this is going to, and even then it's empowering, but I think this is really going to empower you to step out and speak with boldness and speak with courage. We're starting a brand new series today called Foundations. And I'm excited about this because we're going to be looking at some elementary rudimentary facets of our faith, but we've got to revisit those from time to time. And today we're going to be talking about salvation, so how the Lord saves us, but also how we're supposed to be responsible with that. What is our responsibility once we are saved? And I'm going to tell you what it is. It's actually the title of the message today. Your responsibility, once you give your life to Christ, you have several, but this is the main one we're going to focus on today. The responsibility you've got is to tell your story. When you give your life to Christ, you need to tell your story. I want you to turn to your neighbor right now and say, "Tell your story." Turn to the other one and tell them, "I'm not telling your story for you, bro." I love you, but not that much, okay? It's your story, not mine. And I know your story, and I'm definitely, I don't want to tell that. When you get to tell that one all by yourself. Listen, we all have a story. Every one of us, you got one. I've got one. Yours might be prettier than mine, and mine can be messier than your best friends. But every one of us has one. And we all have a story where we need Jesus. Every one of us, that's a good place to say amen. You need Jesus. And so do I. And here's the thing. If you've given your life to Christ, guess what? Your story's not over.

The moment you gave your life to Jesus, your story started being rewritten. And if you needed Jesus when you got saved, guess what? You still need Him now. Just because we got saved doesn't mean we stopped meeting Jesus. I hope if you're watching online, I hope you're shouting me down from your TV right now, because it's real quiet in the house today. This is really good stuff. This is exciting stuff. Your story's not over. If you're still alive, if you're still breathing, that means Christ is still writing your story. So your best days, that means are in front of you, not behind you. That's excitement. Sometimes I need to hear that. Sometimes the Lord has reminded me that John Michael, your past is your past. Yes, it's a part of your story, but it's not the end all be y'all. The Bible says that Christ is the author and perfecter of our faith. He's the author of your story. And if you're still alive, that means he's still writing it. Thank God. Thank the Lord. And the chapters that exist in your story that you don't want anybody else to know about, those are actually, potentially, maybe the best ones, because it shows how far he's brought you, which on Michael, those are scars from me. I understand scars aren't a bad thing, though. Like, you know, if you've ever gotten a scar from being in a fight, and somebody asks you, but how'd you get that scar? Got in a fight. You should see the other guy. Like, it's, you know, it's cool. You know who else has scars? Jesus. Did you know that? He does. Do you know one of the reasons why I think he kept his scars? Because he could have gotten rid of them, obviously. I mean, the guy created the universe with the breath of his mouth. Surely he could get rid of a couple of scars. One of the reasons I think the Lord kept the scars, writing rights. You talk about a fight? He fought for the whole world.

That's a fight. And I think that the Lord kept him because he can show the enemy any time he wants. Hey, remember that one time I was nailed across and you thought you had me? Can I show you something real quick? Bam, remember that? Oh yeah, there's one more for you. Actually, I got two more right there in my feet and there was that one that we had the soldiers give me just to make sure I was dead when they stabbed me with a spear. I kept all of them because you thought you had me but you didn't write my story enemy. My father did and I won. And if Christ's story is one that ends in victory, guess what, your story means, journey, victory. - I mean, I gotta get into my message. I'm sorry, I haven't even told you point one yet. My goodness, I'm so sorry. All right, we gotta jump. Y'all quit shouting me down. I gotta get into this message. Okay, tell your story. We're gonna look at an amazing account in the gospel of John about a man who told his story and it cost him, but what it cost him was nothing in compared to what it gained him. If you got your Bibles, I want you to turn with me to John chapter nine.

We're gonna start in verses one and two. And as you turn there, let me set the stage for you for just a moment. John chapter eight was right before this one. In many biblical scholars believe that John eight and John nine happened within a 24-hour period. Now, a lot of the Gospels that is not the case, it's not chronological, it bounces back and forth. But this particular instance, these two chapters, many scholars believe that it was a 24-hour period. And in John chapter eight, Jesus had claimed yet again that he was God and was almost stoned to death. He snuck out right before they could launch that first stone. That was John eight. Then in John nine, he's still staying in the city of Jerusalem and is ministering the gospel. Like usually, if someone tries to stone you to death in one city, you leave. At least that's what I would have done. Not Jesus, he stayed and that's where I started to pick up. John chapter nine, verse one. It says, "As he, Jesus went along, "he saw a blind man from birth." He saw a man, excuse me, blind from birth. He's disciples asked him, Rabbi, which means teacher, who send this man or his parents that he was born blind. I love the disciples, they're real. They're usually wrong in the gospels. Nine times out of 10, they're dead wrong, but they're real. And I relate to that 'cause that's a story in my life.

Nine times out of 10, I'm wrong. Ask my wife. Actually, it's 10 times out of 10 at home, but I'm wrong a lot. That was a joke. You can laugh in church, I promise you. Maybe just wasn't a good one. Maybe that's why only this side's laughing. Okay. I'm wrong too a lot, but I try to be genuine. And that's the disciples. They are morons half the time, but man, they're trying to figure it out. And they come upon this blind guy who's been blind from birth. And they don't go, Lord, should we go get him some Chick-fil-A? It's not Sunday, they're open. Should we go get him some? Or, hey, better yet, Lord, should we heal the guy? I mean, you're standing right here. Should we just heal him? That's not what they said. They went, somebody messed up. I'm gonna preach this side's given. I'm gonna preach right here the rest of the service. They said, whose fault was it? How encouraging would you feel if somebody heard about all the mess in your life, all the drama in your life?

And they were like, who's fault was that? Would you be encouraged by that? No, nobody would. That's ruthless. That's so insensitive. But Jesus, ever gracious, ever loving, unlike me, I'd be like, are you seriously talking right now? Can you please shut up and let me do my business here? He didn't do that, thankfully. That's why he's the Lord and we're not. He taught them. And he said, boys, sought this man's sin or his parents sin. It's just the effects of sin in general. My father allowed this to happen so that his glory could be revealed. That's it. He didn't cause it to happen. He allowed it to happen. There's a big difference. And to be fair, the disciples asked this question because the law told them that. So in Mosaic Law, in Exodus, chapter 20, I believe, oh, numbers look a bit as 14, somewhere in there. What's one of the 14s in the first five books of the Bible? I think it was number 14. And Exodus 20, Moses said, fourth generation removed from the parents. That's how nasty sin is when it's not dealt with.

And so the disciples naturally assumed because the Jewish people continued to believe this, so they were in a culture where this was not only permitted, it was expected, well if you got something that wrong in your life, someone had to ascend, they were trying to figure out who to blame. And that's the problem with having a religious spirit and not a redeemed spirit. You don't see people, you see mistakes. The disciples were still learning how to see people the way Christ saw them. And he goes, "It wasn't anybody's fault, it just happened and my father allowed it so that he could reveal his glory. I'm about to show it to you right now." So Jesus looks this man and was like, "Hey man, you want to be healed?" He goes, "Absolutely, that'd be awesome." He goes, "Okay." And he spits. The spat on the ground, he took his spit and mixed it with some dirt, made some like mud, clay, and put it on the guy's eyes. Now if I'm the blind guy, I'm like, "Bro, I'm already blind, you don't have to cover my eyes." Insol to injury, you ever heard of it, Jesus? Like this is ruthless, he covers his eyes and then tells him, "Go wash in the pool of psilome." He didn't leave him there, he told the blind man to go figure it out. That sounds so mean. But here's the thing, the guy who's been blind his whole life, he's been walking around blind. This wasn't new for him, wasn't new at all. Jesus told him to go do a thing and now the guy was responsible to be obedient. Well it's not fair, okay, life's not fair. Like I think a lot of times we pray when we're not gone to just magically do stuff for us. And sometimes he'll do a miracle, absolutely.

We believe in that, we pray for that, I've seen it in my own life, I've prayed for it in other people's lives. But like when that doesn't happen, we're like, "God hates me. God hates me." That's it. I didn't get the promotion, "God hates me, I'm dead." God didn't heal my broken ankle, that's it, game over, it's been a good run. Ready to come see now Lord. Am I the only one who does that? Man, okay, alright, alright, maybe I'm just preaching, that's okay, I'll preach to myself, that's fine. We do that and we get mad at the Lord because he didn't move the way we wanted it to and that's the way we wanted it to because obviously we know better because we're God. But then every story like this, God's blind from birth, the Lord told him to do something and he goes, "Alright." And he figures it out. Sometimes in your faith with God you've got to figure it out. Grow up. That's faith. Faith is believing God can do it and trusting him until he does. Sometimes we just have to grow up and be faithful to the word the Lord has given us now. That's what that man did. So he goes and he washes in the pool of psalom. He figures out some way to get there, I don't know how, but he found a way and he washed and the Bible says the moment that he did, he was healed. The miracle came. It did come, but he had to be obedient first. The Lord was doing some stuff here. And I can't help but think when that man came out of the water and he opened his eyes for the first time, can you imagine what he must have felt?

Like he saw the sky in the sun and water, he saw his own hands. Can you just imagine what that would have been like for this man to be in blind his entire life? And then in one moment he could see. I know one thing he did think. [BLANK_AUDIO] says he is. The first thing I want you to see from the story during the church is that as you learn to tell your story you have to recognize what Jesus has done. You have to recognize in your own life what Jesus has done. You should be taking the screenshot of that or right now because you're going to need to remember that later in your own life. When you're searching in the darkness and you're wondering what's going on you have to recognize that even in that Christ is moving. This man recognized who Jesus was. At least to some degree because if he hadn't he wouldn't have obeyed him. Like why would you just obey someone who talked to Lugie made clay out of it and then put it on your face. Why would you trust that person? Well probably either you're crazy or you're just desperate enough to believe it might actually work. See sometimes God's looking God looks for people like that who go who is crazy enough to trust me to step out and do this ridiculous thing that couldn't be them and that if I don't show up they're going to look like an idiot who will trust me to do that and then God picks those people to change the world and he picked this man on this particular day. This man gets healed and the whole whole city of Jerusalem gets turned right-side up. Well upside down in their mind but it's the kingdom so it's right side up and everybody goes isn't that the guy who was blind? How can we he could see now because now he doesn't need people to help him get from point A to point B. He's walking around going hey Bob like the haircut bro Bob's going what? How'd you know I got a haircut? He's freaking people out left and right. The whole city's in an uproar. Well the Pharisees the teachers of the law they they hear what's going on and they call the man in they challenge him and they're like who healed you he goes this guy they call Jesus I've heard about him I met

him he spit it was kind of weird but I did it anyway and now I can see you're like well what do you mean you can see he's a sinner he heals on the Sabbath God forbid that God do something outside of our little religious box to set somebody else free one of you amen thank you so much cool so then they don't like what he says and then bring in his friends and the people in the city who heard and saw what happened like hey what happened they were like well Jesus spit now the guy can see I don't know do you ask him like they're trying to figure out what's happening so they bring the guy in for a second time tell us again what happens like oh okay you know Jesus can heal deafness as well if you didn't know that he healed blindness and if you're deaf and you can't hear what I'm saying he can touch you too see tell them again they're like that's not it they kick him out they bring his parents in they bring his parents in and they're like what did you ask him it's just going in circles and they come back to the man and ask me third time and he tells them the same answer Jesus touched me see he recognized that he didn't heal himself it wasn't his own strength that got him to the pool of Siloam and there are lots of reasons why scholars think that he had and go to Siloam I'm not talking about that right now and there are lots of reasons why he may have spat on the ground it in and and use that the main thing I want you to see is that this man did what the Lord told him to do and he was healed because of it that man did point zero zero zero zero zero one percent of the equation the Lord did 99.999999% of it he knew it wasn't his strength that got him through the streets of Jerusalem to the pool Siloam he knew it was it because he was so powerful he just dipped himself in the water now he said no he recognized that it was Christ who set him free you and eyes will learn to tell a story we have to recognize we didn't get ourselves here you didn't find the Lord he found you he found me and boy I'm so glad he did this man didn't know Jesus was going to find him that day he just happened to be sitting there when Christ came by and said hey I'm gonna heal you now he didn't have anything to do with it except he was sitting right there that's it you got to recognize what Jesus has done for you I got to

plow through these next two points stay with me okay so he's been asked a And I love his answer because the Pharisees, the pastors of the day, they are TICKED at Jesus. And now they're getting mad at this guy, because he keeps telling them it's Jesus' fault. And they don't like it. And look how the man responds in John chapter 9 verse 25, I'll love it. They've asked him a third time, and he said 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." I was blind, but now I see. The second thing I want you to see from this account is that as you learn to tell your story, you have to not only recognize what Jesus has done, but you have to remember what God has done for you. You've got to keep it fresh up here in the old noggin. You have to remember what God has done for you. When I'm doing well spiritually, I get real cocky real fast. Oh, I can't. You, John, might go, "Yeah, but you're a pastor, and I'm human." Pastor doesn't mean I'm special, not at all. In fact, I got a bigger target on my back, because I got to drive down the highway knowing you're probably on the highway too, and I can't be telling people they're number one, because you might see me do it, and be like, "Hey, pastor, great message on Sunday. Also who was your best friend you were talking to in the highway, telling them they were number one? Who was that?" I get real cocky when I think I'm doing well spiritually and go, "Man, I'm doing pretty well. Remember my Bible every day. I'm journaling, fasting a little bit here and there, tithing consistently.

I'm doing pretty great, and I can forget that I was suicidal one day until Jesus rescued me. It's crazy how quickly we can forget. It's like with my daughters. It's crazy to me how quickly they forget that they don't pay any bills in my house. Sometimes they talk to me and their mom like they pay bills, and when that happens, we quickly remind them that they do not. Our daughters sometimes can get real sassy. Y'all need to pray for me. I live in the house with three women, actually four, because my dog's also a female. It's me, and that's it. That's it, and they get real sassy, real sassy, and then came by it naturally, because their dad is also very sassy, and they will say the craziest thing from their room, and I'll just be like, I'm certain my daughter, whose diapers I changed for years, both of them, didn't just say that to me, or didn't just say that to their mom, and then they'll say it again. I'm like, oh, they did. Okay? They got brave real quick. That's amazing. I appreciate the confidence, and we'll have a quick conversation. I'll go upstairs and I'll open the door, or sometimes I'll be like, yeah, like, I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, you're going to come to me. You're open the door right now. If you like having a door, you're going to open it right now. I go, hey, what was that thing that was really funny? It was hilarious, actually, what you just said. Could you repeat that for me? And of course, that's when the sutter starts, or the, what are you talking about, I don't know.

They look down, you know, like, try to like walk away a little bit, because they know they forgot something that they should have never forgotten. I'll go real quick. Just a reminder for all of us, just a quick refresher course, who gave you life? That's right. Your mom did. Who pays the bills? Was it, oh, no, no, you didn't pay the lecture bill last month. You loved the AC last month, but you didn't pay the bill. I did. Who bought you that new pair of kicks that you've been wanting for the last couple months on Amazon? Who bought those for you? Did you pay for those? Oh, no, you didn't. You didn't pay for the book. So because of that, I'm not asking, I'm telling you, remember your place in this family, because we brought you in and sister, we can take you out. Love you. See, we got to remember that we didn't get ourselves where we are spiritually because of our own strength and righteousness. That was the problem with the Pharisees. They thought that their self-righteousness made them right with God. And they were missing the forest for the trees. In fact, they were missing the Creator of the forest. But his man didn't forget. Oh, he remembered very well what the Lord did for him. Even when he was pressured by the Pharisees again and again and again, tell us how it happened. And the reason his parents didn't stand up for him,

because you would have thought his parents would have been shouting the place down. Can you believe our sons healed? Thank you, Jesus. No. They went, we don't know ask him. He's of age. Why did they do that? Well, John tells us it was because they feared the Pharisees. The Pharisees had said, if you put your faith in Jesus, we're going to kick you out of the temple. And if you got kicked out of the temple, that meant that you were kicked out of community. His parents were more afraid of men than they were of God. But even that didn't stop this man from remembering what the Lord did for him. They asked him a third time, how did this happen? He goes, "Guys, listen. I don't know what else to tell you. All I know is, I was blind. But now I see." Who was the last time you remembered how far the Lord brought you? I want you to take a moment right now and just do that for me, would you? I want you to think about where you were, what you were doing, who you were with, what you were talking about. The moment Christ saved you. Go back there in your mind. Remember all the shame and guilt you felt before that moment? Now I want you to think about how everything changed the moment you spoke his name, and he came running to you, and he saved you from the pits of hell. And he saved you from death, and he saved you from addiction. And he saved you from your past.

You remember that? Me too. And I never want to forget it because I too once was blind. Oh, but now I see, because one day Jesus touched me, and I've never been the same since. And if you've given your life to him, he touched your life too, and you will never be the same because you once were blind, but now you see. And as you learn to tell your story, you have to remember what God has done in your life. And as I look at the story of this man, it reminds me of something that King David said in Psalm 66, verse 16. David was speaking to the congregation of Israel, and he said, "Come and hear all you who fear God. Let me tell you what he has done for me. Let me tell you what he has done for me." There are a few reasons why David wrote this. Number one is to bring glory to God. David always, always wanted to bring glory to the Lord, through praise and worship. And when you tell of the things God has done, it brings him honor. The two, he wanted to build up the faith of those around him, those who were also followers of God. He said, "If you fear God, come listen to what I have to say. Come and build your faith up right now." But then he also built up his own faith because when you remember where God has brought you from, then that means he's going to take you from where you are right now

to the next place. So if he rewrote your story once, he can rewrite it again. And even though David wrote this primarily again for God followers in the Old Covenant, I believe it's a challenge to you and to me today. He said, "Come and hear all the things that he has done for me." Let me tell you about what Jesus did for me. And when I look at the story of this man in John 9, he's doing exactly what King David said. Let me tell you what this man named Jesus has done for me. And as you learn to tell your story, I want you to see the third and final thing. You have to release your story so that others can find Jesus. You have to recognize what God has done in your life. You've got to remember what God has done in your life, and then you have to release your story so that others can find this same story. That's what this man did, in John 9, he was pressed, he was pushed, he was threatened with being kicked out of the community. His own parents abandoned him in this incredible moment, the most celebratory moment of his life up until that point. And he said, "I don't care. I got to release my story because Jesus is so good you got to hear about it. And if he healed me, he can do something for you too. I don't know what he can do, but he can do it. If he can heal me like that, man, what could he do for you?" He didn't hold it in. He released it to give glory to God, to lead others to Jesus, and to build the faith of those who would listen. That's what happens when you tell your story too. And like I said at the beginning, we all have a story, I mean, I have one. You may have heard me talk about it before.

I was raised in a pastor's home. Many of you heard my dad preach with me and my daughters a few weeks ago. I grew up in a pastor's home, amazing, amazing childhood. I could not have asked for better parents. I'm spoiled and blessed to have the parents that I still have. Praise God they're both so alive, I'm thankful for that. I grew up hearing about Jesus my whole life, grew up in the house of God with the people of God. I wouldn't trade that for the world. I gave my life to Christ when I was five, was baptized at six, and continued to grow in my faith. But even with all of that, I still went through some things. I still carry some of those scars, like many of you do as well. And some of those scars followed me later on in life. Middle school went, high school went, got into college. I was in Bible college, a spirit filled pastor's kid, engaged to the most incredible one that's ever walked the face of the earth, and I was still struggling with suicide. Why? Because my past caught up with me. And even though I was saved, it still hurt, I still had to deal with it. And by God's grace, I got through that time, and then we went into full-time ministry after getting married, and then down the road, had two amazing daughters who loved the Lord and served the Lord. But even after all those incredible things happened, I was still walking through some stuff. And at the age of 32, I felt like I was two different people. Maybe you've been there before. I felt like there was the me on the platform, the pastor, and then there was the me off the platform. The guy's still struggling to figure it out.

Both were true, and I was trying to figure out who I was supposed to be. I was telling other people how they could be, who they were supposed to be, but I couldn't figure it out. And after a lot of prayer, talking to my wife, talking to some trusted spiritual advisors in my life, I decided one day in my living room, "Lord, I need to surrender again, not to ministry, but to the one who called me." And so there, one summer night, with my wife sitting with me, both of our girls asleep, I rededicated my life to the Lord, and I was so impacted by that moment. I got baptized again as a pastor. See, because I had walked through some things, so it meant something different to me now. I realized how far the Lord had brought me. I recognized he had brought me to that moment and remembered what he did for me, and I wanted to tell the whole world, including the church I was a pastor at. I once was blind, but now I see. That's my story. It's not pretty. It's a good story. It's complex. It's difficult, but it's mine. And I know what Jesus did for me. And did you notice that when I told my story, I didn't give you any scripture? Not because I don't believe in it. I based my whole life on this thing right here. But I didn't go into a Hebrew word study or Greek word study with you. I just told you what the Lord did for me. This man didn't read from the Torah whenever he was in front of the Pharisees. He didn't walk through Isaiah's messianic prophecies in front of the Pharisees. He just said, "I once was blind, but I met Jesus, and now I can see." That's my story. I'm sticking to it.

That's all I got. And journey, that's all you have to do when you tell your story. All you have to say is this was my life before Christ. This is my life after Christ. He made the difference. And if he did it for me, guess what he can do it for you too. Nobody can argue with that. Why? Because it's your story. You know what you've been through. You remember how painful all of it was. But you all remember how great and how deep the grace of God it really is. It says we close our time together today. I want to ask you three questions that I want you to ask yourself on a regular basis. You can take a screenshot, you can run them down. I've already gone over so I'm going to go through them quickly. Number one, what has God brought me through that I never want to forget? Never want to forget it. Number two, what has Jesus done in my life that I know to be true? No matter what anybody says or does or threatens you with, I don't care what you say. I know what he did and it's true. And lastly, who needs to hear what God has done in my life? Is it a co-worker, a neighbor, a family member, a friend? And then I want to equip you with three tools, very simple tools that are going to help you tell your story. Here we go. Number one, don't be ashamed of where your story started. It's actually that shameful start that brings God glory because you couldn't get yourself out of it. Only he could. You should actually probably say, yeah, that's a part of my life. Oh, but thank God, that's not where I am anymore. Number two, you may not be able to explain everything about Jesus, but you can tell people what Jesus has done in your life. And lastly, your story ultimately isn't about you. It's about Jesus. This man in John 9, he didn't talk about himself. All he said was, I met Jesus and now my life's changed. David didn't say, come here about all the great things I've done. He said, come and let me tell you all the great things God has done for me. When you tell your story, people aren't going to hear how bad your life was. They're going to hear how great your God is. And you might be going, John, Michael, what if I tell my family member, my friend, my co-worker, what if they yell at me? What if they don't invite me to the next family dinner because they're so mad? What if I lose my job? What if I get canceled? What if you fell in the blank? Well, what happened to this man? But it didn't matter because he couldn't deny the fact that once he was blind, but now he could see and what he gained was far greater than what he lost.

And what if the opposites true actually? What if you tell your family members your story and they listen? What if you tell your friends and your co-workers and your neighbors your story and they listen? What if they get saved? And what if they come to church with you at journey and they hear about this Christ and they give their lives to him and you get to be the one who helps baptize them whenever they go public with their faith. What if that happens? I don't know your story and I don't know what's going to happen when you tell it. All I know is you were blind and now you can see and there are people who need to hear your story. So journey church, tell your story. [BLANK_AUDIO]