I have a special request for you! I’d like to invite you to write a review/leave a rating for Everyday Welcome Podcast. Leaving a review helps others find the podcast and helps me know what I’m sharing is useful to you! Today I'm also sharing a little announcement/invitation. Are you interested in an Advent group study to help you prepare your heart and mind to really celebrate this Christmas? I’m going to be leading us this season through “Longing and Light,” an advent study in John. Each week I’ll email a brief devotional guide with printable journaling page. Then I’ll share more thoughts here on the podcast. We will go deeper with weekly live chats inside Everyday Welcome Facebook group!! Would you like more info? Message me on FB or Insta - let me know you’re interested!!!
On a recent episode (in the audio I mention episode 21 but it was actually 20!) - we talked about why and how to ask good questions. (Listen here!) As we seek to build relationships for God’s glory and our good, we can learn how to be good listeners AND good “talkers.” One way we can build relationships that pursue transformation (after all, don’t we want to be transformed by God’s work in us?) is to tell stories: good stories.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to focus on building relationships that are Kingdom Minded (more on this in Episode 9). And knowing this WHY helps us keep “going back in” to pursue gospel-centered community. even when it’s hard!
So you may be thinking, “I’m not a librarian or a teacher or a speaker. What does storytelling have to do with my relationships?” Well… storytelling has a LOT to do with it, actually!
WHY is storytelling important? (For a deeper look at each point, head over to the blog for the full shownotes from this episode!)
- Storytelling has the ability to capture our attention.
- Storytelling illustrates the truth in a transformative way.
- Storytelling can stir our emotions.
- Storytelling can help us make meaningful connections with each other.
- Storytelling helps us remember things we hear.
- We are commanded to tell God’s story!
“‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20).’”
We make disciples as we study, live, and tell out loud the stories of God. He can take those stories and use them as He does His work in saving and sanctifying people.
Does God need us to speak? No! But He calls us to do it, and in doing so He invites us to participate with Him in His work in the lives of those He calls us to.
What kind of stories can we tell? They don’t have to be long or rehearsed, but they can become a habit, a pattern of how we relate to others in our daily conversation!
Tell these stories to pursue transformative community:
Tell God’s story. We find God's story in His word; His stories are epic and true, and they reveal His character and our place, for those of us willing to read them and mine for their treasures. When we dive into those stories to really understand them, He calls us to pass them along, as a way He continues to speak His nature, His work, and His hope to a lost world. We have an incredible privilege to study Him and share Him! Even as new Christians, we have the ability to share how God saved us, what God is teaching us, how He’s refining us. Which leads to a second kind of story we can tell as we seek to build kingdom-minded community - our own stories.
Tell your story. I can’t think of a story with more struggle, more hope, more meaning and completeness and the ongoing story of how God is actively working in and through those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (see Romans 8:28)!
When in conversation, pray about what you might share of yourself that will relate to the person you’re with. We do this always with the goal of connecting more deeply, to invite fellowship with Christ!
Having this mindset is a good heart-check for us too… is this just something I’m saying just to say, or something I think will really help serve?
Tell stories that connect people. We already know that isolation is a huge problem. By contrast, God has called His people to community. Connecting with others is a way God’s teaching goes forth. It’s how encouragement, accountability, and growth faith can happen!
Next time you’re in a conversation with someone, try asking,
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“How can I connect this person to someone else, who loves God and might encourage them?”
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“Who can I think of whom they might encourage?”
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“What small stories can I tell to help connect my friend or new acquaintance to community in a way that ultimately points to the hope we have in Christ?”
Be mindful: our storytelling should always have a kingdom-minded purpose to it. So there are a few things our story-telling should be (See Philippians 4:8 for more in-depth goals for our not just what we speak, but what we think about!):
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Our speaking should be true: we are called to focus on what is true according to God’s word.
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Our words should be loving and kind. (For more on this, listen to Episode 13 - Salted Honey - The Words We Eat & The Words We Speak, and Episode 21 - Refine Your Focus - Pursue Community in Truth & Love).
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When you speak, give glory where it’s due!
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Speak what is helpful and intentional.
Take some time today to think through and pray through the stories you tell in your everyday conversations.
*What have you learned about God and His work, about mankind, through His word?
*Is there work you need to do to learn more? (Hint: the answer is always yes! He’s always inviting us “further up and further in!”)
*What stories is God writing in your own life? How have your experiences shown God’s kindness and saving grace, His sovereignty, His holiness?
*How can you share these stories in relationship with someone in your life, to help connect them to others for their mutual benefit and transformation?
*How can your stories point to God and give Him glory?
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
- Psalm 145
- Acts 1:6-8
- Ephesians 5:4
- Philippians 4:8
- Romans 8:28
- John 13:34
- Ephesians 4:15
- Ephesians 4:25
Complete show notes are here.
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