From Fear to Boldness

        For many of us, the idea of talking about our faith is uncomfortable. There may be many reasons for that discomfort, but I believe that the underlying reason is fear. What if we say the wrong thing? What if they ask us a bunch of questions we can’t answer? Sometimes it feels better and safer to say nothing.

        Jesus didn't say, “Just sit there and say nothing.” He said “Go and make disciples of all the nations.”So how do we get from fear to boldness? I believe the answer is “prayer and practice.”

        One organization that provides that opportunity is Celebrate Jesus. Celebrate Jesus is a mission organization that does one week missions in local churches throughout Florida. As a member of a visiting mission team, volunteers have the opportunity to step outside of their comfort zones. Working in groups, they invite church neighbors to a free block party at the church so that the church can begin building relationships with their un-churched neighbors. (“Come and See”- remember that?) They take prayer requests. They help the church do acts of kindness- taking cookies to the local fire department to thank them for their service, providing cold water for the workers building a new road, doing vacant lot clean-ups. All of the acts are done in the name of Jesus and the conversations are invitational, not confrontational. Visiting mission team members discover that sharing God’s love is fun!

         On my first Celebrate Jesus mission ten years ago, our group went to the beach to give out cold water and invite people to the block party. I noticed a woman turned away – with her back to the ocean. We offered  her water and began a conversation. She told us about her sadness, her loneliness, and then said “I think angels sent you here.” When asked if she wanted us to pray with her, she said “yes.”  God used me that day, and I discovered that God’s power and God’s love are a whole lot bigger than my fear.

         Would you like to experience God in a new way? Celebrate Jesus is having missions Summer 2014 in Northeast Florida- Jacksonville (June 21-28, 2014) and Tampa (July 26- Aug 2, 2014).  Come and See! Celebrate Jesus.  www.cjmission.org

Grace, Amazing to Me

        In week 6 of Disciple’s Path, our topic is Witness: Invitational Evangelism. One of the reflections we are given is to write out the story of how we came to be a follower of Jesus.  We are to write what we were like before Christ, how we came to be a Christ follower, and what our life has been like since then.

         Some years ago, my choir director gave this as an exercise to each choir member. We were to write out our testimony, and then prepare to give it verbally to the other members of the choir in three minutes or less. It was not necessarily an easy task- it needed to be short and sweet. We were told that we did not need to emphasize the “before” since there was a blessed “after”- gory details were not required. It was a blessing to each of us to hear from our brothers and sisters in Christ how each of us came to be where we were then.

         The exercise of writing then verbalizing my testimony has been something that has been helpful to me. It was the beginning of me being able to talk about my faith in a way that is natural and not forced or weird.

Something I found useful in thinking about my testimony is from the song “Amazing Grace”- “I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” I hope that is helpful for you, too, this week as you write the story of your own Amazing Grace.