The Power of Sharing Our Christian Testimony
Brian Woodard
Do we understand the inherent power of sharing our Christian testimony? Why it is so important that we are courageous enough to do so? People are captivated by stories. According to some estimates, over 2.2 billion books are sold each year worldwide, and nearly 53% are fictional books. Since 2017, the global trade book sales revenue averages $81.5 billion. This data was found on WordsRated.Com. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, the best selling book of all time is the Holy Bible.
Between the years 2009 and 2019, the annual worldwide gross box office revenue averaged $10.9 billion. Podcasts are the newest trend. A podcast is a series of spoken-word audio episodes focused on a particular topic or theme. According to statista.com, the number of worldwide podcast listeners has been increasing every year, and by the end of this year the number of daily podcast listeners is estimated to be over 500 million, up from 274 million in 2019. An interesting statistic I found at Pew Research is more than half of podcast listeners across all age groups say learning is a major reason they listen to podcasts.
Technology may be changing. But, our desire to hear or watch a compelling story hasn’t. National Geographic published an article about the oral traditions of ancient civilizations. The author speaks about the oral traditions of the Choctaw tribe of Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Western African tribes, the Irish seanchai (sean-ghi) who would travel from village to village reciting tales of wisdom and of kings and heroes and history. Oral traditions of ancient people groups were meant to pass down the history, triumphs and failures of family or the community to the next generation. Another group mentioned in the article is the Jewish people and the Passover seder tradition. To this day, Jewish families gather around the dinner table on Passover and recite the story of the Exodus, when God saved the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. In fact, the Passover is the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday.
Most of us have an understanding of what a testimony is. We likely heard about it in a small group, a retreat, a past sermon or we saw a video on Youtube. Most of us have heard that our testimony is when we placed our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation. The formula most of us have heard for telling our testimony is:
- What was our life like before Jesus
- How Jesus met us where we were
- How our life has changed because of the saving grace of God through His son, Jesus Christ
This is the formula that the Apostle Paul used in Acts 22 when addressing the Jewish people in Jerusalem. I believed that for a long time. That my testimony was that single moment in time when I recognized that I was a wretched person. A liar. A thief. A drunk. A selfish and narcissistic person. Then, God showed up in His perfect timing to open the eyes of my heart and mind to the fact that there was absolutely nothing I could do to save myself from all of the things that were wrong with me and my life. I needed a savior. I needed Jesus Christ. The moment I decided to put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I prayed asking for forgiveness for being a sinner. I prayed that He would have mercy on me and save me. After praying and saying “Amen”, I remember it like it was yesterday. I felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off my chest. All of the guilt, shame and regret had been taken away.
One thing I have come to realize as I have matured in my faith, studied the Bible and spent time in prayer, is that our testimony is much more than that singular event of salvation in our lives. What God has placed on my heart to share with you today is that the sharing of our testimonies is biblical, it edifies us, it edifies those around us, it shares the good news of salvation, and it glorifies God! Testimonies are a gift from God. Sharing our Christian testimony is a very effective means of sharing your faith. People can doubt or debate the Bible or the existence of God, but no one can deny your personal story with God. Your testimony is one of the most effective tools for evangelism.
Today, we are going to read a few biblical testimonies and learn what God has in store for each of us by applying biblical principles to our own lives. We are going to look at our first testimony from John chapter 4 of the Samaritan woman at the well. Before we get to the text, we need to take a look at some historical context.
For those who may not be aware, the Samaritans and Israelites did not get along. After Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel around 722 BC and deported most of its people, Samaria was inhabited by a mixed population. This included Israelites left behind after the deportation and foreign peoples relocated to the region from other parts of the Assyrian Empire (2 Kgs 17:24–41). Those groups intermarried and thus a distinctly Israelite identity in Samaria was lost, forming the people group the Samaritans. However, like the Jews, Samaritans worshiped Yahweh and used a version of the Pentateuch as their Scripture. Jews and Samaritans typically had a mutual hostility based on ethnic, religious, and political barriers.
With this understanding, let’s take a look at one testimony in John chapter 4. We read in verses 1-38 about Jesus and the disciples traveling through the land of Samaria near a town called Sychar. Jesus stopped at a well outside of town while the disciples continued on into town to buy food. A Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water and meets Jesus. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman to give Him a drink. The Bible tells us in verse 9 that she asks Jesus, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” Jesus explained that the person who drinks from the well will be thirsty again. But, if someone drinks from the water He gives, meaning the water of eternal life, they will not thirst again and the water will become in the person a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The Samaritan woman asked Jesus to receive the water which He gives. Jesus responded to her request by confronting her sin. He asked her to call for her husband. She said “I have no husband”, and Jesus confirmed that she has had five husbands and the person she is with now is not her husband. Jesus confirmed that the time had come that true worshippers of the Father in Heaven will worship in spirit and in truth. In verse 25 the woman says she knows the Messiah is coming, and Jesus says in verse 26 “I who speak to you am he.” The woman goes back to the town and proclaimed for the people to, “come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ.” In verse 39, the Bible tells us that many Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, and many more believed because of His word (vs 41) they knew that Jesus was the Savior of the world (vs 42). Notice there was no condemnation in Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman. Just simple facts about the way she was living.
1. Sharing our Christian Testimonies is for Evangelism
Let’s read John 5: 30-36. Jesus is speaking 30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me. 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He (John the baptist) was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.”
Our testimonies are a witness to the truth of the Christian faith, the saving power of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the faithfulness of God to those who’ve placed their faith in His son, Jesus Christ. And this brings us to the second guiding principle of our testimonies.
2. Sharing Our Christian Testimonies are Ways to be Witnesses to the Truth
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 – “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”
3. Our Testimonies Build Our Faith
The writer of Hebrews summed it up when he said, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24–25). The Body of Christ is interconnected, and we have a duty to each other to build each other up. Also, James implies accountability when he says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
Proverbs 27:17 in the New King James says, “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” A friend’s countenance is a look or expression of encouragement or moral support. When was the last time you had a friend call you just to ask how you were doing? When was the last time you called a friend or family member and asked if they needed to talk? Encouragement and moral support from a friend are sometimes the missing ingredients in fighting the battle against Satan.
Let’s take a look at Matthew Chapter 18:15-17. In this passage, Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” Some bible translations use testimony of two or three witnesses.
4. Our Testimonies Hold Us Accountable to God’s Commands
In the book of Exodus, we read about the life of Moses. Moses was saved from murder by Pharaoh because his mother placed him in a basket and placed him among the reeds by the river. Moses was found by Pharaoh’s daughter and miraculously she was allowed to raise Moses as her own. Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s court. After he had become and adult, the Bible says in Exodus chapter 2 verse 11 “he went out to his people and looked upon their burdens.” He took pity on the Hebrews, his people, and saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew slaves. Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body, then fled to Midian because there were witnesses and Moses feared what Pharaoh would do when he found out.
In Midian, Moses goes on with life. He marries the daughter of Jethro, a shepherd and priest of Midian. In Chapter 3, we read that Moses was tending the flock of sheep and led the flock to Horeb, the mountain of God. There, God appeared to Moses in a bush which was burning but was not consumed. God tells Moses in verse 6 “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Notice how God identifies Himself. The God of your father, and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
God told Abraham that He would bless him and Sarah by giving them descendants as numerous as the stars. The God we serve is eternal, and deals with humanity both in a very personal and individual way, but He also deals with humanity through generations.
Sharing our Christian testimonies often serves as a legacy, preserving the memory of God’s faithfulness for future generations. In Psalm 78:4-7, it says, “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
Parents, Grandparents, volunteers and leaders in our children and youth ministries. This passage highlights the importance of passing down testimonies to future generations. If our children come to any of us and ask why we believe in God, we should be ready with an eager answer! Let me tell you what God has done for me and our family. It brings the stories of the Bible to life and connects the history of God’s people to our own stories we tell to our children about how God saved us, how He is sanctifying us, and how He is using us to glorify Him and bring the good news of the gospel of Christ to those who are lost.
Many of us have heard some very powerful testimonies over the years. Testimonies of God delivering people from addiction, restoring marriages or relationships after years of abuse, adultery or neglect, God miraculously healing someone, God blessing a family with financial or provisional needs at a moment where mom and dad were losing hope in their situation. We tend to give more attention to those testimonies that are dramatic because they are compelling. Like I said at the beginning, people love a compelling story. For many Christians, though, our testimonies aren’t as dramatic. You may think “I was raised in the church. “My parents taught me about Jesus at a young age.” Or, “I’ve always believed and followed God.” Over the years, I have had some friends who have expressed what I have heard called testimony envy. They wished they had a testimony that was powerful and dramatic. They sometimes think their testimony is boring. If you have had those thoughts, please listen. If you’ve always had faith or your parents or grandparents taught you about Jesus when you were young, yours is a beautiful testimony of God’s generational faithfulness. God told the people of Israel to pass His teachings to their children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Psalm 78 paints a picture of what happens when we teach our children how the Creator wants us to live: they will obey His commands and, in turn, teach their children about the Lord (Psalm 78:5-7). By testifying about how our parents and Sunday School teachers guided us, we point to God’s continued faithfulness, just like Ethan the Ezrahite sings in Psalm 89: “I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
5. Our Testimonies are God’s Legacy of Faithfulness and Mercy through the Generations.
All of us are going to face hardships. In fact the Bible explicitly states that as followers of Christ we will have tribulations. In today’s modern western culture, the most counter cultural thing you can do is to put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior! But that is another sermon. Today is about our testimonies. The book of James in Chapter 1 tells us to “Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Romans 5 tells us “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” What are we to do not only in our sufferings but also after God has helped us through? We now have another chapter in our testimony.
Testimonies of believers often serve to confirm faith and encourage others. When individuals share their personal experiences of encountering God or witnessing His work in their lives, it can strengthen the faith of fellow believers and inspire them to continue in their own faith journey. This is seen in numerous passages where believers testify to God’s faithfulness and deliverance. Remember in Galations 6:2, the Apostle Paul tells us to “bear one another burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” By sharing our testimony, we can give encouragement to those around us. Or, we can remind them of God’s faithfulness and promises.
Sharing our Christian testimonies of God’s faithfulness and provision serve as sources of encouragement, especially in times of trials and difficulties. Hearing how God has intervened in the lives of others can provide hope and strength to persevere through challenges.
Our testimonies are our stories of how God has been with us through everything to this moment. Throughout human history we have been captivated by stories.
Personal testimonies foster unity and encouragement within the body of Christ. When we share our struggles, victories, and encounters with God, we create an atmosphere of transparency and vulnerability. In doing so, we build each other up and strengthen the bonds of fellowship. Our testimonies remind us that we are not alone in our journey of faith. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
There’s nothing like hearing a testimony when you’re feeling discouraged and even distant from God. In Psalm 71:15-16, the psalmist writes, “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.”
Finally, in Revelation 12 we read that the Archangel Michael and his angels went to war against Satan. In verse 11 the Bible tells us that “they have conquered him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” Our testimony reminds us of God’s faithfulness, and His promise to never leave us nor forsake us, and the power of His Word and works in our lives to defend against sin and darkness. And in many of our battles, all we need is the reminder of God’s faithfulness towards us to be encouraged to stand firm in the face of persecution and evil.
6. Our Testimonies are Encouragement in Trials
Our testimonies are unique, they are special and they are powerful. Our testimonies are our stories of how God is moving and active in this world through His people. When we share our testimonies, we glorify God by highlighting His work in our lives. Our testimony is a powerful and compelling story. And, stories are meant to be told.
The Reunion Church is a non-denominational Bible teaching Christian church located in Peoria, Arizona, just east of the 101 Freeway on Cactus Rd. If you enjoyed this blog, we invite you to join us on Sundays to hear this content preached live! At the Reunion Church, we love God and are committed to the in context, in depth preaching and teaching of His Word, and then the alignment of our lives to it. Come grow with us! And, if you can’t join us in person, you can watch our live stream on YouTube. Either way, join us!
The Reunion Church
- 8153 W. Cactus Rd., Peoria, AZ 85381
- 623-979-5465
- info@thereunionchurch.life