Last Saturday, May 09, 2009, Messiah hosted another in our Equipping Workshop Series. I’ve written about these in the past, and continue to encourage you to do whatever it takes to attend this wonderful ongoing workshop series. This one was titled: “Finding YOUR Faith Story” and it was facilitated by Dr. Ron Baesler (better known to us at Messiah as Pastor Ron).Ron is a great teacher, and a wonderful storyteller. He challenged us in many ways throughout the workshop. Don’t we all love stories? We’re quick to talk about our children or where we went on vacation. There’s so much in our lives we’re anxious to share with others. But how often do we speak of our faith? Many people don’t even touch the subject of faith outside of church. YOUR faith story has been developed specifically for YOU by God. It may be a simple and ordinary tale or a complex and extraordinary adventure. Just think for a moment: How have you experienced God’s love in your life? Who has made a difference in your faith journey? When have you been surprised by God? Everyone has many unique and beautiful stories to tell.
As part of being a Christian, it is vitally important to have YOUR faith story “in your heart” ready to share when the opportunity presents itself. Ron led us through a morning of self discovery, we shared our faith stories with one another, and I believe that all of us came to a greater realization of just how active God is in our lives.
The workshop finished up with the testimony and singing of Stacey Baltes. Stacey is an incredibly gifted singer/songwriter who received Jesus as her Lord and savior about ten years ago… and He has ROCKED her world ever since! As Stacey poured out her faith story, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. What a fantastic story of redemption and love; what a wonderful testimony she shares. She then pulled out her guitar and performed “Walk by Faith”, a song that is part of her faith story. I was so moved that I determined I was going to include her singing in the blog somehow. It wasn’t easy, but after a week of file hang-ups and crashes here it is:http://www.staceybaltes.com/audio/STACEY_BALTES-Walk_by_Faith-2.m3u
Be patient, it sometimes takes a minute or two to load music files. I’ve included the lyrics for Walk by Faith, so you can sing along if you like (or just follow along… LOL!).
Walk by Faith
©2006 Stacey R. Baltes
If you can’t see where you’re going
If you’re not sure where you are
Don’t be afraid Jesus is with you
A light in the dark He’ll lead the way
We walk by faith not by sight
He is our hope in the darkness
Jesus is there right by your side
We walk by faith not by sight
If the road looks rugged and rocky
If you have never been there before
Don’t be afraid Jesus is with you
A light in the dark He’ll lead the way
We walk by faith not by sight
He is our hope in the darkness
Jesus is there right by your side
We walk by faith not by sight
There’s a cloud of witnesses
Surrounding you today
Moses and all the rest
They’re calling out your name
Run, run your race
No one can run quite like you
Run, run your race
Run your race run it through
One more thing: don’t forget that your faith story is continuing to evolve every single day. Be attentive to how God continues to be active in your life, and be ready to share your faith story. You never know when you might meet an Ethiopian… like Philip did (Acts 8: 29-40).
Your brother in Christ,
Dave
Great thoughts, (and considering what you had to work with, the photo isn't bad either!). This Sunday in the Fellowship room at 10AM three people will be telling faith stories at our Adult Forum.
ReplyDeleteIn thinking about why we Lutherans have traditionally been hesitant to tell our stories I have come up with two reasons.
1)Our theological emphasis has focused on the Jesus story and not on OUR story. We have been told that at the heart of sin is human beings turning in on themselves. So, talking about ourselves as been deemed problematic and dangerous.
2)other Christian traditions have almost exclusively focused on the dramatic and spectacular aspects of faith stories. (I was SOOO bad, and now I'm SOOO good). We who have been nurtured and raised within the faith family have felt threatened and put off by such talk. We've let others define what 'faith story' means.
Its time to reclaim this form of witness as an authentic Lutheran expression! again, thanks for your ongoing ministry of words and Word! Ron