How has Jesus changed your life?

Life with Jesus is going to throw you for a loop. It’s not going to be what you expected. Following Jesus means going down a radical, life-altering path that will not leave you unchanged. Because when you follow Jesus, everything changes.

Jesus redefines our world. Jesus takes our ordinary, mundane lives and makes them extraordinary.

What is it about Jesus that keeps you coming back to hear more? What has Jesus done for you? What has he shown you? What has he given you? What in your life has he changed?

And that - whatever that is - that is a part of your story that is worth sharing with the world. That is the spark that signals what God can ignite through you. 

When you follow Jesus, everything changes.

Sometimes he calls you to do things you never imagined that you would.

For example, I am not a natural public speaker. AT ALL. When I used to get up on stage with a microphone in my hand, I said whatever words went through my head. The A10 staff would joke that I was like that dog from the movie UP who gets distracted whenever he sees a “SQUIRREL!” - So, teaching is not something I ever imagined I would do.

But God has been pushing me to grow in this area and to share what I’ve learned about Him. And what I have learned by getting up on this stage or in front of a camera, opening my heart, and sharing bits of my story with you is that God really can use my story and experiences to reveal himself in this world.

And God can do the same through you.

Soon, we are going to start a new message series that is about living our lives wide open, and not being afraid to share what God has done in your life with a lost and broken world. We are going to practice sharing our stories, on paper, in conversation, or on camera, so that our faith community and maybe even the city of Richmond or the world can hear the testimony of a hundred voices, speaking and singing praise to God for what he has done. 

I want to encourage you to share your story. Without the fear of how it compares to the stories of others. Without looking for an opportunity to be the hero, but to show others how Jesus is the hero of your story.

This is why we created A10Story.com with a very simple form with five or six story prompts to help get you started. You can simply answer the question, “How has God changed your life?” Or you can choose a more specific story prompt. We will collect those stories over the coming weeks and share them online, here on this website. For some of your stories, we may reach out to see if you are interested in sharing it as a podcast-style interview or even a short video. Who knows, we might even ask if you are comfortable coming up here on stage for a live interview during an upcoming message. 

So take some time to sit, process, reflect on the story prompts, and ask God if there is anything He is encouraging you to share with others. Regardless of where it goes or who sees or how many people read it, this is an opportunity to practice answering the question of “How has God changed your life?” and allow your life to be a light in the lives of others.

And if you aren’t there yet - Maybe because you are really new to this faith thing, or you’re in the middle of something really awful, and you don’t see how God factors into that part of your story - I would encourage you to read these stories as they are published. Read about how other people experience God and how they see him working in their lives. Be a witness to the goodness of God in the hearts and minds of others, and maybe it will reveal to you how God has actually been present in your story all along.