We continue our four-week worship series this week called Talking Ourselves into Being Christian. We hope this worship series will help us to talk about following Jesus in our everyday lives. We will focus on talking about faith in the real world today…in our work lives and our volunteer commitments and our families. Our worship series is based on a book called Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian by Thomas G. Long, a professor of theology and preaching at Candler School of Theology.
Outline of Talking Ourselves into Being Christian
July 20: Overview. Living and Talking about Faith. Psalm 139.1-12,23-24
July 27: This is the Day: Waking Up to the Joy God is Creating in the World. Psalm 105.1-11, 45b
August 3: Work Day and Lunch: Talking About Faith in the Real World. Romans 9.1-5
August 10: Bedtime Prayers: Creating Safe Places in Our Homes. Psalm 133
Thomas Long writes, if those of us who find meaning and comfort in the Christian faith were to take two minutes to reflect on how our faith came to be, few of us would say that we got it from a book, and none of us would say we thought it up on our own (Long, Thomas G. (2004-08-10). Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian (p. 110). John Wiley and Sons. Kindle Edition.)Take two minutes to reflect on how your faith came to be. When the two minutes have finished, either journal your story or choose to share it out loud with someone today.
In Romans 9.1, Paul claims to be speaking the truth in Christ. We have been singing Sara Grove’s song called Conversations throughout this worship series. Her lyrics include:
And I would like to share with you
What makes me complete
I don’t claim to have found the Truth
But I know it has found me…
I don’t know how to say this
I don’t know where to start
Just know that I care for you
And I’m speaking from my heart
Considering your own story and the persons that brought you to faith…how might you speak to someone this week about the truth that has found you in Christ?