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Reaching Out

Every Person Has a Story

Did you hear the story about the small plane that was going down in which the pilot parachuted out, two parachutes were left, but three passengers: an atheist, a Lutheran pastor, and a Jewish rabbi? The atheist stated he only had life on earth to live, so he grabbed a parachute and jumped out of the plane. Wouldn’t you like to know what the Lutheran pastor said and did? Makes you want to hear the rest of the story, doesn’t it?
Great stories draw us in because they express the eternal challenges of life – joy and sadness, triumph and tragedy, virtue and vice, and life and death. (We should be kind to people because everyone we meet is fighting their own battle, experiencing their own struggle.)
Everyone loves stories because they touch our hearts as well as our minds, our spirits as well as our souls. Jesus told stories, often to crowds numbering in the thousands.
The first elements of the LASSIE approach from the Every One His Witness program – Listen, Ask, and Seek a point of connection, show us how we can encourage others to share their life stories with us, so we can then SHARE (the next element) the truth and love of Christ with them. Our most natural response back to them is to share our life story with them (briefly), which would include how we came to Christ (or He came to us) and the difference it has made in our life.
From Every One His Witness, we learned that sharing the Law is most important when the other person has inaccurate beliefs about God, man, life, death, right, and wrong. And sharing the Gospel – the good news of eternal salvation coming to us through Christ, is best for those who know God, but don’t know Christ.
This is the ultimate story – how Jesus Christ came to set us free from sin and death. For it is His Story that changed the world forever, and can change the life of all who receive Him as Lord and Savior.
So when you meet a new neighbor or someone new at church, ask them to tell you their story, and you can tell them yours, and the Greatest Story of All Time.
To God be the glory
Board of Evangelism