Reaching people through
their own stories.
by C. Michael Johnson
Church planting projects often create a crowd of 200 or 300 new people for the first worship service. So all of a sudden there they are... a huge crowd, all strangers to each other. But no matter what the size of the crowd the big question is how can the crowd become a community... and what should you do first to start the process?
A church that sees that one of their primary purposes is to nurture the God-given purpose of their members, will, as a first step toward purpose-focused discipleship, create comfortable pathways for exploring dreams and aspirations. With some, hurts and emotional issues will take center stage before they can muster hope for dreams.
But new people just getting to know each other might be a little hesitant sharing either their hurts or their dreams with people they hardly know. So where could you begin? What could you do that is natural and comfortable, that goes beyond small talk, and is good step to both meaningful relationship and meaningful empowerment?
Although there are many reasons people attend a church for the first time, the most common, simple reason is to make new friends. To pursue that, the most common thing people do when they meet (probably since history began) is to swap stories. Where do you live? What is your family like? How did you meet your spouse? What are your kids ages and what are they into? What do you do for a living? What are your interests? What do you do for fun? These kinds of questions are windows into each other's world, the initial framing of the real story inside...our real story.
There is a scene in the movie Amistad when former President John Quincy Adams (played by Anthony Hopkins), asks abolitionist, Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman) about the African slaves who were at the center a hotly debated political trial in 1839 New England. He asks Joadson, "what is their story?" Joadson answers by starting to reel off a series of facts. Adams cuts him off saying,"No, what...is...their...STORY (drawing out the word story for emphasis)? He adds, "You've proved you know what they are, congratulations, but what you don't know is WHO they are." He goes on to show how Joadson's own story might be told as one might read a resume or list of facts, but then says that would be missing the real story, the story of a former slave who earned his freedom and has now dedicated his life to ending slavery in America. That's the real story.
All of us have a "real story." And if we will stop to listen, it really does not take too much skill to listen for the story behind the story. Every person in our community represents a God-story in progress. Jesus modeled the best approach by incarnating himself into our stories, to redeem the Father's purpose for them. What if we renewed that incarnational journey into our own community... this Christmas?
There are many good resources out there to help you plan a good program. We've listed a few we like here. To reach the heart of your community, we've created a series of media tools, entitled, We Are Our Stories.
Cover: We Are Our Stories.
Reverse Side: Stories filled with both struggles and joys... and they are anything but boring.
Copy: Real life stories are filled with pain, hurts, doubts, setbacks, conflicts, and no short supply of challenges. These stories are yours and mine, and they are real. But we also experience joys and laughter, friends and family, and times of awe and wonder... life's gifts that give our dreams hope. And it’s in the substance of our unspoken hopes and dreams that we find the building blocks of our unfinished lives. For faith is a powerful substance, the essence of all things yet unseen in our lives, lives not measured by the struggles and pains of birth, but by the fulfilling joy that follows. That’s the real story.
We’re in the midst of a new adventure, building a 'community of stories' and an emerging community of faith that longs to see people realize their God-given dreams and live the signature life they were meant to live. A good friendship begins simply in the sharing of stories, and we’d love to get to know yours and even journey with you in the struggle and the adventure of your dreams. Join us each Sunday in December leading up to Christmas for celebrations, teaching, and plenty of relaxed and informal times to really get to know each other. Let’s write our unfinished stories...together!
You may view the entire series here.
Michael
Want to get specific?
If
you’d like to explore this in an email dialog, please feel free
to drop the author a note at mike@breakthroughchurch.com.
All other inquiries contact:
Donna Crowell
missdonna@Breakthroughchurch.com
800-595-4327
Breakthroughchurch.com
*This entire report copyright © 2006 by
Breakthrough Media Group. All rights reserved. Permission is granted
to forward, copy or share single copies of this document in the
context of local church outreach planning, provided entire document
is kept intact. Small portions can be freely quoted. For permission
to excerpt, or to make multiple copies (more than five), or to reprint
in a publication or post online, contact:
Donna Crowell
missdonna@Breakthroughchurch.com
800-595-4327
We Are Our Stories Campaign resources
Epic DVD: is specifically designed to help the reader understand his or her role in the Larger Story, God's Big Picture. In Epic, a retelling of the gospel in four acts, John Eldredge invites us to revisit the drama of life, viewing God not only as the author but also as the lead actor, exploring His motives and His heart. Eldredge examines the power of story, the universal longing for a "plot" that makes sense deep inside us, our desire for a meaningful role to play, our love of books and movies, and how all of this points us to the gospel itself.
Epic: The Story God Is Telling and the Role That Is Yours to Play
by John Eldredge
We don't usually identify with the author of a great story. Instead we bond with the hero and heroine-the ones that the story is about. We share in their heartaches and triumphs. We cheer their accomplishments and mourn their losses.
When we think about our own story, we may see God as the author-an omniscient and omnipotent cosmic mastermind-but fail to recognize Him as the central character. In Epic, a retelling of the gospel in four acts, John Eldredge invites us to revisit the drama of life, viewing God not only as the author but also as the lead actor, exploring His motives and His heart. Eldredge examines the power of story, the universal longing for a "plot" that makes sense deep inside us, our desire for a meaningful role to play, our love of books and movies, and how all of this points us to the gospel itself.
It's a story better than any fairy tale! Our human hearts are made for great drama, and the gospel, with its tragedy and grandeur, truly is epic. Also available as an unabridged audio on CD, as well as hardcover Spanish edition.
Suggested use: series of small group or neighborhood gatherings
Amazon listing
What's Your Story?: An Interactive Guide to Building Authentic Relationships
by Toben and Joanne Heim
How do you build authentic relationships? Real, personal, intimate relationships? From discussing your favorite things to sharing fears, What's Your Story? is an interactive guide to bring people together into deeper, more meaningful conversations. Join authors Toben and Joanne Heim and others as they converse about their stories-their past, present, future, values and opinions, and faith. Follow their stories through essays, or record your own story on the journal pages. Break out of the traditional mode of conversation at parties or gatherings and get to deeper issues. Deepen your relationships as you talk about-and listen to-the things that really matter.
About the Author
TOBEN and JOANNE HEIM are GenX-ers ministering to Gen X-ers. They learned to share their stories when they helped begin a Gen X ministry that grew from three couples to more than twenty in less than a year. The Heims led one of the small groups that grew from that ministry and wrote much of the material the group used. Toben spoke at the 1999 National Gen X Ministries Conference and has been asked to be the chairman for the 2000 conference. He currently works as the trade marketing manager for NavPress while Joanne writes and stays at home with their daughter, Audrey.
Amazon listing
Use clips from the movie Amistad
To illustrate the truth that people are not simply the sum total of the facts "about" their life, or the lies that the enemy of our souls tries to perpetrate, consider showing select scenes from Amistad. Although the movie is not for general audiences, you can show clips from relevant scenes (especially the one between Hopkins and Freeman) to spark discussion or illustrate a sermon.
Blockbuster listing