| So what is a Faith Story? |
A
Faith Story is the story of how Christ changed
or is changing and working in your life. It
can be the story of how you came to know
Christ or how Christ has carried you through
a difficult time or even a statement of your
faith in God’s guiding influence
upon your life. It’s your story
. . . your story about you and your relationship
with Jesus Christ. |
Why
share your story? |
The main goal of our Faith Stories is to
show the character of a life that is committed
to Christ. We hope to not only
encourage other Christians, but also to witness
to those who do not yet know Christ. Non-Christians
get a real, live example of how God makes a
difference in the lives of believers. Non-Christians
often dismiss their need for God because they
do not see how God is relevant to their daily
life. But they can’t dismiss or
disagree with your story, because your story
provides them with a real life example of God’s
faithfulness to His children. |
Your story will not only be a great witness
tool to non-Christian, but it will also be
an inspiration to fellow believers who may
be facing a similar situation. Sharing
how God brought you through a difficult time
presents a great picture of His faithfulness
and this can help to encourage those in the
midst of the battle. |
Guidelines
for presenting your Faith Story |
1. Pray |
-Begin with prayer, asking
God to help you in this process.
-Ask the Lord for wisdom as you sit down
to write your story. |
|
2. Content
of Your Story |
| Be
Clear |
-This is a great opportunity
to use all those writing skills that you
learned in school.
-Keep your thoughts organized and following
a logical pattern from beginning to end.
-To be a true faith story, ensure that the
main focus of the story is the part that
God played.
-Keep it short, simple and relevant – remember
that too much unrelated information can be
confusing and cause people to miss the point
of your story. |
|
| Be
Authentic – Be You! |
-Tell
your story the way it happened – be real! Authenticity
and honesty connect with people who may be walking
through similar circumstances.
-Resist the temptation to compare your story to previous stories you have read
-Don’t embellish your story – do your best to creatively weave the
facts of the event into a story that will minister to others.
-Keep in mind that the point to the Faith Story is to encourage others, but be
real! |
|
| Be
Intentional |
-Identify
one main idea or theme that you want to communicate. Use
that idea to help you keep focused as you write
your story.
-Ask yourself one very important question . . . What? What is God doing
in your life today?
-This is a Faith Story – so don’t forget to include how you believe
God has walked with you through this situation.
-Refrain from criticizing other people, groups, churches, etc. |
|
| Be
Concise |
-Make
it interesting – remember you are writing
a story!
-Don’t get carried away – some people find it difficult to read long
passages of text on their computer screen, so if you succumb to the temptation
to be “wordy”, many people will never read your story.
-Think about your story in blocks and then tie them together. An example
for a story outline might include: What my life was like before I
knew Christ
-How a came to know Christ, How my life has changed since I became a Christian.
-Use the three sections to build your story. Starting this way, helps you
keep focused and concise!
-Keep in mind that this is a Faith Story that will generally be focused on a
single event and not the events of your entire life. That would take lots
of different stories! |
|
| Be
Centered |
| -Most
importantly, be centered on Christ. Remember
in order for it to really be a Faith Story it
will be about your faith in Christ and his presence
in your life. |
|
3. Submitting
your Faith Story
The best way
to submit your story is by email. Stories
can be submitted to webmaster@ntcoc.org. Stories
submitted on-line need to be submitted as a
Microsoft Word document or in Adobe PDF format. If
you do not have access to either of these formats,
but would still like to submit on-line, please
contact the Webmaster to
determine if there is another compatible
document format.
If you do not have access
to a compatible format, please submit a hardcopy
of your story to the church office. Enclose
your story in an envelope and drop-off your
story in the church office or mail it to:
North Terrace Church of Christ
ATTN: Webmaster – Faith Story
1420 Brandywine Boulevard
Zanesville,
Ohio 43701
Please include your contact information somewhere
on all stories either submitted on-line or
in writing. As a minimum, please include
your name, address, phone number and email
address in case we need to contact you. |
| Final Thoughts |
Please
remember that our intention in gathering these
stories is to post them on our website. This
means that the whole world will have the opportunity
to read your story. As you write your
story, be sure to protect any confidential
information that you would not want everyone
to know. While having your story read by the
masses may sound very exciting to you, please
keep that other individuals involved in your
story may not feel that same way. In
particular, if you intend to include names
of individuals other than yourself, it would
be a good idea to get their permission to specifically
mention their name. You can write your
story without specific names and still effectively
communicate your message. |
| If
you include names in your story other than
your own, these names will be edited out prior
to posting on our website unless you inform
us that you secured permission prior to submission. |
| Please
be aware that not all stories will be posted
on the website. We hope to post a new
story every month, which means that we only
need 12 a year. As we begin to build
an archive of stories, that timeline may change
and we may have a greater need later. |
| Stories
will also be edited for grammar and clarity. The
actual content of a story will not be changed,
but our desire is for your story to be clearly
communicated to all readers and it some cases
that may require a period here or a comma there! |
Happy Writing! |
