MESSAGE (Sharing Your Story Is Powerful And LifeChanging) - Message 4

MASK + MOSAIC + MERCY = MESSAGE

 STEP 1:  To forget the past, you first gotta remove the mask!

STEP 2:  God can turn broken pieces into masterpieces!

STEP 3:  Forgiveness is setting a prisoner free only to find the prisoner is me

STEP 4:  God can turn your greatest problem into His greatest platform

 All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 -  MSG)

 God can turn our mess into our message and our test into our testimony!

 What a wonderful God we have—he is . . . the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.  . (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 -  LB)

 PAUL’S HISTORY

 Before he was “Paul” he was “Saul” a first-century terrorist. He was a religious zealot intent on destroying anything or anyone that was a threat to Judaism. He hated Christ and Christians and was willing to go to any lengths to keep this belief from spreading, including persecution and murder. He would stop at nothing to eradicate this dangerous teaching from taking hold.

And Saul was not only consenting to Stephen’s death, he was pleased and entirely approving. On that day a great and severe persecution broke out against the church which was in Jerusalem; and . . . Saul shamefully treated and laid waste the church continuously with cruelty and violence;  entering house after house, he dragged out men and women and committed them to prison. (Acts 8:1-3 – Amp)

 PAUL’S HISTORY BECOMES “HIS STORY”

 If anyone ever had reason to hope that he could save himself, it would be me. If others could be saved by what they are, certainly I could . . .  Yes, so much so that I greatly persecuted the Church . . .  But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord . . .  I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. (Philippians 3: 4, 6-8, 13 – LB)

 YOUR HISTORY BECOMES “HIS STORY” - THE MESSAGE PRINCIPLES

 MP 1:  We are all “__________________  ______” it’s just a matter of degrees!

 MP 2:  Because everyone is a mess, everyone has a ______________________!

MP 3:  God doesn’t _______________________________ the mess in our lives, but He can __________________________ it to help others

 It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work of telling his Good News to others, and so we never give up . . .  We stand in the presence of God as we speak and so we tell the truth . . .  But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us—is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power within must be from God and is not our own.  We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going . . . this gives us constant opportunities to show forth the power of Jesus Christ . . . These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified. That is why we never give up . . . These troubles and sufferings of ours are quite small and won’t last very long . . . so we do not look at what we can see right now . . . but we look forward to the joys in heaven . . . The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:1-2, 7-9, 15-18 – LB)

 MP 4:  When your history becomes “His Story” it can impact others for _____