5 Ways to Make Jesus the Center of Your Story – Engage24

/ Christian in College, College, How to Share Your Faith, Your Story / 4 Comments

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On day. One mission. To tell others about Jesus. I am engaging on 10.14.14, will you? `

The Bible tells us that God wants us to engage with Him and then to engage the world with the gospel of Jesus. There is a movement happening across the world, and I am so excited to be a part of it! Engage24 is a specific time set apart for engaging the world with the good news of Christ.  While Engage24 is intensely focused on a single day of evangelism (10.14.14), the mission is to promote a 24/7 lifestyle of evangelism and engagement with the gospel.

Engage24 is a 24 hour period when college students purposefully engage their campuses with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The goal is to see every believing college student share the Gospel with at least one person that day.

On my campus, the University of South Florida, my campus ministry Cru is taking part in Engage24. We are wearing shirts that say ‘Tell Me Your Story”. The girls below are some of the girls in our ministry who rocked the shirts!

Tell Me Your Story CollageOur hope is that students at USF will see hundreds of students wearing the shirt and then will ask one of us what it is about. Here is our reply, “Today is Engage24, and we want to engage with the students by listening to their story. We would love to listen to your story and hear if God plays any part in it.”

People love to talk about themselves and this is such a great way to start a spiritual conversation. Once they share their story, they may ask about yours.

When given the opportunity to share your story, you have to remember that Jesus should be the center. We tend to do the opposite and make our stories about us. But really, Jesus needs to be the main character.

As an example, look at John the Baptist’s testimony in John 1:6-34. We can learn 5 important things from the way he shares his story:

  1. John’s purpose in life was to be a witness of Jesus’ light to others. Our stories can also be lights for Jesus. “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.” (Verse 7)
  2. John specifically says that he is not Jesus, multiple times. We also are not Jesus and do not have the power to save people. “He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” (Verse 8) “He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, I am not the Messiah.” (Verse 20)
  3. John states that Jesus is greater than him. Jesus will always be greater than us. “This is the one I spoke about when I said, He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.” (Verse 15)
  4. John gives Jesus all the attention, and so should we. When the Pharisees questioned who he was, John replied, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, Make straight the way for the Lord.” (Verse 23) “I baptize with water, John replied, but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” (Verses 26-27)
  5. John points everything back to Jesus. When we see victory in our lives, we need to give credit to Jesus. “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” (Verses 29-31)

Join me and share your faith during Engage24. I’ve heard people say that their relationship with Jesus is private and now for sharing. This is a common lie/myth people believe. God wants us to share our faith with others. How else will people know about him? I want others to experience Jesus, and they can’t experience all Jesus provides if they don’t know about him.

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For more info about Engage24 and resources on sharing your faith, check out the Engage24 website!

Also, if you are struggling believing that God can use your story, check out the 3 part series, The Power of Your Story.

4 Comments on 5 Ways to Make Jesus the Center of Your Story – Engage24

  2. lydia
    at (10 years ago)

    Thank you soo much dear for the inspiration. I will do my best to live to it in my college life.
    May God bless you because you did take time for the article and you also shared whole heartedly.

    • joypedrow
      at (10 years ago)

      Hi Lydia! Thanks for commenting. Are you starting college soon? You should look for a college ministry to get plugged into. Have you heard of Cru?