October 5, 2022
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It was shocking and it came on the day my Dad went to heaven. I flew in; I couldn't make it back in time before he took his last breath. But we had some great conversations before he died. And that was the day that my Mother made an announcement. She said, "You have a brother." Okay, here I am a grown man with children of my own. Now, I knew I'd had a baby brother who died when he was six months old, and that's how all of us came to know Jesus as a result of the tragedy that went into our family through that. But that was the day I learned about a brother I never knew about all those years. Now, there's some complicated circumstances that would explain why I didn't know. But the fact is, my Dad and Mom had never told me about this brother by another mother. Since then I've had a chance to meet that brother I never knew about, and wow, what a blessing. And it's so enriched both of our lives, along with our wives as well. But it was a story I'd never heard. It was a story I wish I had heard. It was a story that changed my life. But it was a story that I almost never heard.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "They Need to Hear Your Story."
You have a story! You have a story to tell that literally lives depend on; that can change lives forever. But you can't sit on it! Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 28. What an exciting chapter! It's the resurrection of Jesus. The angel has just appeared to these crest-fallen women who think the body of their Savior was stolen. He said, "He is not here; he has risen!" Now listen to these words, "Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has risen from the dead…' So, the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples."
Now, what good is a story, especially if it's good news and you don't tell it? Well, this is the good news about a death-crushing, life-changing Savior who conquered death that morning. The greatest fear we all have. The story you've got to tell is the story you probably know so well if you've been around Christian things very long.
You know about Jesus dying on the cross to carry the wrath of God upon Him for all our sin, to set us free, to make it possible for us to be free and clean and forgiven and heaven-bound. And He's powerful enough to walk out of His grave under His own power. I mean, your Jesus is the greatest love a person can experience; a love that would die for you. The greatest power a person can experience; a power that can conquer death. Wow! Don't you want to tell that story to someone? You know it; they don't.
We're living in a post Christian world; people around us probably aren't going to go to a religious meeting to hear a religious speaker talk on a religious subject in a religious place. They may be surrounded by Christian resources, and TV and radio, and websites. But they don't know about all that. They have yet to find out what Jesus did on the cross for them. And the only way they're going to know is if you tell them the story you know so well.
They desperately need to hear about that. They desperately need to hear about a Jesus who is alive, who changes people, who does things that no one else can do and saves lives. It may be old hat to you about the sin and Christ dying for sin. But it's life-saving news for somebody you know. The words of the angel on that resurrection morning were, "You've come and seen. Now, go and tell." That's Jesus' command to you. "Go and tell!"
And you have a Hope Story. You are living proof that Jesus is alive, because He's done things in your life that no one else could have done. Right? He has fixed what no one else could fix. He's changing what no one else could change. He's providing hope where nothing else could. You have a Hope Story my brother or sister, and that story of what Jesus did on the cross and how He's changed you? Well, that could be the difference between life and death and heaven and hell for somebody in your world.
Would you tell them the story you know? Give them the good news! You have a life-changing story to tell. But what good is a story if you don't tell it?