Testimony

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast,

you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. If you haven't

met me, my name is Tim. I am one of the pastors

here and I'm going to read from Acts 26. Then

Agrippa said to Paul, you may speak in your defense.

So Paul gesturing with his hands started his

defense. I'm fortunate King Agrippa that you

are the one hearing my defense today against

all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders.

For I know that you are an expert on all Jewish

customs and controversies. Now please listen

to me patiently. As the Jewish leaders are well

aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training

from my earliest childhood among my own people.

And in Jerusalem, if they would admit it, they

know that I've been a member of the Pharisees,

the strictest sect of our religion. Now I'm on

trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of

God's promise made to our ancestors. In fact,

that's why the 12 tribes of Israel zealously

worship God day and night. And they share the

same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse

me of having this hope. Why does it seem incredible

to any of you that God can raise the dead? I

used to believe that I ought to do everything

I could to oppose the very name of Jesus, the

Nazarene. Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem.

Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many

believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast

my vote against them when they were condemned

to death. Many times I had them punished in the

synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was

so violently opposed to them that I even chased

them down in foreign cities. One day I was on

such a mission to Damascus armed with the authority

and commission of the leading priests. About

midday, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a

light from heaven brighter than the sun shone

down on me and my companions and we fell down

and heard a voice saying to me, And I heard a

voice saying to me in Aramaic, Saul, Saul, why

are you persecuting me? It is useless for you

to fight against my will. Who are you, Lord?

I asked. And the Lord replied, I am Jesus, the

one you are persecuting. Now get to your feet,

for I have appeared to you to appoint you as

my servant and witness. Tell people that you

have seen me and tell them what I will show you

in the future. And I will rescue you both from

your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I'm sending

you to the Gentiles to open their eyes that they

might turn from darkness to light and from the

power of Satan to God. Then they will receive

forgiveness for their sins and be given a place

among God's people who are set apart by faith

in me. And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision

from heaven. I preached first to those in Damascus,

then in Jerusalem and throughout all of Judea.

and also to the Gentiles that all must repent

of their sins and turn to God and prove that

they have changed by the good things they do.

Some Jews arrest me in the temple for preaching

this and they tried to kill me but God has protected

me right up to this present time so I can testify

to everyone. From the least to the greatest I

teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses

said would happen. that the Messiah would suffer

and be the first to raise from the dead. In this

way, I announced God's light to Jews and Gentiles

alike. And suddenly Festus shouted, Paul, you

are insane. Too much study has made you crazy.

But Paul replied, I'm not insane. Most excellent

Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth.

And King Agrippa knows about these things. I

speak boldly. For I'm sure these events are all

familiar to him, for they were not done in a

corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?

I know that you do. Agrippa interrupted him.

Do you think you can persuade me to become a

Christian so quickly? Paul replied, whether quickly

or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone

here in this audience might become the same as

I am, except for these chains. I'm going to say

this is the word of the Lord, and if you are

thankful, you can say, thanks be to God. This

is the word of the Lord. Thanks Tim. Despite

what you may think, that wasn't a punishment

for giving me a super long Bible reading, but

God does work in mysterious ways. So I'm going

to start today with a tradition that was started

in ancient Israel, I'm sure, which is by reading

you a messenger message. That's a joke. No, it

came via foot via Marcus Zuckerberg. You know

what? I'm gonna do exactly what I should have

done to start. I'm gonna pray quickly before

we go any further. Heavenly Father, all you pray,

or I pray as I come into this moment that there

will be more of you and less of me. Amen. Okay.

Here's the message I wanted to start with. Hi,

man. Let me start by saying, wow, what you, Jenny

and your team have put together at Encounter

is outstanding and truly inspiring. Your passion

for what you do and what you want to create is

palpable and others can obviously feel that through

you all. The band today were fantastic. The vibe

of the whole building was electric and it felt

like such a warm and inviting experience. Your

sermon. Mate, what can I say? What a great message.

A great starting point and presented so brilliantly,

you have a real gift, Mike. Genuinely funny,

charismatic, empathetic, warm and passionate.

It was truly impressive. Kara and I were both

so glad we came today. Now, in light of your

message and your invitation to lean in, you know

that traditionally I've not been a religious

kind of guy. In my youth I was, but then moving

to the Bible Belt in the States really tarnished

the whole thing for me. Fire and brimstone just

never really sat that comfortably with me. I

turned my back on faith with a passion only a

zealous emo teenager can, and have never truly

reassessed it. Now as you know, we've become

really friendly with the ganglions over the last

few years, which led to cadence wanting to attend

Friday night youth groups, which then led into

wanting to attend church regularly on Sundays.

And as a father wanting to support her and not

have my biases blind her or sway her course,

I have gladly attended Hope Valley and felt very

comfortable there. I've been opening up a little

bit to the idea of faith again, reassessing my

issues, my own encumbrances, and seeing if I

was ready to open up to the idea of faith again,

ultimately deciding, maybe. I'd leave myself

open to feeling something without actively seeking

it out. I'm calling it a religious hedging of

my bets. I've been loving the idea of warmth

and community and people wanting to share an

outwardly joyful experience. That's what I've

been holding on to and leaning into whilst my

children and Kara started to really feel something

through faith and through Jesus. And something

was invigorated in me today, man. Somewhere between

the prodigal son and your final prayer, I started

to cry. Yeah, I was surprised too. Not de -bracking

sobs, just a steady flow of tears like I get

at the end of Coco. And then in brackets, seriously,

have you seen that film yet? Oh boy. So what

is this inbox all about? I have no idea. Honestly,

I don't. Am I ready to call myself a Christian?

I don't think so. It'd feel disingenuous. It

really would. But I wanted you to know that you

stirred something inside of me today. Your community

stirred something inside of me today. And whilst

I'm not ready to commit myself to anything yet,

you've put me in a position where ignoring any

interest in leaning in would also be disingenuous.

Much love to you brother. Congrats again on today.

And thank you. Now for those of you who don't

know me, I'm Tex and I'm one of the pastors here

at Encounter. And what I just read out is the

exact message that I sent to Mike on the night

of Encounter's launch in May of 2018. In the

weeks that followed, Mike and I met for a few

coffees and he patiently sat and listened to

me as I discussed who I was, what I believed

or didn't believe, more importantly, who I wanted

to be. He asked really good questions, which

led to me talking about the fact that I wasn't

the father, husband, or friend, or person that

I really wanted to be. Now, Mike listened really

intently, but ultimately was honest about the

fact that he thought I was pretty simple, really.

I was just missing Jesus. And exactly three weeks

after I sent that text message to Mike, or that

messenger message to Mike, during an altar call,

I responded and I accepted Jesus as my Lord and

Saviour. And without knowing it, in the seat

next to me, Cara did too. And from there, the

trajectory of our lives has changed completely.

Now, I'll be honest, I saw testimonies on the

list. Whenever we're putting together a sermon

series, we always kind of go, here's a sermon

series and here's the things we're going to talk

about. And I saw testimonies on that list as

our Evangelism for Everyone series, and I didn't

want to do that one. Because I've shared bits

of my testimony. A fair bit. So many times. And

as I was talking about this week with Tim Even,

I was like, it's starting to feel a little self

-indulgent. And I've said this sentence, this

exact sentence to so many people, so many times,

and they say, how'd you come to faith? And I

go, I went to the launch of encounter and I found

my faith and then I never left. So simple, right?

And in doing so, by using that sentence, I have

made my testimony self -indulgent. I, my, me.

There's no Jesus in it. I've actually taken Jesus

out of my testimony when I dot point it like

that. I did come to encounter, become a Christian

and stay high. Like I'm still here. But why?

Why did I do that? Because I had an encounter

with Jesus. Those tears that launch were my awakening

realization that Jesus was real. My response

to an altar call was an acceptance of that as

truth. And then Jesus grabbed me and took hold

of my life and my heart and changed absolutely

everything. And I chose to change everything

and to continue to lean into that changing of

everything as a response. And you know, you have

these realizations as you go on. I had this realization

that it was never about not leaving encounter.

It was always about finding and choosing to stay

with Jesus. And then it made me think about it.

So why don't I just say that? And then like to

believers, I think it's because our testimonies

just become like an encouragement. We share them

and it makes everybody feel nice and warm and

fuzzy. And then that's just kind of where they

stop. But our testimony for non -believers actually

has the potential to be revelationary. At worst,

it lets someone hear, hopefully someone you care

about firsthand about just how important Jesus

is to you and just how much he's changed your

life. But at best, it may actually help to change

somebody else's. So why don't we share our testimonies

with our non -Christian friends? And maybe like

me, you grow up in one of those, we don't talk

about politics or religion at the dinner table

kind of families and you've just been like, cool,

we'll tuck that in the back pocket. Or maybe

you're worried you'll be seen as a weirdo. Or

maybe you just think people are uninterested,

which is cool. But the data simply doesn't support

that. NCLS data tells us that 88 % of Australians

have a neutral or positive personal attitude

towards Christians. 88%. And a majority of Christians,

a majority of Christians, a majority of Australians

are actually open to discussions with people

of varying spiritual beliefs. Now what that tells

me is that people, these people we think aren't

interested, no, no, people are wary of organizations.

People are wary of institutions, but people are

not wary of people. And that's where our personal

testimony becomes so powerful. and why they may

be the most powerful tool of evangelism that

we have. And sharing a personal testimony, sharing

something very deep and big and personal is exactly

where we find Paul in today's reading. Paul has

been preaching the gospel and the saving grace

of Jesus all over the land. The Jews have just

had enough of what is in their eyes, he is sharing

a false theology, a dangerous and false theology.

Paul's been imprisoned, he's been rebuked, they've

tried to have him murdered. He is not having

a good time. And the local governor, Festus,

has kind of had enough of all the chaos that's

surrounding Paul everywhere that he goes. So

what he does, he goes, I'm going to get this

guy and drag him in front of the local king Agrippa

and he can explain and plead his case to him.

And maybe he will work out how we sort out what

is going on right now. So Paul takes this opportunity

in front of the king and these kind of gathered

people there and he's like, great time to share

my testimony. That is where Paul goes, this is

what I'm gonna do. Now Paul slash Saul, and we'll

get into that, had previously made it his life's

mission to seek out and eradicate Christians

everywhere. I talked, if you're in the room,

about a month, six weeks ago, I preached about

Saul's conversion, right? And that was until

Jesus met him on the road to Damascus as he was

on this journey and spoke to him directly. Saul

emerged from that one -to -one encounter with

Jesus with a new name, Paul, with a new truth

that Jesus was real and who he said he was and

a new mission which was to share that news and

that with absolutely everybody. Paul went on

to write 13 books of the Bible and planted 14

churches, we are aware of. So this guy got pretty

busy on this mission as he went. And that's why

he now, to Paul, this is just another opportunity.

This audience with the gripper is just another

opportunity to share his testimony and to share

the gospel with another audience. And that's

what he does. And there's this real part where

the important part of his testimony to him is

this part here where he says, now get up and

stand on your feet. This is repeating that script

before, that text before. This is Paul explaining

what's happened after he's had this miraculous

one -to -one interaction with Jesus. He says,

now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared

to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness

of what you have seen and will see of me. I will

rescue you from your own people and from the

Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their

eyes and turn. them from darkness to light and

from the power of Satan to God so that they may

receive forgiveness of sins and a place among

those who are sanctified by faith in me." And

what Paul is saying and making so clear through

this is how a single one to one interaction with

Jesus changed everything and set an entirely

new course for him in his life. He went from

a Paul had a Jewish background. He went from

a Jew that was persecuting Christians to a Christian

desperate to share the good news and saving grace

of Jesus. And not only that, but to bring others

into relationship with Jesus as well. But Paul,

it wasn't about just, hey, this has happened

for me. It's like, and now this is what can happen

for you as well. It's pretty inspiring, huh?

But like, not to everyone, because Fester's response

is, Paul, you are out of your mind. Paul's story

is so incredulous, the transformation so dramatic,

and Paul so passionate that Festus assumes he's

gone insane. Too much study, too many books.

That could be for somebody in this room, I don't

know. But Paul hasn't gone insane, he's got more

clarity than he has ever had before. He appeals

to Keogrippa, what I'm saying, in the translation

I was working from, what I'm saying is true and

reasonable. He's like, come on, surely you can

see it's true and it's reasonable. And I love

this. True and reasonable is the word that he

uses. The story of Paul's conversion is one of

the most dramatic and least reasonable stories

of conversion in the entire Bible. But not to

Paul, it's not. And why isn't that unreasonable

to Paul? Because it's true. God went from a distant

power with a list of rules to follow to a personal

savior in a personal relationship with him. Everything

changed. Reminder that just because it sounds

unreasonable, it doesn't mean it's not true.

Negrippa's response Did you think in such a short

time you can persuade me to become a Christian?

That's not an unreasonable response, by the way.

He's just heard this unbelievable story and the

guy's like, no it's not. The gripper goes, I

mean it is a little bit, and he's like, surely

you don't think that are you gonna convert me

into a Christian right now? And in this moment,

we'll call back to my text message to Mike from

earlier. That was me. I'm a gripper. in this

moment where it's like, hey man, this is a wonderful

and lovely and it sounds great for you. Not convinced.

Maybe not convinced. But here's what I really

love about Agrippa's reply, is that it's not

an admonishment. He's actually not saying, I

don't believe you Paul. He's not saying, I don't

believe your story, I don't believe your transformation.

He's just saying, I'm not convinced it's for

me. It's also not a no. And Paul responds with

such grace, but such confidence. He replies,

short term or long, I pray to God that not only

will we, not only you, but all who are listening

to me today may become what I am except for these

chains. Now here stands Paul. He has poured his

heart out. He's explained who he was, what and

who has changed him, how that has changed everything

for him, and then he's clear. He's like, short

term or long, I think Jesus is coming for you

too, big boy, and I'm praying for that. But not

only does Paul want all of those who are witnesses

to this and all of those who are hearing his

testimony to have what he has, he actually wants

them to have one better. I want you all to be

in an even better position now. I want you to

have this faith and this relationship with Jesus,

but I don't want you to have the chains that

I've got. I want you to have what I got because

it's incredible, but I actually want you to have

one better. And it's actually in this moment

that I realized that Paul gets his testimony

so right, where I so often start to get mine

so wrong. because so often when I share my testimony

it actually stops with me. I talk about my life

and how I've changed and forget that the whole

point of this is to shine a light on and glorify

the how as to all of it happen. The only reason

any of these changes occur, the only reason I'm

the man that I am today is because I had an interaction

with Jesus. And furthermore, want that for everyone

else that I know. Not only do I want that, I

want them to have it one better. Now the thought

about that part of it was an affirmation and

shamefully part of that was a reminder. Our testimonies,

of course, they're about us. If you have a personal

testimony, if you're in this room and you're

a follower of Jesus, you have a testimony. They

are about us, but they are of Jesus and they

are for others. When Paul sets this, bless you,

Paul sets this great example for us all as he

shares his testimony, this model for giving a

Jesus -centered testimony. And if you've never

really thought about yours, I talk to people

sometimes like, I don't really know, it kind

of feels a bit awkward and I'm not sure what

to, Paul sets an example, right? And he makes

it really simple. We make it clunky. Paul makes

it simple, right? So we'll share that. We're

going to talk about how practically, if you want

to be in a position to share your testimony,

the steps that you kind of need to take to ensure

that it's a Jesus -centred testimony and not

a me -centred testimony. And the first step of

that is there's actually four steps. I'm breaking

the rule of three. I'm sorry. Before. Who were

you before you started following Jesus? What

motivated you? Where did you find yourself lacking

or seeking and felt like you were coming up short?

Remember, when you are sharing a personal testimony,

it is not a sermon. It's not a theology lesson.

It's not about Scripture. Be open, be honest,

be real, be transparent. Now just a note here

as well. I talked to a lot of people who have

been Christians for a long time. who will say

things effectively of like, I don't really have

a testimony, I just kind of was raised in a Christian

house and I've kind of always been a Christian

and never really questioned it. Do you have any

idea how valuable in a modern culture the idea

of long -term sustainable consistency is? We

live in such a disposable time and age to just

be like, I grew up in this warm environment where

Christianity and faith was just never a question.

That in itself, consistency for you and as a

person, what could be a better testimony to a

consistent God than a consistent relationship

with Him? There is incredible, incredible value

in that and I am begging you not to shy away

from that because it's not about our starting

point in a weird way because at some point we

all end up with the same next step, some version

of the same next step, which is how. You need

to, as part of your testimony, as part of your

story, you need to be able to describe how you

began to consider that Jesus may actually be

the solution to your deep and inner needs. Now

for Paul his how was pretty big and pretty dramatic

and pretty sudden and that's okay That's Paul's

that's all souls how for me. It was kind of slow

until it wasn't and For some of you it's that

well, it's just kind of it's always been it's

always been bubbling under the surface It's always

been part of me. I've never questioned it. I

Need you to remember this. This is such an important

distinction. Is that soul? believed in God. But

Paul, his true transformation came when he had

an intimate one -to -one confrontation with Jesus.

And this is how, regardless of your starting

point, your testimony starts to take shape, is

when did you, be you a new Christian or someone

who's always had to actually have that personal

revelation of like, Oh, actually, this is a one

-to -one thing. This isn't died in the wall.

This doesn't just kind of like occur. I've had

to choose this, and I've had to own this, and

I've had to say, yes, Jesus loves me, and I love

Jesus, and this is a one -to -one personal relationship.

Because that's how this all kind of resolves

in that same point. At some time in your life,

you came to the realization, you came to that

reality of an object truth that all of us have

sinned. and there was a cost for that that Jesus

paid and we are living in the loving saving grace

of that. Your testimony should centre on when

and how you made that personal choice to receive

and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour,

choosing Him as He has chosen you. The next stage

is after. Now before we've talked about our an

unfulfilled life. Now after the how, you should

be able to speak to the ways in which Jesus has

filled and continues to fill those needs in your

life. This is where the gospel will come to life

for most of the people that you talk to, if I'm

being honest. Even if they don't understand,

if they don't have Jesus, they don't understand

how faith works, that after is kind of where

they will start to sear. Corinthians 5 17 tells

us, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new

creation has come, the old has gone, the new

is here. Salvation in Jesus creates a desire

to live a life changed in response to that despite

brokenness and sin. Through Jesus, you've received

the gift of eternal life. You are not a changed

person. You are a brand new creation. Do not

be afraid to say just that. And the fourth step

in all of this just becomes living it. There's

no more compelling testimony to a life -altering

relationship with Jesus than to live a life that

reflects a life -altering relationship with Jesus.

Billy Graham puts it this way, a changed life

is the best testimony for a new believer. I say

it all the time, we cannot say we believe what

we believe and then continue to live in a way

that doesn't reflect it. So invite others into

your story. We invite others into these stories.

We have our personal testimony. That testimony

shouldn't stop with us. And like I said, this

is where Paul gets it so right. He's like, this

is who I was. This is how I've changed. This

is what happened after. This is how I'm living

now. And I want you to have the same. And maybe

I have to play my little part in your part of

this story. Jesus is going to do all the work,

by the way. This is not about like Better go

to it. Jesus is going to do all the work. But

think about all these little breadcrumbs we've

seen along the way of how these stories impact

others. How the truth, you know, I go back, I

read that text message. That's kind of, I was

like, oh, wow, I put my testimony so succinctly

eight years ago. I just didn't have Jesus yet,

right? But I look at it and I'm going there was

like Cadence and there was Carr and there was

the Ganglans and there was Hope Valley and there

was all these little... These little breadcrumbs

along the way that eventually got me to Jesus.

Your job is not to be Jesus, but Jesus, you can

absolutely be one of those breadcrumbs. Invite

others into your story so that hopefully you

can be part of their story. Why? Because Jesus

invited us into his story. Our testimony should

serve as a testament to God's goodness and saving

grace. And we need to declare it as such, because

I'll be honest, without the saving grace of Jesus,

our testimony is just a really nice story. Our

inconceivably mighty and powerful God could have

sat in the heavens far from us and watched as

we sinned and suffered and pulled ourselves further

and further and further away from Him. But instead

He did and He affirmed His love and desire for

relationship with us by sending His one and only

Son to save us one by one, personally. A Son

who allowed Himself to be placed on the cross.

Jesus' earthly testimony ending with an atoning

sacrifice to ensure that our salvation was secured

and a personal relationship with a living God

was guaranteed. And all we had to do is accept

Him as truth, seek His forgiveness and accept

His love. Thanks so much for tuning into this

week's message. If you felt challenged or need

prayer, we'd love to hear from you on Instagram.

at Encounter Henley or if you're interested in

how you can support this ministry please go to

our website encounteradlaid .com .au Thanks again

for listening. God bless you.