April 8, 2025 • 22 mins
Join us as our Girls Minister, Andrea Riebel, walks us through 1 Pet 2:9-10!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, thanks, roderick.
Well, thank y'all for lettingme come up here and speak.
It's the first time I've donethis in a very, very, very long
time.
I don't know if that says thatI just haven't done this in a
while, or it just means I'm old,but I appreciate it, and this
time I will put on my glasses,because I didn't do that last
time at FCA and Ian made fun ofme afterwards.
(00:22):
So I want you to.
Okay, so this is a very personalstory for me what we're going
to discuss.
Working on me for the last fewyears, but it's something that
started a really long time ago.
So I want you to look at thisfirst or read this first.
If you have your Bibles withyou, turn to 1 Peter, 2, 9
(00:44):
through 10.
I want you to think about thisfirst or read this first.
If you have your Bibles withyou, turn to 1 Peter, 2, 9
through 10.
I want you to think about thisfirst.
It says you're a chosen race, aroyal priesthood, a holy nation.
Those things don't happen likein a blink of an eye or in the
snap of a finger.
That's something that takes areally long time to happen.
That's generations of peoplethat God has called to himself.
(01:05):
It's using and he's used otherpeople to also proclaim that
truth and draw more people in,and I think that's a huge,
amazing thing.
I mean, can you imagine seeinga genealogy chart of the
beginning of God, starting thatuntil now, and every Christ
child is on that list?
I mean that'd be amazing to see, and I know the Bible has a ton
(01:26):
in it, but that's just a dropof who all has joined the story
that God has started.
Then it says God calls you outof darkness, away from your sin,
asking you to come, leave thesin and become a member of his
family.
You were dead in sin.
You deserve death, and he senthis son to pay your debt instead
(01:47):
of punishing you.
I mean, can you imaginecommitting the worst sin?
Think about maybe the worst sinyou can think of.
I know you've probably some ofyou seen the criminal shows
where there's some mass murderor whatever.
He's put up on trial.
Somebody comes up and goes, hey,I forgive you on um try.
Somebody comes up and goes, hey, I forgive you, I'm going to
(02:08):
give my son to take your place.
You can put him to death.
I'm not only going to do that,but I'm also going to take you.
Take you home with me, I'mgoing to adopt you and I'm going
to give you all the inheritancethat I would have given him.
And the inheritance is somethingbeyond amazing, like just think
of I don't know what theinerrance nowadays would be
considered amazing, but it'sbeyond that because it's talking
about heaven.
It's eternal life with him.
I mean, think of that.
(02:31):
Someone does that.
I mean I can't even comprehendthat, other than what I know God
does for me.
But what I want to know isthere's another part of this.
It says.
Then it says we are chosen.
Then it says we are chosen todo something.
It says to proclaim theexcellence of him who called us
(02:53):
out of darkness and into themarvelous light.
I mean, I think if anybody didone of those things, or even
something even smaller than that, would we not be going around
shouting that to everybody weknow and proclaiming his
excellence?
I don't think happens a lot, orat least not as much as it
should be.
(03:15):
What are some things that youknow of that get proclaimed in
life?
I mean, I think there's likehey, we're going to college here
, I got in, or I got thisscholarship.
Or, as I'm going to explain.
I recently had a son get well,he got married recently, but
about a year ago he gotengagement, was proclaimed to
everybody.
There was a ring put on afinger that was shown to so many
people.
It was not hidden, it was rightthere.
(03:36):
There were details that weretalked about.
There was love that it wasexuding out of my son and his
future wife.
All of the families wereexcited and anytime you
mentioned, hey, I hear Will'sengaged.
Was there not like all thisstory and all these questions we
could answer?
And we were excited and we toldall the people.
There were pictures onInstagram and Facebook and you
know all the parties thathappened before that.
(03:57):
So I want you to take that andthen change that and go.
How is it that we havesomething as amazing as God's
story?
He's pulled us out of this.
Not only did he create theuniverse, but he then sent his
son to die for us and for somereason, we're not proclaiming
(04:20):
that in the same way.
So I'm going to tell you apersonal story.
When I was three, my parents, mydad, got saved in Germany.
My mom rededicated her life.
She thought she had been aChristian her whole life, but
she hadn't really been walkingwith the Lord.
Well, when I was three,apparently, their salvation was
so big and so strong and somemorable in my life.
My mom said that I sat out onthe porch of our house in
(04:42):
Germany and I would preach toall the neighbors and say you
need to love Jesus.
Jesus loves you so much, hedied for your sins.
Nobody was able to get bywithout hearing that.
So there I was at three, then ateight, in a service in San
Antonio, texas.
My dad was a pastor and Iremember sitting there and I
heard a testimony of someone andit resonated so much with me.
(05:03):
I knew my sin as aneight-year-old was so big and so
heavy and I felt so burdenedthat I knew I needed Jesus, not
because I loved him anymore, butbecause I needed him to pay for
my sins.
And you're thinking you're aneight-year-old, right?
What kind of big sins does aneight-year-old have?
And that's probably what Ieventually thought.
But right then I walked thataisle and I knew that it was
(05:26):
amazing and I cried and I smiledand it was tears of joy as I
got baptized and I told all myfriends at school, I told all my
friends at church.
They came to watch me getbaptized.
I probably carried on and tolda little while longer.
Right, I'm sure as aneight-year-old you're willing to
tell a few people, and Iremember, I think I even told my
teachers.
Well, at some point, beingraised in a Baptist church in
(05:51):
San Antonio and hearing all thetestimonies all the time that
were so convicting and powerful,I somehow tucked my story away
and decided I wasn't good enoughto share the gospel.
I decided that my story wasn'tbig enough.
I decided my story was notexciting enough and I decided
that, hey, you know what, maybeI didn't need to share it
(06:11):
anymore.
Okay, just like that engagement.
What would happen if, once theengagement happened, they told
nobody?
What if the ring came off thefinger?
What if, let's say, all thedetails maybe were pushed off,
maybe nobody was told they weregetting married?
Wouldn't you kind of doubt therelationship?
(06:34):
Would you doubt that it existed?
Would you doubt that maybe theyprobably shouldn't get married
If they're not willing to shareand exchange the information
that they have and how much theylove each other?
I would be concerned If I hadseen that with my son and his
future wife.
I would have probably saidsomething.
So here we are with ourtestimony and we sit on it and
(06:59):
we put it in a drawer and decideit's not important enough to
talk about.
So I know that sounds sillyabout not wanting to share it,
but I did.
I didn't understand that mystory was the same story as
everyone else's story, same asyour story and anybody else in
this room.
Our stories are all the same.
We're dead in our sin, we aredestined for punishment, and yet
(07:22):
God came, sent his son and hedied for us.
So our punishment, our story,all looks the same.
However, when God replaces that, it then changes.
Right?
That's where it changes.
It's still the same.
It may look different, thedetails might look a little
different mine than yours, maybeGod saved you from a sin that
(07:43):
had greater consequences at thetime, but our stories are the
same.
So, to remind me that we aresaved, we have the same amazing
story of salvation and God isusing our stories to weave his
big story and I pray thattonight that you'll kind of
think more about your story andwhether or not you're allowing
God to use you in his that he'screating.
(08:07):
So there are other reasons whywe don't share our testimony as
well.
Sometimes it's because we'relike, hey, do we just share the
day we got saved?
No, we can also share that Godcontinues to mold and change us
as we submit to the power of theHoly Spirit that he gives us.
We may have allowed years oflife to pass us by not
(08:27):
acknowledging that God has beenthere and seen us through
portions of our lives, kind oflike an ungrateful child.
When we ask for Christmas gifts, we get them, we open them and
we walk away.
God is there with us in ourdifficult times, in our
struggles, and sometimes we justforget to see it, acknowledge
(08:50):
it or even recognize it.
So that's one reason we forgetto share a testimony is because
we compare.
Second is sometimes we gothrough some really tough times.
So last year I was struggling tosee God's goodness in my life
I'm going to try not to cry,sorry.
I naturally do that, buthopefully I won't tonight and I
began to worry, I doubted and Icomplained.
(09:12):
There are some of you in herethat probably heard a little bit
of it.
At that time I wondered if Godhad anything good for my future.
Did I know I was going toheaven?
Yes.
So I started reading the Biblerecap and I was in the Old
Testament and I kept noticingthat God had called his people
constantly to remember what hehad done and things that only he
(09:34):
could do, over and over again Imean David in the Psalms it was
like God, I know you can dothis, I don't see you doing this
, I only see bad.
But, god, I'm going to praiseyour name and then, over and
over, god, you did this.
Now, I don't see it.
I know you can, I will praiseyour name.
And I saw that over and overand I was like why?
Well, it kind of keeps going asyou go through Israel and you
(09:55):
see that God tells them to dothat, so that what, they won't
grumble, they won't walk awayfrom him, they won't leave him
for other gods and for manyother reasons, some of which I
was doing at the time, I didn'tleave him, but I did grumble.
So to keep my eyes on him andinstead of my circumstances, I
(10:16):
began to write down as manydifferent ways I saw God's
character in the Bible and then,as I kept going, god kind of
prompted me to go.
I need you to remember all thethings I've done in your life, I
need you to count them, I needyou to write them down one by
one.
So I went back and I started asfar back as I could remember
(10:37):
and these are just a few of thethings that I wrote down.
Before I was born, the doctortold my mom that I was not.
She was not pregnant.
At DNC have it all scraped out,that the infection should be
taken away.
And she was not pregnant.
And my dad was like you need togo have it done.
You need to do it, you need tolisten to the doctor.
My mom was like I think you'repregnant.
(11:05):
I think I'm pregnant.
Yes, she was.
I was born six months later, sothat was one.
My mom, even though she wasn'twalking with the Lord at the
time, named me Andrea Christian.
Andrea means godly woman,christian means Christ follower.
Then after that, I got saved ata really young age.
Then after that, I got saved ata really young age.
I know that is not possiblewith everybody.
Not everybody comes to faithearly but my life at 10 years
old took a huge change.
My dad was diagnosed withbipolar.
(11:27):
He almost passed away due tosome serious mental health and
God knew that I needed to be sostrong in my faith before I got
there.
So I would not turn away, andit was for my mom's help too.
I think the foundation of thepeople around me also pulled me
through, not just mentally butphysically.
(11:48):
God met my needs when my dadcould not, when my mom could not
have a job.
People provided a place to live, people provided food, people
provided a place to stay.
So it was not just me, it wasnot just God, it was God even
using the people around me.
God provided women mentors inmy life.
(12:09):
He took away some opportunitiesthat I thought would have led
me down a hill that would havetaken me into someplace very bad
.
I thought it was bad at thetime, but it was a good thing
that it happened.
God brought me a husband thatjumped through hoops for a dad,
that put all sorts ofprerequisites on marrying me,
(12:30):
and he did every single one ofthem.
I would say find a husband likethat, girls, if you can,
because that means they're goingto stick with you.
Let God.
I have six amazing children Iam blessed to love and care for.
He brought me to FBC Bernie in1998, and I'm still here.
This is also a part of myfamily.
(12:56):
He brought me through COVID andat home with my mom as she
passed away.
So I know COVID was a horribletime, but he allowed me to be in
her home when working fromthere in order to spend time
with her.
He has given me each one of youthat's in this room.
Your encouraging smiles onWednesdays are amazing.
This job has been amazing, andthese are all things that I
could not have provided formyself.
These are all things that Godhas put in my path.
(13:19):
So over the past year, godallowed me to use each one of
these things to remind myself ofhis character.
When I struggled because myfuture seemed unsure and I
wondered if God did have a goodplan for me, I began to tell
myself everything I knew he didfor me and what he had done in
the Bible, and then I wouldremind myself that, ultimately,
(13:40):
part that gift is still beingwith him in heaven.
I still have the best gift ofeternal life.
So my outlook would change tobe seeing everything God did
this year as a bonus gift andnot an expectation.
It wasn't easy and his plansweren't always what I thought
they would turn out to be, butthey were used for my family's
(14:02):
good and they were used to buildour character.
It was all about our lives,pointing us back to God and not
ourselves.
Now there's another thing thatkeeps us from sharing our
testimony, and that's sin.
And this is not one I wanted toput on the list, because who
wants to say, hey, god, thankyou for sending your son and
(14:23):
dying for that sin, forgiving it?
And now I'm going to walk back.
I mean, how many of us haveheard that verse about a dog
returning to vomit?
And that is what God says it is, and that's disgusting, but we
do it.
Our sin natures are reallystrong.
And the other thing is,sometimes the sin is something
as stupid as gossip, selfishnessor just pride.
(14:45):
Sometimes we don't even want toshare our testimony because of
pride.
I mean, that's what it was forme when I thought my testimony
was not good enough.
So we need to have our heartsready to constantly be asking
God to change our hearts, to beconstantly showing us where that
sin is in our lives and how toget it out.
(15:05):
So how do we counteract thesedeterrents?
I want to encourage you first.
I know there are some of you inthis room that probably have
not even joined this story.
You have not allowed God towrite you into his story.
You have not swapped yourpunishment for his inheritance.
(15:29):
And I want to tell you don'twait.
If you can do it when you'reyounger and you can really see
him in your life, don't wait.
It has brought me through thebiggest trials and it has held
me stronger, even when I wasstruggling.
And I know that that seemsstupid, that you would go, but,
(15:49):
god, I thought your life wouldbe so much better.
No, but you're not going to doit alone.
So don't wait, because guesswhat?
That little eight-year-old girl, her testimony that she thought
was so simple, it definitelychanged.
I'm now 48, and there's a lotmore that happened between eight
and 48.
(16:10):
So now I'm going to talk to you,who have joined the story and
are allowing God to write youinto his.
Are you too embarrassed aboutwhat people will think?
Why have you quit proclaiminghis name?
Do you think you have nothingto share?
I want to tell you you do.
(16:30):
It may not be as exciting assome movie, or it may not be
something important.
It could change someone's life.
That doesn't mean that you'regoing to walk up to somebody and
you're going to tell them hey,guess what?
I got saved on this day.
And God saved my soul and saycome, find me if you have any
questions.
That's not what it looks likeit might sometimes.
(16:51):
I'm not saying it won't, but ingeneral that's not how that
happens.
As you allow God to show you inresponse to what you go through
and you send to listen and hearother people's lives and their
stories, you will be able totalk to them, listen to them,
share with them, help them and,when they see that, they will
(17:13):
see Christ in you.
So are you loving the peoplearound you?
Are you being an example to theteachers, the family members,
the friends that maybe?
I know that seems silly becauseI had this conversation with
some middle schoolers recentlythat their teachers, even though
they're a lot older than themsome are not saved, so that
means their light might be theonly one that their teachers
(17:35):
will see.
If you don't know enough aboutscripture and how to encourage
yourself or to encourage others,get in and dig deep and start
preaching to yourself as well asto others.
I would tell you to keep diggingin and not be discouraged.
Ask God to give you theopportunities to share, because
(17:59):
he will, because listening tothem can take the focus off of
you and your disappointments andyour struggles and put them
somewhere else.
And I will tell you, this pastyear there were a couple of
people that were also strugglingand I would contact them and
the moment I would call them andsay, hey, how are you doing?
It made the light, the burdenthat was on my heart feel so
(18:20):
much lighter, even though noneof us were in a different
situation at that moment.
It just made us both feel somuch better to be like well, how
are you doing, I'm doing this,and it just.
We were like okay, we can nowtake another day.
If you're struggling with thesin, confess it and run back to
Christ.
He will restore it.
He has promised to do so.
Don't let Satan distract you,because one of the biggest
(18:47):
things that he can do is justlet you be neutral.
I don't know how many of youhave seen those characters in a
movie where you're like well,that character was pointless.
Well, guess what?
That's maybe the easiest thingfor Satan to do.
It's not to discourage you,it's not to make you do
something bad, it's just to makeyou just inefficient and do
nothing at all.
So, stay an essential characterin God's story by letting him
(19:10):
use you.
I want to say I'm going to leaveyou with this verse.
It's 2 Corinthians 4.15.
I want to say I'm going toleave you with this verse.
It's 2 Corinthians 4.15.
For it is all for your sake, sothat as grace extends to more
and more people, it may increasethanksgiving to the glory of
(19:32):
God.
We should be pointing peopleback to God.
So I pray that right now, today, you will go.
What is my story?
How has God written me into hisgreat, grand story?
And I know it may feel like alittle blip in the giant scheme
of things, but it's superimportant.
Think of all the people youcome in contact with in this
(19:53):
life.
So I'm going to leave you withthis.
I'm going to go ahead and prayand then we're going to be
dismissed to our groups.
But if you have not allowed Godto write you into his story,
please talk to someone, pleasehave a conversation, whether
it's a leader, whether it's me,if you want to wait and talk to
Garrett when he gets back, but Iwould not put that off.
(20:14):
Let's bow our heads.
Dear Lord, I just thank you.
I thank you for your salvation.
I thank you that you have givenus this gift that we do not owe
, that we do not deserve, butthat we need.
I thank you that you did it forus.
And even when we turn back fromwhat we shouldn't do and go
(20:36):
back to what we previously did,lord, you forgive us.
Lord, I pray that we would seeyour potential for what is out
there, for the friends that wesee, the family and the people
who need you, and, lord, that wewould proclaim, we would
proclaim your name and allow youto write our story.
All right, thanks, roderick.
Well, thank y'all for lettingme come up here and speak.
It's the first time I've donethis in a very, very, very long
time.
I don't know if that says thatI just haven't done this in a
while, or it just means I'm old,but I appreciate it, and this
time I will put on my glasses,because I didn't do that last
time at FCA and Ian made fun ofme afterwards.
(00:22):
So I want you to.
Okay, so this is a very personalstory for me what we're going
to discuss.
Working on me for the last fewyears, but it's something that
started a really long time ago.
So I want you to look at thisfirst or read this first.
If you have your Bibles withyou, turn to 1 Peter, 2, 9
(00:44):
through 10.
I want you to think about thisfirst or read this first.
If you have your Bibles withyou, turn to 1 Peter, 2, 9
through 10.
I want you to think about thisfirst.
It says you're a chosen race, aroyal priesthood, a holy nation.
Those things don't happen likein a blink of an eye or in the
snap of a finger.
That's something that takes areally long time to happen.
That's generations of peoplethat God has called to himself.
(01:05):
It's using and he's used otherpeople to also proclaim that
truth and draw more people in,and I think that's a huge,
amazing thing.
I mean, can you imagine seeinga genealogy chart of the
beginning of God, starting thatuntil now, and every Christ
child is on that list?
I mean that'd be amazing to see, and I know the Bible has a ton
(01:26):
in it, but that's just a dropof who all has joined the story
that God has started.
Then it says God calls you outof darkness, away from your sin,
asking you to come, leave thesin and become a member of his
family.
You were dead in sin.
You deserve death, and he senthis son to pay your debt instead
(01:47):
of punishing you.
I mean, can you imaginecommitting the worst sin?
Think about maybe the worst sinyou can think of.
I know you've probably some ofyou seen the criminal shows
where there's some mass murderor whatever.
He's put up on trial.
Somebody comes up and goes, hey,I forgive you on um try.
Somebody comes up and goes, hey, I forgive you, I'm going to
(02:08):
give my son to take your place.
You can put him to death.
I'm not only going to do that,but I'm also going to take you.
Take you home with me, I'mgoing to adopt you and I'm going
to give you all the inheritancethat I would have given him.
And the inheritance is somethingbeyond amazing, like just think
of I don't know what theinerrance nowadays would be
considered amazing, but it'sbeyond that because it's talking
about heaven.
It's eternal life with him.
I mean, think of that.
(02:31):
Someone does that.
I mean I can't even comprehendthat, other than what I know God
does for me.
But what I want to know isthere's another part of this.
It says.
Then it says we are chosen.
Then it says we are chosen todo something.
It says to proclaim theexcellence of him who called us
(02:53):
out of darkness and into themarvelous light.
I mean, I think if anybody didone of those things, or even
something even smaller than that, would we not be going around
shouting that to everybody weknow and proclaiming his
excellence?
I don't think happens a lot, orat least not as much as it
should be.
(03:15):
What are some things that youknow of that get proclaimed in
life?
I mean, I think there's likehey, we're going to college here
, I got in, or I got thisscholarship.
Or, as I'm going to explain.
I recently had a son get well,he got married recently, but
about a year ago he gotengagement, was proclaimed to
everybody.
There was a ring put on afinger that was shown to so many
people.
It was not hidden, it was rightthere.
(03:36):
There were details that weretalked about.
There was love that it wasexuding out of my son and his
future wife.
All of the families wereexcited and anytime you
mentioned, hey, I hear Will'sengaged.
Was there not like all thisstory and all these questions we
could answer?
And we were excited and we toldall the people.
There were pictures onInstagram and Facebook and you
know all the parties thathappened before that.
(03:57):
So I want you to take that andthen change that and go.
How is it that we havesomething as amazing as God's
story?
He's pulled us out of this.
Not only did he create theuniverse, but he then sent his
son to die for us and for somereason, we're not proclaiming
(04:20):
that in the same way.
So I'm going to tell you apersonal story.
When I was three, my parents, mydad, got saved in Germany.
My mom rededicated her life.
She thought she had been aChristian her whole life, but
she hadn't really been walkingwith the Lord.
Well, when I was three,apparently, their salvation was
so big and so strong and somemorable in my life.
My mom said that I sat out onthe porch of our house in
(04:42):
Germany and I would preach toall the neighbors and say you
need to love Jesus.
Jesus loves you so much, hedied for your sins.
Nobody was able to get bywithout hearing that.
So there I was at three, then ateight, in a service in San
Antonio, texas.
My dad was a pastor and Iremember sitting there and I
heard a testimony of someone andit resonated so much with me.
(05:03):
I knew my sin as aneight-year-old was so big and so
heavy and I felt so burdenedthat I knew I needed Jesus, not
because I loved him anymore, butbecause I needed him to pay for
my sins.
And you're thinking you're aneight-year-old, right?
What kind of big sins does aneight-year-old have?
And that's probably what Ieventually thought.
But right then I walked thataisle and I knew that it was
(05:26):
amazing and I cried and I smiledand it was tears of joy as I
got baptized and I told all myfriends at school, I told all my
friends at church.
They came to watch me getbaptized.
I probably carried on and tolda little while longer.
Right, I'm sure as aneight-year-old you're willing to
tell a few people, and Iremember, I think I even told my
teachers.
Well, at some point, beingraised in a Baptist church in
(05:51):
San Antonio and hearing all thetestimonies all the time that
were so convicting and powerful,I somehow tucked my story away
and decided I wasn't good enoughto share the gospel.
I decided that my story wasn'tbig enough.
I decided my story was notexciting enough and I decided
that, hey, you know what, maybeI didn't need to share it
(06:11):
anymore.
Okay, just like that engagement.
What would happen if, once theengagement happened, they told
nobody?
What if the ring came off thefinger?
What if, let's say, all thedetails maybe were pushed off,
maybe nobody was told they weregetting married?
Wouldn't you kind of doubt therelationship?
(06:34):
Would you doubt that it existed?
Would you doubt that maybe theyprobably shouldn't get married
If they're not willing to shareand exchange the information
that they have and how much theylove each other?
I would be concerned If I hadseen that with my son and his
future wife.
I would have probably saidsomething.
So here we are with ourtestimony and we sit on it and
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we put it in a drawer and decideit's not important enough to
talk about.
So I know that sounds sillyabout not wanting to share it,
but I did.
I didn't understand that mystory was the same story as
everyone else's story, same asyour story and anybody else in
this room.
Our stories are all the same.
We're dead in our sin, we aredestined for punishment, and yet
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God came, sent his son and hedied for us.
So our punishment, our story,all looks the same.
However, when God replaces that, it then changes.
Right?
That's where it changes.
It's still the same.
It may look different, thedetails might look a little
different mine than yours, maybeGod saved you from a sin that
(07:43):
had greater consequences at thetime, but our stories are the
same.
So, to remind me that we aresaved, we have the same amazing
story of salvation and God isusing our stories to weave his
big story and I pray thattonight that you'll kind of
think more about your story andwhether or not you're allowing
God to use you in his that he'screating.
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So there are other reasons whywe don't share our testimony as
well.
Sometimes it's because we'relike, hey, do we just share the
day we got saved?
No, we can also share that Godcontinues to mold and change us
as we submit to the power of theHoly Spirit that he gives us.
We may have allowed years oflife to pass us by not
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acknowledging that God has beenthere and seen us through
portions of our lives, kind oflike an ungrateful child.
When we ask for Christmas gifts, we get them, we open them and
we walk away.
God is there with us in ourdifficult times, in our
struggles, and sometimes we justforget to see it, acknowledge
(08:50):
it or even recognize it.
So that's one reason we forgetto share a testimony is because
we compare.
Second is sometimes we gothrough some really tough times.
So last year I was struggling tosee God's goodness in my life
I'm going to try not to cry,sorry.
I naturally do that, buthopefully I won't tonight and I
began to worry, I doubted and Icomplained.
(09:12):
There are some of you in herethat probably heard a little bit
of it.
At that time I wondered if Godhad anything good for my future.
Did I know I was going toheaven?
Yes.
So I started reading the Biblerecap and I was in the Old
Testament and I kept noticingthat God had called his people
constantly to remember what hehad done and things that only he
(09:34):
could do, over and over again Imean David in the Psalms it was
like God, I know you can dothis, I don't see you doing this
, I only see bad.
But, god, I'm going to praiseyour name and then, over and
over, god, you did this.
Now, I don't see it.
I know you can, I will praiseyour name.
And I saw that over and overand I was like why?
Well, it kind of keeps going asyou go through Israel and you
(09:55):
see that God tells them to dothat, so that what, they won't
grumble, they won't walk awayfrom him, they won't leave him
for other gods and for manyother reasons, some of which I
was doing at the time, I didn'tleave him, but I did grumble.
So to keep my eyes on him andinstead of my circumstances, I
(10:16):
began to write down as manydifferent ways I saw God's
character in the Bible and then,as I kept going, god kind of
prompted me to go.
I need you to remember all thethings I've done in your life, I
need you to count them, I needyou to write them down one by
one.
So I went back and I started asfar back as I could remember
(10:37):
and these are just a few of thethings that I wrote down.
Before I was born, the doctortold my mom that I was not.
She was not pregnant.
At DNC have it all scraped out,that the infection should be
taken away.
And she was not pregnant.
And my dad was like you need togo have it done.
You need to do it, you need tolisten to the doctor.
My mom was like I think you'repregnant.
(11:05):
I think I'm pregnant.
Yes, she was.
I was born six months later, sothat was one.
My mom, even though she wasn'twalking with the Lord at the
time, named me Andrea Christian.
Andrea means godly woman,christian means Christ follower.
Then after that, I got saved ata really young age.
Then after that, I got saved ata really young age.
I know that is not possiblewith everybody.
Not everybody comes to faithearly but my life at 10 years
old took a huge change.
My dad was diagnosed withbipolar.
(11:27):
He almost passed away due tosome serious mental health and
God knew that I needed to be sostrong in my faith before I got
there.
So I would not turn away, andit was for my mom's help too.
I think the foundation of thepeople around me also pulled me
through, not just mentally butphysically.
(11:48):
God met my needs when my dadcould not, when my mom could not
have a job.
People provided a place to live, people provided food, people
provided a place to stay.
So it was not just me, it wasnot just God, it was God even
using the people around me.
God provided women mentors inmy life.
(12:09):
He took away some opportunitiesthat I thought would have led
me down a hill that would havetaken me into someplace very bad
.
I thought it was bad at thetime, but it was a good thing
that it happened.
God brought me a husband thatjumped through hoops for a dad,
that put all sorts ofprerequisites on marrying me,
(12:30):
and he did every single one ofthem.
I would say find a husband likethat, girls, if you can,
because that means they're goingto stick with you.
Let God.
I have six amazing children Iam blessed to love and care for.
He brought me to FBC Bernie in1998, and I'm still here.
This is also a part of myfamily.
(12:56):
He brought me through COVID andat home with my mom as she
passed away.
So I know COVID was a horribletime, but he allowed me to be in
her home when working fromthere in order to spend time
with her.
He has given me each one of youthat's in this room.
Your encouraging smiles onWednesdays are amazing.
This job has been amazing, andthese are all things that I
could not have provided formyself.
These are all things that Godhas put in my path.
(13:19):
So over the past year, godallowed me to use each one of
these things to remind myself ofhis character.
When I struggled because myfuture seemed unsure and I
wondered if God did have a goodplan for me, I began to tell
myself everything I knew he didfor me and what he had done in
the Bible, and then I wouldremind myself that, ultimately,
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part that gift is still beingwith him in heaven.
I still have the best gift ofeternal life.
So my outlook would change tobe seeing everything God did
this year as a bonus gift andnot an expectation.
It wasn't easy and his plansweren't always what I thought
they would turn out to be, butthey were used for my family's
(14:02):
good and they were used to buildour character.
It was all about our lives,pointing us back to God and not
ourselves.
Now there's another thing thatkeeps us from sharing our
testimony, and that's sin.
And this is not one I wanted toput on the list, because who
wants to say, hey, god, thankyou for sending your son and
(14:23):
dying for that sin, forgiving it?
And now I'm going to walk back.
I mean, how many of us haveheard that verse about a dog
returning to vomit?
And that is what God says it is, and that's disgusting, but we
do it.
Our sin natures are reallystrong.
And the other thing is,sometimes the sin is something
as stupid as gossip, selfishnessor just pride.
(14:45):
Sometimes we don't even want toshare our testimony because of
pride.
I mean, that's what it was forme when I thought my testimony
was not good enough.
So we need to have our heartsready to constantly be asking
God to change our hearts, to beconstantly showing us where that
sin is in our lives and how toget it out.
(15:05):
So how do we counteract thesedeterrents?
I want to encourage you first.
I know there are some of you inthis room that probably have
not even joined this story.
You have not allowed God towrite you into his story.
You have not swapped yourpunishment for his inheritance.
(15:29):
And I want to tell you don'twait.
If you can do it when you'reyounger and you can really see
him in your life, don't wait.
It has brought me through thebiggest trials and it has held
me stronger, even when I wasstruggling.
And I know that that seemsstupid, that you would go, but,
(15:49):
god, I thought your life wouldbe so much better.
No, but you're not going to doit alone.
So don't wait, because guesswhat?
That little eight-year-old girl, her testimony that she thought
was so simple, it definitelychanged.
I'm now 48, and there's a lotmore that happened between eight
and 48.
(16:10):
So now I'm going to talk to you,who have joined the story and
are allowing God to write youinto his.
Are you too embarrassed aboutwhat people will think?
Why have you quit proclaiminghis name?
Do you think you have nothingto share?
I want to tell you you do.
(16:30):
It may not be as exciting assome movie, or it may not be
something important.
It could change someone's life.
That doesn't mean that you'regoing to walk up to somebody and
you're going to tell them hey,guess what?
I got saved on this day.
And God saved my soul and saycome, find me if you have any
questions.
That's not what it looks likeit might sometimes.
(16:51):
I'm not saying it won't, but ingeneral that's not how that
happens.
As you allow God to show you inresponse to what you go through
and you send to listen and hearother people's lives and their
stories, you will be able totalk to them, listen to them,
share with them, help them and,when they see that, they will
(17:13):
see Christ in you.
So are you loving the peoplearound you?
Are you being an example to theteachers, the family members,
the friends that maybe?
I know that seems silly becauseI had this conversation with
some middle schoolers recentlythat their teachers, even though
they're a lot older than themsome are not saved, so that
means their light might be theonly one that their teachers
(17:35):
will see.
If you don't know enough aboutscripture and how to encourage
yourself or to encourage others,get in and dig deep and start
preaching to yourself as well asto others.
I would tell you to keep diggingin and not be discouraged.
Ask God to give you theopportunities to share, because
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he will, because listening tothem can take the focus off of
you and your disappointments andyour struggles and put them
somewhere else.
And I will tell you, this pastyear there were a couple of
people that were also strugglingand I would contact them and
the moment I would call them andsay, hey, how are you doing?
It made the light, the burdenthat was on my heart feel so
(18:20):
much lighter, even though noneof us were in a different
situation at that moment.
It just made us both feel somuch better to be like well, how
are you doing, I'm doing this,and it just.
We were like okay, we can nowtake another day.
If you're struggling with thesin, confess it and run back to
Christ.
He will restore it.
He has promised to do so.
Don't let Satan distract you,because one of the biggest
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things that he can do is justlet you be neutral.
I don't know how many of youhave seen those characters in a
movie where you're like well,that character was pointless.
Well, guess what?
That's maybe the easiest thingfor Satan to do.
It's not to discourage you,it's not to make you do
something bad, it's just to makeyou just inefficient and do
nothing at all.
So, stay an essential characterin God's story by letting him
(19:10):
use you.
I want to say I'm going to leaveyou with this verse.
It's 2 Corinthians 4.15.
I want to say I'm going toleave you with this verse.
It's 2 Corinthians 4.15.
For it is all for your sake, sothat as grace extends to more
and more people, it may increasethanksgiving to the glory of
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God.
We should be pointing peopleback to God.
So I pray that right now, today, you will go.
What is my story?
How has God written me into hisgreat, grand story?
And I know it may feel like alittle blip in the giant scheme
of things, but it's superimportant.
Think of all the people youcome in contact with in this
(19:53):
life.
So I'm going to leave you withthis.
I'm going to go ahead and prayand then we're going to be
dismissed to our groups.
But if you have not allowed Godto write you into his story,
please talk to someone, pleasehave a conversation, whether
it's a leader, whether it's me,if you want to wait and talk to
Garrett when he gets back, but Iwould not put that off.
(20:14):
Let's bow our heads.
Dear Lord, I just thank you.
I thank you for your salvation.
I thank you that you have givenus this gift that we do not owe
, that we do not deserve, butthat we need.
I thank you that you did it forus.
And even when we turn back fromwhat we shouldn't do and go
(20:36):
back to what we previously did,lord, you forgive us.
Lord, I pray that we would seeyour potential for what is out
there, for the friends that wesee, the family and the people
who need you, and, lord, that wewould proclaim, we would
proclaim your name and allow youto write our story.
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