Partnering with Christ Sampl

What is your story?

It is awesome to meet new people. When we sit together, we try to absorb as much as possible about what defines this person we are starting to get acquainted with. Questions fly from one side of the table to the other, and mental notes are made.

If you were asked, “What is your story?” what would you say?

The Apostle Paul travels with Silas around Asia Minor, spreading the gospel when he gets to a city called Philippi, a Roman colony. He meets three individuals who gladly received the good news of salvation and starts a long friendship with him.

Ten years later, Paul wrote them a letter. And from three people, they had already grown into a full church.

What are their stories?

The first person was Lydia, a merchant of an expensive kind of cloth. She was a wealthy woman. She was praying with other women in a public place when Paul came along and shared the gospel with them. She believed with her family and asked Paul to stay at her home.

Another person was a slave girl. In contrast with Lydia, she must have been at the bottom of society. She was alone, helpless, and possessed by a spirit of divination; her masters profited greatly from her. When Paul cast out the demon that had possessed her, she became completely free.

The third was a jailer who heard the gospel in prison, where Paul and Silas were kept for setting the slave girl free. An earthquake came when Paul and Silas were singing in prison. All the doors popped open. The jailer was about to take his own life, thinking the prisoners had escaped, but Paul and Silas stopped him. He was so impressed he invited them to his home, and he and his whole family decided to follow Jesus.

What is your story?

Maybe it is not that dramatic, but nonetheless, one day, God came and touched you. Like the stories of Lydia, the slave girl, and the jailer, your story is worth sharing, too. Share it with others.

Lord, You came into my life. By grace, You gave me a new beginning. You changed everything, and you changed me. This day I pray from the bottom of my heart that You would use me to reach others who need You as badly as I did when I first met You. Thank You for your peace and grace.