Winning Ways -- Hillcrest Baptist Church

Faith Stories
by Tom Goodman
May 21, 2008

Thank you so much for the fifth anniversary celebration last Sunday! The love offering, Ken Keller's gracious comments, the presentation of the Texas flag flown over the capitol building, and the afternoon reception -- what an honor! As we continue to grow together and serve Christ together in our Austin mission field, I think of Paul's words in Romans 1:12 (NCV). "I want us to help each other with the faith that we have," he wrote. "Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you."

And that leads me to a request. I want your "faith stories," because "your faith will help me, and my faith will help you"!

We have started a project to film the faith stories of our congregation. You saw one of these stories during our Mother's Day service two weeks ago. During the sermon I introduced a video clip of Susan Adkins talking about raising her son as a single mom after her pastor-husband's infidelity broke up their marriage. We plan to use these recorded faith stories in a variety of settings: You'll see them as sermon illustrations or as thought-provoking introductions to songs or as an introduction to our church family on the new website in development.

What is a faith story? It is an account of God's activity in your life. It could be your conversion story: How did God lead you put your trust in him? It could be a story of how God helped you in a crisis. It could be an account of how God taught you an important lesson about generosity or forgiveness or parenthood. It could be a report of how God helped you recover from an addiction or failure. Has God seen you through a time of grief or job loss? How did God bring you and your marriage partner together? How has God restored your marriage or helped you through a miscarriage? Maybe you've led someone to Christ, and the two of you could share that story together.

Write me about your own faith stories, but write me about others in the congregation that you feel would have a great faith story to share! We will help you shape your story into a form for presentation, and then we will schedule a time to record your story in our church's TV studio.

God wants to use your story as a "power tool" to reach others for him and to encourage the faith of believers. I look forward to hearing from you!

--Tom

At my weblog, "Get Anchored," every Sunday I post a new "Song of the Week" (This week, Baz Luhrmann's "The Sunscreen Song"). Also, every Tuesday I post some entertaining and informative "Links to Your World." This week, I've also posted some trailers from a few popular summertime movies.

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Winning Ways - from Hillcrest Baptist Church, Austin, Texas	Contact Tom Goodman, Pastor
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Faith Stories by Tom Goodman May 21, 2008 Thank you so much for the fifth anniversary celebration last Sunday! The love offering, Ken Keller's gracious comments, the presentation of the Texas flag flown over the capitol building, and the afternoon reception -- what an honor! As we continue to grow together and serve Christ together in our Austin mission field, I think of Paul's words in Romans 1:12 (NCV). "I want us to help each other with the faith that we have," he wrote. "Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you." And that leads me to a request. I want your "faith stories," because "your faith will help me, and my faith will help you"! We have started a project to film the faith stories of our congregation. You saw one of these stories during our Mother's Day service two weeks ago. During the sermon I introduced a video clip of Susan Adkins talking about raising her son as a single mom after her pastor-husband's infidelity broke up their marriage. We plan to use these recorded faith stories in a variety of settings: You'll see them as sermon illustrations or as thought-provoking introductions to songs or as an introduction to our church family on the new website in development. What is a faith story? It is an account of God's activity in your life. It could be your conversion story: How did God lead you put your trust in him? It could be a story of how God helped you in a crisis. It could be an account of how God taught you an important lesson about generosity or forgiveness or parenthood. It could be a report of how God helped you recover from an addiction or failure. Has God seen you through a time of grief or job loss? How did God bring you and your marriage partner together? How has God restored your marriage or helped you through a miscarriage? Maybe you've led someone to Christ, and the two of you could share that story together. Write me about your own faith stories, but write me about others in the congregation that you feel would have a great faith story to share! We will help you shape your story into a form for presentation, and then we will schedule a time to record your story in our church's TV studio. God wants to use your story as a "power tool" to reach others for him and to encourage the faith of believers. I look forward to hearing from you! --Tom At my weblog, "Get Anchored," every Sunday I post a new "Song of the Week" (This week, Baz Luhrmann's "The Sunscreen Song"). Also, every Tuesday I post some entertaining and informative "Links to Your World." This week, I've also posted some trailers from a few popular summertime movies. Do you know friends who would appreciate Winning Ways? Just forward this e-mail to them! Have you subscribed to Winning Ways? You can subscribe by clicking here and following the instructions. Your e-mail address will not be sold or given away to anyone, and you can automatically change your subscription or drop it by following the easy steps provided with each e-mail. FRESH NEWS AT HILLCREST UPDATED WEEKLY: www.HillcrestAustin.org LISTEN TO RECENT SERMONS: Click here MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS TO OUR EMAIL NEWSLETTERS: Click here. If you do not have access to the web, please send a note to newsmaster@hbcaustin.org to tell us of any changes you would like to make.