Reference

Revelations 12:11
Your Story Matters

Pastor Shannon Watterson finishes "Who Is Your One?" Series by sharing our great tool for Evangelism... YOUR TESTIMONY

As a believer in Christ, you share in HIS victory over sin and death.

But our shared victory is not about our own strength but about the finished work of Christ. Our testimonies are like candles lit by His sacrifice, and it’s in that light we overcome.
Jesus has already won the ultimate battle through the cross. The punishment He took on was beyond our comprehension. If we think about the God who created the sun with just a word—a sun so powerful we can barely fathom it—then the punishment Jesus took on for us is equally unimaginable. As Isaiah 53:5 says, ‘He was pierced for our transgressions… and by His wounds we are healed.’
If that’s the depth of the love and the plan that God had for us, then how much more can we trust that He’s placed us here for a reason?
He loves us that much and has written us into His story right now to reach our generation. And that’s where your story matters because your testimony is part of how God’s victory is shared.

God redeems your story, He doesn't rewrite it.

We all have a testimony. Sometimes though, we discount our own. We can hear what God has done in other people’s life and we think that our story isn’t as powerful. Or sometimes we think our story is not good because we’ve just messed up so many times.

We say things like, “I don’t have a dramatic testimony.” Or, “I’ve made too many mistakes.”
But the truth is: God isn’t looking for perfect stories…He’s looking for redeemed ones.
What does it mean to be redeemed?
To be redeemed means to be bought back, rescued, or restored by God. It’s the language of freedom and exchange.
In the Bible, redemption always involves a price being paid to set someone free from bondage or debt.

In the ancient world, when someone was enslaved or in debt, a redeemer could pay the price to buy their freedom. That’s the image Scripture uses to describe what Jesus did for us.

Ephesians 1: 7

Jesus paid the price for our sin with His own life. We were enslaved to sin, but He set us free.

To be redeemed means:
  • Your past no longer defines you.
  • The debt of your sin is canceled.
  • You now belong to God, not your mistakes.
It’s like God looked at your story, all the failures, shame, and regret, and said, “I’ll take that. I’ll pay for that. I’ll make it new.”

But redemption doesn’t mean your story gets erased; it means it gets rewritten with a new ending.

2 Corinithians 5: 17

That’s what makes a redeemed story powerful. It’s not that it’s spotless—it’s that it’s transformed. It testifies, “I was broken, but now I’m whole. I was lost, but now I’m found. I was guilty, but now I’m free.”

Look at the Apostle Paul. Before he met Jesus, his story was filled with violence, religion, and pride. He persecuted Christians. He held coats while others threw stones. But when he encountered Jesus, everything changed.

Acts 9: 15

Paul’s past didn’t disqualify him—it became his platform.

Every scar, every mistake, every failure that’s been surrendered to Jesus becomes part of your testimony. The enemy wants you to hide your story because he knows it’s a weapon that exposes his lies.
But the powerful thing about your testimony is that God doesn’t erase your story; He redeems it for His glory.

Application: Don’t wait until you feel “ready” to tell your story. God’s already writing it through your obedience today.

Someone needs to hear what you’ve survived.

YOUR STORY CONNECTS PEOPLE TO GOD’S GRACE

Notice it doesn’t say by the preacher’s sermon or by the worship music on sunday morning. It says their testimony. In other words, your story matters because it connects someone else to the same grace that saved you.

Psalm 107: 2

Your testimony is evidence that grace works.

  • When someone who battled addiction says, “God set me free,” it stirs faith in others still fighting.
  • When a couple says, “Our marriage was on the brink, but God restored us,” it gives hope to the brokenhearted.
  • When someone says, “I thought God was done with me,” and yet here they stand in worship—it proves His mercy never runs out.
  • When you admit that you tried to live “the perfect” life and even that fell short, you show the need for Christ’s intervention.
Our mission is to reach people with the truth, love them, teach them, and get them to do the same for others. And part of “teaching them” is testifying to the truth of what God has done in you.

Application: Your testimony bridges the gap between someone’s unbelief and God’s power. Every time you tell it, you remind hell that the blood of Jesus still wins.

YOUR STORY GIVES HOPE TO THE HURTING

When Jesus changes your life, He doesn’t just set you free…He sends you out. And one of the clearest examples of this is the man in Mark 5, the man possessed by a legion of demons.

He went FROM BONDAGE TO BOLDNESS
This man lived among tombs, isolated and tormented. No one could help him. Chains couldn’t hold him. People avoided him. He was the definition of hopeless.

But then Jesus showed up.

Mark 5: 15

The same man everyone feared became a living, breathing testimony of what happens when grace steps into brokenness. Jesus healed the man.

This healed man wanted to follow Jesus by going with Him, but Jesus said something surprising:

Mark 5: 19

This teaches us something important. Your story IS YOUR mission field.

Mark 5: 20

The Decapolis was a region of ten cities. One testimony rippled across an entire region.

This man didn’t need a pulpit; he had a past. He didn’t need credentials; he had an encounter.
That’s what your story does — it carries the hope of Jesus into places pastors may never reach.
Someone you know is sitting in their own “tomb”. They are isolated, ashamed, tormented by regret. They need proof that God still saves, still heals, still restores. And guess what? That proof is you!

When you share your story, you’re not reliving your past; you’re revealing God’s mercy. The very area where you were once bound becomes the area God uses to bring freedom to others.

Your story isn’t just about what God did for you…it’s about what God wants to do through you.

YOUR STORY IS STILL BEING WRITTEN

Sometimes we think our story ends when the crisis ends. But God’s still writing.

Phillipians 1: 6

You may not be where you want to be, but you’re not where you used to be. And that progress—step by step, grace by grace—is still your testimony.

It’s time to give up the worldly passions and turn to a Holy Savior who is calling you to live fully surrendered to Him.

God can use what we surrender..even if we don’t fully see the value. To us, our lives can seem like broken pieces, but God is using us to tell His story to someone else.

Think of a stained glass window. Up close, it’s just broken pieces. But when light shines through, it becomes beautiful. That’s what God does with our stories, He takes the broken pieces and makes something beautiful that shines His light through our lives.

I want to encourage you today:
Your story isn’t random. It’s redemptive. It’s not about your past, it’s about His power. It’s not about where you’ve been, it’s about what He’s done.
Someone needs to hear your story this week. Someone’s faith depends on your courage to speak.
We should say like the Psalmist:
Psalm 40:2–3 
For Believers: Ask the Holy Spirit for boldness to share your testimony this week. Write it down. Practice telling it. Pray over it. Ask God for the right moment to share it with your “one.”

For Guests or Seekers: Maybe you don’t have that story yet because you haven’t met Jesus personally. Today can be the day your story changes. Jesus is ready to rewrite your ending with mercy, grace, and new life