Cardboard Testimonies

This past Easter Sunday I went to church, Bethany Baptist, with my family and got to see the best service (in my opinion) our church has ever had! Our pastor passed out these cardboard testimony response cards to everyone in church.. on the front it says "What I was before Christ" then on the back it says "What I am now in Christ". He asked us to write our own response, just a word or sentence that answered the question. But then he said some of us from church wanted to share their testimonies. First, our pastor held up his sign, then one or two other people at a time would walk to the front of the stage and hold up their signs, then flip it to the other side. So many people came out to hold up their signs, it was beautiful to see how willing people were to open up and what had happened to people in my church that I see all the time but don't know anything about. The fifth person to walk out onto the stage was a middle aged woman. She held up her sign- on the front (what I was before Christ) said "daughter committed suicide" then she flipped it over and it said "found the comfort and healing of Jesus Christ" (what I am now in Christ). I started balling my eyes out of course, but I realized everyone else in church was crying too. There were so many people- lonely, falsely taught, miscarriage, broken relationships, deaths, lost and confused. All of them healed and renewed by Christ. It was inspiring! The coolest thing is that this wasn't some epic scene in a movie...this is real, and right in front of us. This is what makes me have a passion for people, the stories they have to tell. Getting to know people and what's in their hearts.

I think in church it's important to have some services like this every once in awhile. When people can connect and relate with each other it brings the entire church much closer.