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    The Power of a Story: It Inspires, Surprises and Lifts Your Faith
    The Power of a Story: It Inspires, Surprises and Lifts Your Faith
    The Power of a Story: It Inspires, Surprises and Lifts Your Faith
    Ebook155 pages1 hour

    The Power of a Story: It Inspires, Surprises and Lifts Your Faith

    By Rev. James W. Moore

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    About this ebook

    In this book, popular author James W. Moore talks about the power of a story, such as those told by Jesus in the Bible. The author recalls, “I would be sitting there in the sanctuary of our church, doing what young boys do in church, drawing pictures on the back of the bulletin, working puzzles, looking constantly at Granny’s watch, wishing the seconds hand would move faster, daydreaming about sports, kicking my feet in the air impatiently, counting the organ pipes . . . And then, the preacher would start telling a story, and I was hooked. He had my full attention. I couldn’t wait to hear the story!” Jesus knew the importance of telling stories to convey a message or a Biblical truth and used this technique often when speaking or ministering to others throughout the Bible in the form of parables. Stories are a natural way to give detail and perspective while teaching an important point.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbingdon Press
    Release dateAug 5, 2014
    ISBN9781426795954
    The Power of a Story: It Inspires, Surprises and Lifts Your Faith
    Author

    Rev. James W. Moore

    James W. Moore (1938–2019) was an acclaimed pastor and ordained elder in The United Methodist Church. He led congregations in Jackson, TN; Shreveport, LA; and Houston, TX. The best-selling author of over 40 books, including Yes, Lord, I Have Sinned, But I Have Several Excellent Excuses, he also served as minister-in-residence at Highland Park United Methodist Church.

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      Book preview

      The Power of a Story - Rev. James W. Moore

      Cover.jpg

      Titlepage

      title%20page.jpeg

      Abingdon Press

      Nashville

      Copyright

      The Power of a Story

      Copyright 2014 © by Abingdon Press

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission can be addressed to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, P.O. Box 801, 201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37202-0801, or e-mailed to permissions@umpublishing.org.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Moore, James W. (James Wendell), 1938-

      The power of a story / JAMES W. MOORE.

      1 online resource.

      Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

      ISBN 978-1-4267-9595-4 (epub) — ISBN 978-1-4267-8774-4 (binding: soft back, pbk., trade : alk. paper) 1. Storytelling—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.

      BT83.78

      242—dc23

      2014014562

      All scripture quotations unless noted otherwise are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

      Scripture quotations marked NKJV™ are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

      Dedication

      For our grandchildren,

      Sarah, Paul, Dawson, Daniel, and Mason.

      We call them grand because they are!

      Contents

      Contents

      Introduction: The Power of a Story

      1. Finding God in Unexpected Places

      2. Are You Standing in God’s Way?

      3. The Sin of Presumptuous Religion

      4. Little Things Mean a Lot

      5. The Power of Kindness

      6. Have You Ever Been Reduced to a Shameful Silence?

      7. The Amazing Serenity of Jesus

      8. Is There Any Hope?

      9. Spiritual Maturity

      10. Three Stages of Life

      11. Magnanimity—The Essential Spirit of the Christian

      12. The Best Qualities in Life Are Reflections of God

      13. The Healing Power of the Church

      14. Celebrating the Joy of the Journey

      15. The Dangers of the Blame Game

      16. Five Different Ways to Learn the Truth

      17. Agents of Forgiveness

      18. Vicarious Lessons from the Foot of the Cross

      19. The Calling

      20. Be Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak, and Slow to Anger

      21. Celebrating Your Own Uniqueness and the Uniqueness of Others

      22. The Ahs and Blahs of Life

      23. Travel Light

      24. The Power of Love

      25. God Is with Us . . . Always

      26. We Are God’s Family

      27. We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us

      28. Use It or Lose It

      29. Why Do We Wait for Permission?

      30. Not Trying Is Worse Than Trying and Failing

      31. Success, Failure: How Do You Tell the Difference?

      32. Turning Problems into Opportunities

      33. Clowns and Prophets

      34. The Battle Within

      35. Jesus Gives God a Face

      36. What Is the Subtle Difference?

      37. Dealing with Disappointment Creatively

      38. Three Breakthroughs That Can Change Your Life

      39. Are You Eager to Be Apathetic?

      40. Leaving the World a Better Place Than You Found It

      41. The Christmas Gifts That Always Fit

      Discussion Guide

      IntroductionL The Power of a Story

      Introduction: The Power of a Story

      Ifirst noticed it as a little boy sitting in church beside my grandmother with my feet dangling off the front of the pew: I loved a good story!

      I would be sitting there in the sanctuary of our church doing what young boys do in church—drawing pictures on the back of the bulletin, working puzzles, looking constantly at Granny’s watch wishing the second hand would move faster, daydreaming about sports, kicking my feet in the air impatiently, counting the organ pipes—and then, the minister would start telling a story and I was hooked! The preacher had my full attention. I couldn’t wait to hear the story!

      I especially liked stories that made a good point, stories that challenged you to think, stories that taught a key lesson about life, stories that prompted you to laugh, stories that had a surprise ending, stories that inspired you to do better and be better, stories that underscored and clarified the amazing truths of the Christian faith.

      And, would you believe it? Even though many years have passed since those golden days at St. Mark’s Church in Memphis, Tennessee, I haven’t changed at all with regard to my love for stories. I still love good stories—stories that teach, stories that preach, stories that touch your heart and stretch your mind.

      For that reason, I have always included lots of stories in my sermons and in my books. I think it is one of the very best ways to reach people with the good news of the gospel.

      Look at the Bible! It is filled with incredible stories, stories that have been treasured by people all over the globe for thousands of years, stories that have taught us life’s most valuable lessons.

      And look at Jesus! He loved stories and so often used them to convey his message and to capture the hearts of his listeners. His parables are, without question, some of the greatest stories ever told. And they are timeless, as relevant today as on the day he told them.

      So, with all of that in mind, that’s what this book is all about. Here you will find a variety of stories that will highlight important and valuable lessons about faith, hope, and love, but even more (hopefully and prayerfully) they will move us to a deeper love for God and a deeper love for other people.

      Do you remember Jesus’s response when he was asked what the greatest commandment is? He said it is to love God and love your neighbor. Then when the questioner pressed the issue by asking, Yes, but who is my neighbor? what did Jesus do? He told one of the best stories of all, the parable of the good Samaritan. In doing that, once again, he showed us dramatically, The Power of a Story!

      Finding God in Unexpected Places

      1

      Finding God in Unexpected Places

      Have you ever met God in an unexpected place? Some of the most memorable moments in the scriptures are those stories of people running into God in surprising, unexpected places.

      Moses, in exile in the wilderness, experienced God in a burning bush.

      Jacob, in the most fearful moment of his life—wrestling with his soul—found God there.

      Job, grappling with tragedy, sorrow, heartache, and physical pain, found God there.

      Paul, on the Damascus Road in the midst of a vigilante hunt to find and destroy Christians, encountered God there.

      Zacchaeus, while perched up in a sycamore tree, the picture of loneliness and rejection, met God there.

      Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found him in a fiery furnace.

      Daniel found him in a lion’s den.

      And in the Gospels, look where people find him: with shepherds in a field, with fishermen by the sea, in sickness, in hunger, in sadness, in failure, in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on a hill faraway called Golgotha.

      A few years ago, some close friends of ours in Tennessee suddenly and tragically lost their youngest daughter.

      Her name was Ellen. She was sitting in the den of their home one Sunday evening, laughing and talking with her mother. Suddenly, with no warning, her leg went numb and then her arm. Then she fell back paralyzed and unconscious. So quickly it had happened.

      She was rushed to the hospital where brain surgery was performed. The operation lasted all night. She died the next morning—sixteen years old!

      When I received the heart-wrenching news of her death, I called to express my love, to try to minister to these dear friends. Instead, they ministered to me. Ellen’s mother said, God is giving us strength we didn’t know we could have. He is seeing us through this. He keeps reminding us that we got to have Ellen for sixteen years and that she packed more life and love into sixteen years than most people do in a lifetime. We are all right. Don’t worry about us because God is with us as never before!

      God is with us as never before, she said. They had found God many, many times before in expected places—in church, in the scriptures, in prayer, at the altar, in joys and blessings and good times—but now he was there with them as never before in the unexpected place of tragedy and sorrow.

      The Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Rome, put it beautifully as he said, "If God is for us, who is against us? . . . Who will separate

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