The Purpose of Christian Education "Claiming and living the promises of God can be dramatic and lead us to places and actions we never dreamed were possible for us. Claiming and living the promises of God can also mean accepting the ordinary lives that we live day by day. God claims us as God's own and promises to be with us. We respond by claiming what we know of those promises and by living them out as fully as we can at every moment of our lives" (Foundations for Teaching and Learning, page 44).

Stories transform lives. Stories come from the core of our being, reflecting the way we make decisions and form responses, judgments, and relationships. Storytelling is more than a rehearsal of the facts; it is the telling of the circumstance and feelings that surround our involvement in the story. This has the possibility of clarifying our own faith as we share the story again in different settings and in different times.

As in the Scriptures, we all come with our own unique stories. Nathanael was a skeptic and needed "space" to be able to raise doubts (John 1:43-51). Timothy grew in faith through the faith and nurture of his family (2 Timothy 1:3-7). Paul lost his sight in order to see God more clearly (Acts 9:1-19). The woman at the well with Jesus found a new way of relating to God and her neighbors (John 4:1-42). They all needed to be able to tell their story – to express their own faith, their own understanding of their experience with God in Christ. This kind of faith-sharing takes place best in small groups when people are able to place themselves within a biblical story or experience, or identify with a passage in the Psalms. Stories also have the possibility of transformation for us as we hear how others relied on or even questioned faith and God in the midst of a struggle. Transformation takes place when there is an intersection of stories: mine with yours, ours with God's.

This intersection is the center of our Christian community. While God has worked in and through individuals, it has always been in the context of family, tribe, house church, group, and community. Authentic faith-sharing requires a safe, trusting, nonjudgmental, hospitable atmosphere to have integrity. In a place where "love is genuine" (Romans 12:9-21), the faith-sharer can raise doubts and questions, for often it is in the sharing and dialogue that we find clarification and new insight. Our stories and the way in which they intersect God's story continue to form identity for individuals and for the community. Our own faith matures as we witness and share faith.

Shirley F. Clement is the recently retired Director of Evangelism Ministries, General Board of Discipleship, Nashville, TN.