Testimony Sunday

Why a Testimony Sunday?
Why give a Gathering over to hearing what people have to say?

Scripture is rich in God’s people sharing testimony of what God has done and what God is doing in the lives of His people.

Testimony isn’t just about something that happened back in the day, testimony is also about what God is doing in our lives today.

Psalm 66 is rich in testimony and exhortation to God’s people to testify…
It begins with praise and worship vv1-4
For the director of music. A song. A psalm. Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name."

Then in v5 the exhortation to testify begins…
Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!
Followed by amazing testimony of the Exodus in v6…
He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot-- come, let us rejoice in him.

After a bit more testimony and praise, things take a bit of a turn in verses 11-12…
You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

We can all identify with how unpleasant and downright hard life can be at times, and the Psalmist acknowledges this.

But despite how bad things got, prison, burdens on our backs and people riding over our heads, in v16 the Psalmist again turns to praising God, sharing testimony and exhorting God’s people to testify to His awesomeness.
Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.

Testimony Sunday is all about God, what He has done and is doing, and giving the glory back to Him!

As Christians, we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:37), we are victorious over the evil one.
How are we victors?

Revelation 12:11 tells us that
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony

Who triumphed?
They = God’s people. That’s us, if we have confessed our sin (1 Jn 1:9), declared with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believed in our hearts that Christ rose from the dead (Rom 10:9)
Triumphed over him- him = Devil
How?
By the blood of the Lamb – that’s Jesus giving up his life to die on the cross
And by the word of their testimony – that’s what God is doing in our lives.

The blood is Jesus, our testimonies are about Jesus.
Testimony Sunday is all about Jesus!