Stories for Lonely People

There are usually various reasons for loneliness. We therefore recommend a combination of stories from Block A and Blick

A) Think about and observe why people are lonely, why is the person you are talking to lonely?

1. Loneliness due to social behavior

They are lonely because of their social behavior, such as Zacchaeus. Tell the story of Jesus and the tax collector Luke 19:1-10, lid: Jesus wants to come to you today and be your guest.

Ananias and Sapphira Acts 4, 32-35;5,1-1 Cover: Ananias and Sapphira destroyed the community with selfish motives.

2. Loneliness due to psychological problems or demonic obsession

The liberated Mark 5:1-20

Lid: You are important to Jesus. He wants to set you free.

3. Loneliness due to illness:

Jesus heals ten lepers Luke 17:11-18

Peter and the paralytic Acts 3:1-19; 4:1-4

The sick man at the pool John 5:1-9 Key verse: I have no one. Lid: Jesus invites you

4. Loneliness due to social poverty

The rich man and the poor man Luke 16:19-31

Lid: The best is yet to come and God has the last word, not us humans. Even all the wealth won't help.

5. Loneliness in prison.

The release of Peter from prison Acts 12:1-19. Cover: The church prays for the lonely.

6. Loneliness, because they are victims of human trafficking and crime

Abraham, Sarah and Hagar Gen 16:1-16 and Hagar and Ishmael must leave Gen 21:1-21

Joseph-Genesis 37-50, this story has already appealed to many people

7. Loneliness because of their gender or social position

Abraham, Sarah and Hagar Gen 16:1-16 and Hagar and Ishmael must leave Gen 21:1-21

Anyone using this story with Muslims should first read the section on Hagar in Islam in the article Hagar on Wikipedia. Many Muslims are familiar with the Islamic version of the Hagar story.

Ruth

8. Loneliness because of being a refugee

Ruth

Idea: Jacob on the run

9. Loneliness in the service of God

Elijah and God's care 1 Kings 17

Elijah on Mount Carmel 1 Kings 18

Elijah on the mountain of God 1 Kings 19:1-19

Idea: Jeremiah: The book of the prophet Jeremiah offers many possibilities

10. Loneliness because the relationship with God is not right.

The story of the prodigal sons Luke 15:11-32

Cover: The younger son ran away from God the Father. The older son was always with God the Father, but he had no relationship with the father.

1. B) We invite lonely people to church.

The story of the Great Banquet Luke 14:15-24

The Spirit of God Acts 2:1-47 Emphasis on what we have in common

Antioch Acts 11:19-30+12:24-13:4a

In future blog posts, I will also present a story set from time to time. You can find all the material with formulated stories in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles" under https://www.fivefingerfood.org/en_us/download/. As my handbook continues to grow, I can only give the current page, page 169, but this will change. Otherwise, check the table of contents under "122. Stories for lonely people " The photo was taken from https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.

Stories of how God meets women

A personal highlight during my training courses is creating a story set. A story set consists of 4-10 stories, which are either told one after the other or build on each other visit after visit. A group of women once compiled the following stories with my methodical support. I later added various other things and added a panorama/summary.

Abraham, Sarah and Hagar Gen 16:1-16

Hagar and Ishmael must leave Gen 21:1-21

Ruth

Hannah's desire to have children 1 Samuel 1+2,18-21

David and Bathsheba 2 Samuel 11:1-27

David and Nathan 2 Samuel 12:1-25, the two stories belong together

Job's wife

A song of praise for the energetic woman Proverbs 31:10-31

Mary and Martha and the resurrection of Lazarus Luke 10:38-42; John 10, you can also focus only on the first story, emphasis on Martha is not focused.

The woman at the well John 4:5-19:25-30:42

The woman who anointed Jesus Luke 7:36-50

Miracle for a woman and a daughter Luke 8:40-53, you can also leave out the part about the raising of the daughter

The unshakeable faith of a foreign woman Matthew 15:21-28

Women as witnesses of Jesus' death and resurrection Luke 23:26-56, Mark 16:1-7, Luke 24:36-47

Priscilla

Panorama of how women encounter God

Ideas:

Isaac & Rebecca's relationships influencing Esau & Jacob Genesis 25:19-34; 27; 28

Rachel & Leah's struggle for the love of a man Genesis 29; 30:1-24;

Jacob's preferential treatment of his children Genesis 38

In future blog posts, I will also present a story set from time to time. You can find all the material with formulated stories in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles" under https://www.fivefingerfood.org/en_us/download/. As my handbook continues to grow, I can only give the current page, page 233, but this will change. Otherwise, check the table of contents under "Marriage and Family Focus: How God meets women" The photo was taken by https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.

Panorama of how women encounter God

In the beginning, God created man and woman in his image and likeness. They had a perfect personal relationship with God until they disobeyed God, the relationship broke down and disobedience and sin entered the world. Despite our imperfect and sinful lives, God wants to restore this relationship with us. He desires a personal relationship with you and wants to meet you in every phase of your life. He sees you and loves you. We see this so often in Scripture, where true stories show God's true love for us.

Let me give you a few examples. Hagar, a maidservant of Sarah and Abraham, gave birth to Abraham when Sarah was unable to have a child. That is why she was sent to a foreign land, and it was very difficult for her. God heard her cries and saw her pain and blessed her and her child.

We also see in the story of Hannah how she wept year after year and begged God to bless her with a son because she had no children. Although she and her husband were very religious, they remained childless. One day, Hannah promised God in prayer that she would give him a son if he gave her one. God answered her prayer and blessed her with a son.

Then God sent Jesus as our Savior to show us the true way to God. He was born of the Virgin Mary. God sent angels to tell Mary and her fiancé Joseph who Jesus was. Although she was afraid, she trusted that God would take care of her. After Jesus' birth, many people came to see him, but the king at the time wanted to kill him, but God protected Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus.

Jesus came and performed many miracles and forgave sins to point us to God. There was a woman with a hemorrhage whom no doctor had been able to help for 12 years. But when she heard that Jesus was in town, she pushed her way through the crowd, touched the hem of his garment and was instantly healed.

In another story, a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery was brought before Jesus. The religious leaders were determined to condemn the woman and stone her to death. Although according to the law both the man and the woman were to be condemned, only the woman was brought to be stoned. Jesus said to the group: "Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone. None of them could throw the first stone, so each of them went, starting with the oldest. Jesus said to the woman, "None of your accusers has remained, and I do not condemn you; go in peace and sin no more."

In another situation, when Jesus was in the house of a religious leader and everyone felt uncomfortable, a sinful woman came to Jesus. The woman had a bottle of expensive perfume with her and poured it on Jesus because it was traditional to anoint and honor him with it. The woman wept at Jesus' feet because she had so much sin in her life and only Jesus could forgive her. The crowd was amazed at her behavior, but Jesus said to her: "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you.

I like these true stories because Jesus came to give the unseen the feeling of being seen and the unheard the feeling of being heard. He came to heal us physically, emotionally and spiritually by taking away the burdens and sins that separate us from God. He is the Savior who had to die for our sins, rose from the dead and can establish a personal relationship with God in his name. He invites us.

Story set for Muslims

Again and again I am asked how to share the "Good News" with Muslims using a simple set. This is a suggestion as a starting point. Please remember that you can always adapt such a set to suit the person you are talking to or the target group. If you have half an hour or a whole hour, for example, you can tell them all one after the other. Just as often, however, I only tell one or two stories in several different conversations. You will find all of the following stories ready to download in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles". As the numbering changes over time, please go to the table of contents and search for "Story set for Muslims", at the moment it is no. 106
A conversation starts by building a relationship, you get to know each other briefly, talk about Islam and fasting. Then I ask the question: "Can I tell you an interesting story about fasting from the Prophet Isa?" I tell the story in simple German: Two men praying Luke 18:9-14. Many people will know the story under "The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple". Depending on the situation, I use the following as a cover or personal confession: "So I also believe that Jesus answers my prayers for forgiveness of my guilt. What do you think about that?" Or: "I am glad that Jesus sees my heart! How do you see that?"
If there is plenty of time, I will use the following story as the next one "The first disobedience against God Genesis 3:1-24". I emphasize afterwards that because of a single disobedience, the personal relationship with God has been destroyed to this day, even for us humans today. How can I manage to become righteous before God with good deeds?
Then I tell Abraham Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6. Lid: I am happy that I have a personal relationship with God, that I talk to him like with a family member. What does that look like in your life? Do you also have such a personal relationship?
Next story: God puts Abraham to the test Genesis 22:1-19. "Who provided the sacrificial lamb?" Muslims almost always answer that the sacrifice was given by God. This is then the template for the next story.
The deliverance of Abraham's descendants by Moses Exodus 12:1-33, Deuteronomy 18:15
Again and again I come across postmodern Muslims who say that all religions lead to God. That's why I have the following lid: only those who were in the house and under the protection of the blood were spared from judgment. It was no use saying, "I am an Egyptian who says all religions lead to God." "Remember, God makes the rules not you. What do you think about that?"
Now comes the Message of Hope Isaiah 52:13-53:12. A very brief summary of this story is recommended here. Again the question: What do you think about it?
As the last or penultimate story I use Jesus' baptism Luke 3:1-3, 10-22 Matthew 3:7-9, 13-15, John 1:29. I end the story with the cover: "I believe that Jesus is the sacrificial lamb of God who died and rose again as a sacrificial lamb for my disobedience, just as our common prophet Jachia (Arabic name for John the Baptist) said. What do you think about this?" You have to realize that this can come across as a serious provocation. Here you can see who is a seeker and who is not.
I use as a finish: The story of the prodigal sons Luke 15:11-32
Lid: "I believe that God welcomes us like a father welcomes his son. What do you think about this story?" Due to time constraints, the second part of the story about the second son can be omitted.
I always use stories to filter out who is really interested in spiritual conversation. "Who is seeking?" Anyone who has listened so far may find it worthwhile to spend a lot of time with more stories.
All stories are formulated in my manual and come with lots of tips. Especially for a storyteller with not so much experience, it can be worth learning and retelling a story every week.
I will also be introducing more story sets in my next blog posts, so it's worth coming back to the blog. A warm invitation to my Training in German and English.

Finally, a helpful table with Arabic names that I like to use in my stories:

Arabic Bible part names

When talking to Muslims, it is recommended that the story is concluded with the sentence: This story is really true and it is written in the Taurat/Zabur or Indshil.

If you want to know which biblical stories appear in the Koran and how, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_narratives_in_the_Quran

Arabic terminology

When talking to Muslims, it can be very helpful to use the Arabic names of biblical characters. For example, John the Baptist is called Yahya in Arabic. Yahya is important to many Muslims, but they do not know John the Baptist. The table also lists other important names that do not appear here.

The church and people with disabilities

During my training sessions, the participants always work on a story set for their particular context. These story sets are always a personal highlight for me, as I am often very richly rewarded and discover many new treasures in God's Word. A story set consists of 4-10 stories, which are either told one after the other or build on each other visit after visit. What does this look like in practice? Physiotherapists working somewhere in Asia took part in a training course. Disabled children or adults are considered a disgrace and are often hidden away. As a result, they do not receive the support they actually need. These physiotherapists travel to the villages and visit the families. Depending on the disability, they perform exercises or treatments and teach the parents how to repeat them. Afterwards, they sit together for a cup of tea or usually for a meal. During each visit, they tell one of the stories from the following set:

Creation of the world Gen 1-2 Possible conclusion: All people are created in the image of God, including people with disabilities.

The first disobedience against God Genesis 3:1-24 Focus: Through the disobedience of man, suffering also came into the world.

David and Mephibosheth 2 Samuel 9:1-13 Focus: King David has given all the land back to a severely disabled man and Mefi-Bosheth is a daily guest at the royal table.

Jesus heals a man born blind John 9:1-9 Possible conclusion: "The purpose of disability is not punishment for individual sins, but the glory of God."

Seeing the weak Luke 14:1.7-14 Focus: Jesus sees the suffering of the weak.

The story of the prodigal sons Luke 15:11-32 All are welcome with God, even people who are supposed to be a disgrace or shame.

The African Acts 8:26-39 Focus: The eunuch was castrated and becomes a follower of Jesus.

My personal favorite story from this set is David and Mephibosheth 2 Samuel 9:1-13

After David became king, he thought of his deceased friend Jonathan, the son of the former king Saul. David began to find out if any of Saul's family were still alive. He was determined to keep the promise he had made to Jonathan to do him good. One of his servants remembered that one of Jonathan's sons, Mephibosheth, was still alive. When he was a child, his nurse had accidentally dropped him while fleeing, and since then he had been paralyzed in both feet and could no longer walk. King David had him brought to him from a town some distance away. When Mephibosheth arrived at the royal court, he bowed before King David. David reassured him: "You needn't be afraid. Your father was my best friend, and I want to do you good. I will give you back all the fields that belonged to your grandfather Saul. You will eat at my table every day as my guest. Mefibosheth bowed again and asked: "What have I done to deserve this? I am worth as little as a dead dog." Then King David publicly declared, "I give all the possessions of King Saul to his grandson Mephibosheth.” King David treated Mephibosheth very well, even though he could have killed him. And so Mephibosheth ate with King David every day. This is a true story from the Holy Scriptures. Possible lid: What I like about this story is that King David treated a disabled person like a royal child.

Think about the effect this story has on parents who have only ever heard it: Disabled children are a disgrace and shame.

In future blog posts, I will also present a story set from time to time. You can find all the material in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles" under https://www.fivefingerfood.org/en_us/download/. As my handbook continues to grow, I can only give the current page page 171, but this will change. Otherwise look in the table of contents under "The church and people with disabilities". The photo is from https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.