The Story of God

Our story begins with God ...
He took nothing and created everything, from his fullness filling the emptiness. He introduced himself as the one who is, who was, and who is to come.
Chapter 1: The Story Begins
All we enjoy and love is made by God. He has woven all things together with the thread of his unfailing love. He created a man and woman to tend and care for our world so it could flourish like a wonderful garden. God was a Father to them; they lived together, and they were happy.
Chapter 2: The Story Unravels
But God’s friends, the ones he made to take care of and love his creation, turned against him. The man and woman believed a great lie and questioned his love and kindness. This lie would cause everything to begin to die when it was meant to grow and last. It appeared that the story was over.
Chapter 3: The Story Reclaimed
But God refused to give up. As the world fell apart, he began to pick up the pieces.
God chose a family, and they grew into a nation.
God loved them.
God taught them.
God carried his story forward through them.
Even though they failed him again and again, at times turning their backs on him, filling his world with brokenness and pain, God never gave up on them even when he was silent.
Chapter 4: The Story Fulfilled
One day, God showed up to this family as a man named Jesus. He showed everyone God’s plan. Through him, anyone and everyone could join God’s forever family. Jesus would make the world new. Hope started to blossom but was seemingly snuffed out as he was arrested and executed. Again, it appeared the whole story was over and done with.
But this wasn't the end of the story. Jesus was raised up from death to new life.
Now, Jesus would restore all things. God would heal all the brokenness and pain in our world. The wonderful world would become all it was meant to be, a flourishing garden where we would all be living happily together with God.
Chapter 5: The Story Continues
So here we are today, retelling the story of God, our story. We tell it to each other over and over to remind ourselves that our purpose and story is wrapped up in God. He showed us how much he loved us-through the world he created and the way he came to restore us and the whole world. He made it possible for this story of God to become your story and my story as well.
God is working in us, his beautiful and flourishing family.
God was faithful to love us always, even in the darkest times.
God is inviting us to join him for the rest of the story, that is yet to come ...