Current Sermon Series: God's Story: The Drama of Redemption

Everyone loves stories. As children we begged our parents to tell us bed-time stories and as adults we spend dozens, if not hundreds, of hours over the course of a lifetime watching television and movies. Why? Well, probably lots of reasons, but at least partly because we are enthralled with story. We love the drama, the action, the suspense, and the tragic or surprise ending. This is true in every culture. In fact, stories are part of what makes any given culture what it is. Stories define our view of the past, frame our perspective for the present, and determine our vision for the future. As New Testament scholar N. T. Wright claims,“a story with its pattern of problem and conflict, of aborted attempts at resolution, and final result, whether sad or glad, is, if we may infer from the common practice of the world, universally perceived as the best way of talking about the way the world actually is” (The New Testament and the People of God, p. 40).

Our current message series is called “God’s Story: The Drama of Redemption,” and we’re tracing out, in ten weeks, the most essential plot movements in the biblical story. We're looking at The Creation, The Fall, The Promise, The Rescue, The Kingdom, The Exile, The Hope, The Hero, The Mission, and The New Creation. But, this is not merely an academic exercise. For the biblical story is meant to shape our own stories. We long to know how to make sense of our world and our lives. But as Lesslie Newbigin writes, “The way we understand human life depends on what conception we have of the human story. What is the real story of which my life story is a part?” (The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, p. 15). We hope you'll join us for this series. And if you miss a message, don't worry. Each message will be posted online within 24 hours.