Summer is here… time for baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and… the 2011 College World Series where my alma mater, Vanderbilt, is playing! It’s our first time ever in the CWS. But summer is also time for one of America’s pastimes… hitting the local cinema to watch the latest from Hollywood. Summer Blockbusters are rolling out. Sequels and prequels of Pirates of the Caribbean, X-Men, Harry Potter, and Transformers. The movie industry is going to make lots of money. Why?
Everybody loves a good story.
Lots of us sat in our parents’ laps and said, “Read me a story.” We’ve all been shaped by stories.
When he was little, our son, Evan, loved “The Clown of God.”
Set-up: Giovanni is a young boy who has a gift. He can juggle. He grows up and makes a living sharing his gift with others all around the country. It’s all about the applause for Giovanni.
Struggle: But years pass and times get tough. And he is not so steady with his juggling. He drops balls. And his audiences are not so kind. He becomes a beggar.
Climax: As an old man, Giovanni enters a church one night- only to be awakened by glorious singing. It’s the celebration of the birth of the Christ child! But the statue of the Christ child looks so sad, so serious. Giovanni would do anything to make the child happy. So, he juggles. Giovanni musters up one final, glorious performance. When he gets to his “show-stopper” – a juggling act with a golden ball, his heart stops and he dies.
Resolution: But at the end, the Christ Child is holding the golden ball. And he wasn’t sad any more. He was smiling.
Our son, Evan, loved that story. We all love stories.
If you think about it, our lives are stories. Stories. We like to hear them, read them, see them, and tell them.
Sometimes, we forget that the Bible is a story. In fact, it is the Story.
As Sally Lloyd-Jones says in The Jesus Storybook Bible, “The Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing. It’s about God and what he has done… The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything—to rescue the one he loves… The best thing about this Story is—it’s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story…”
Can you tell The Story – His Story?
Everybody loves a good story.
Lots of us sat in our parents’ laps and said, “Read me a story.” We’ve all been shaped by stories.
When he was little, our son, Evan, loved “The Clown of God.”
Set-up: Giovanni is a young boy who has a gift. He can juggle. He grows up and makes a living sharing his gift with others all around the country. It’s all about the applause for Giovanni.
Struggle: But years pass and times get tough. And he is not so steady with his juggling. He drops balls. And his audiences are not so kind. He becomes a beggar.
Climax: As an old man, Giovanni enters a church one night- only to be awakened by glorious singing. It’s the celebration of the birth of the Christ child! But the statue of the Christ child looks so sad, so serious. Giovanni would do anything to make the child happy. So, he juggles. Giovanni musters up one final, glorious performance. When he gets to his “show-stopper” – a juggling act with a golden ball, his heart stops and he dies.
Resolution: But at the end, the Christ Child is holding the golden ball. And he wasn’t sad any more. He was smiling.
Our son, Evan, loved that story. We all love stories.
If you think about it, our lives are stories. Stories. We like to hear them, read them, see them, and tell them.
Sometimes, we forget that the Bible is a story. In fact, it is the Story.
As Sally Lloyd-Jones says in The Jesus Storybook Bible, “The Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing. It’s about God and what he has done… The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything—to rescue the one he loves… The best thing about this Story is—it’s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story…”
Can you tell The Story – His Story?
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