Stories - Part 1

Stories - Part 1
When I was in elementary school, a man came to perform for us in the multi-purpose room. The teachers hurried the students into this large room with only a stage. I remember he was uniquely large. Maybe the biggest person I had ever seen at this point in my life. We shuffled in and sat around him eagerly waiting to see what he would do...

He gathered us around him and with a thunderous voice broke out into story. The man simply came to read us stories. His voice was bigger than his burly stature and I thought surely it could be heard miles away. I remember being caught up in his stories and how such a person could articulate something so powerful. I don't remember the stories, but I do remember the effect it had on me. I believed him, his tales were credible and his jubilant character gave them credence. The fact is, stories can reach out to you at any stage in life. Little kids love to hear stories. As a child I remember asking my brother-in-law, Mike, to tell my brother and me a story before we went to bed. That night we went to sleep as a Bus-Jumping Motorcyclist and the fastest Nascar Racer ever to live. Stories can either push the perceptions of reality, or align them.

There is a reason why we can be so touched by the story of another, even a stranger. It is because God has put us not only in the middle of one big story, but also in a place where our stories give us reality. News reports, memories, testimonies, events, games, and life all turn into stories when shared with other people. Our identity is wrapped around the story we find ourselves in. Whether we be a father, salesman, music artist, day laborer, or surfer; our identity comes from the story that speaks the loudest in our lives.


Chronicles of the Missio Dei
Our idea with this blog is to keep our friends and family updated while we are away with the stories that we are a part of under the umbrella of God's grander story. The story of the one true God, bigger and more transcendent than we can ever imagine, seeking and saving a people who rebel against Him in more evil ways than we will ever know, in order to redeem and restore all things to the praise of his glory. He gives himself to us so that we may be satisfied in Him, and one day that satisfaction will be full as we enjoy him without sin forever. We pray our stories fit inside this story to further push his purpose. God is far from done with this world and He cares about it intensely. I pray that through this blog we can "sit together" and share stories of God's relentless love in our lives.

-Giulian

To help articulate this point a little more clearly, please listen to this song. You can follow along with the lyrics below.



The Greatest Story Ever Told
Written by Shai Linne
Album: Storiez (2008)

Verse 1
Alright check it: let’s go back in time, brethren
Divine lessons always keep your mind guessing
The glory of the Triune God’s what I’m stressing
The origin of humankind was fine- blessings
Were plenteous- God is amazingly generous
Crazy benefits in a state of innocence
God told the man what he could taste was limited
Not long after came our nemesis in Genesis
He scammed well, man fell, damned to hell
The whole human race- he represented it
Fooled by the serpent, man through his work
Woman through birth- even the earth ruled by the curses
But instead of a wake immediately
God said her Seed would be the
One to crush the head of the snake
Yo, wait what’s this? Whoa, a gracious gift!
In Jehovah’s faithfulness He clothed their nakedness
This was so they would know their Savior’s kiss
And bliss- but first, many growing pains exist
Suffering in the worst form, ugly deeds
Eve’s firstborn seed made his brother bleed
Indeed things got progressively worse
Every section of the earth's been affected by the curse
And though God’s judgments against sin were gory
Praise the Lord! It’s not the end of the story


Chorus
It's the greatest story ever told
A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold
The greatest story ever told
Restoring all that the enemy stole
The greatest story ever told
The glory of Christ is the goal, behold
The greatest story ever told
It's the greatest....

Verse 2
Next scene: man’s sin was extreme
God gets steamed, man gets creamed
The Lord is so Holy that He drowned them in the water
Fire in the valley of slaughter- Sodom and Gomorrah
But at the same time, He’s so gracious and patient
That from one man He created a whole nation
Eventually enslaved by the mentally depraved
They cried out to the only One with the strength that He could save
He brought them out with signs and wonders- satisfied their hunger
Then He appeared on Mount Sinai in thunder
Where He laid down the law for God-ruled government
Commonly referred to as the Mosaic covenant
Sin’s imputed- so for man to know he’s unrighteous
God instituted animal sacrifices
This was to show our constant need for atonement
And when it came to sin, the Lord would never condone it
And when His people disobeyed and went astray
He raised up prophets and kings to lead them in the way
But they would get foul with their idolatry- wet and wild
Prophecy- send them into exile
To take their punishment like a grown man
Then with His own hand He placed them back in their homeland
And while in their forefather’s land they dwelt
They awaited the arrival of Emmanuel


Chorus


Verse 3
After 400 silent years filled with sighs and tears
In Bethlehem the Messiah appears
God in the flesh- Second Person of the Trinity
At thirty begins His earthly ministry
Baffling cats with accurate, exact facts
And back to back miraculous acts
A stumbling block to the self righteous
But the humbled- His flock, said “There’s no one else like this”
He came from heaven to awake the numb
Demonstrated His power over nature, son
A foretaste of the Kingdom and the age to come
But the reason He came was to pay the sum
For the depths of our wickedness, our wretched sinfulness
Bless His magnificence- He’s perfect and innocent
Yet He was wrecked and His death- He predicted it
Next He was stretched, paid a debt that was infinite
He said that He finished it- resurrected so the elect
Would be the recipients of its benefits
Through faith and penitence we get to be intimate
His grace is heaven sent, it never diminishes
Now the Holy Spirit indwelling is the evidence
For heaven's future residents who truly represent
Jesus, the Author, Producer, Director and
Star of a story that will never, ever end!


Chorus