Invitation and introduction to The Story

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Thank you for joining all of us here at First Church as we begin an incredible 31 week journey through God’s incredible story.  The Bible is often described as, “The Greatest Story ever told”  and it is just that a story of God pursuing and striving to rescue lost and hurting people, a story of God’s love affair with humanity. The Story condenses this into 31 accessible chapters, and sweeps you away into the unfolding drama of people and events.  Using the NIV Bible it allows you the read The Bible like any good story book or novel, and like every good story there is plenty of drama, conflict, romance, intrigue, tragedy and redemption and best of all this story – is true!     

Please come and join us Sunday’s at 10:00 am and weekly in our small groups as we explore “The Greatest Story ever told”.

My encouragement to you is to make a commitment to join us each week and if you can’t listen to the audio of the message.  Secondly, spend time each week both on your own using the individual devotions to help you prepare for the coming week as you read the next chapter.  Each week additional questions will be posted online as well.  Thirdly, we are called to be in fellowship with others around God’s Word – the Bible so for the next 31 weeks please commit to joining one of the following (small groups, bible study group, women’s group, men’s group etc.), as we grow together in Christ for the sake of the kingdom here and in the world.    These groups and the times that they meet are found in the narthex at The Story resource table. 

Excited to see the Lower Story that God is writing here in Ravenna over the coming year. 

Grace and Peace be with you,

Pastor Steve

The Story Week1: Beginning

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This week marks the beginning of the first part of the most incredible story ever told.  Yet, perhaps it would be helpful to look at the Bible as a five act play: (1) Creation & Fall, (2) Israel, (3) the Time of Jesus, (4) the Age of the Church, and (5) the End of Time.   This week marks the beginning of God’s Story – the Upper Story and of human kind’s story the Lower Story.  Each week you will find some questions to consider in preperation for Sunday’s message.  Each week we will together discover something about our story and about God’s story as it continues to unfold in our very midst. 

My invitation to you is to make a commitment to join us each week, secondly to spend time each week both on your own and in community and fellowship with others (small groups, bible study group, women’s group, men’s group etc.) as we grow together in Christ for the sake of the kingdom here in Ravenna and in the world.    

Questions for the week
Consider journaling your response to these questions

  1. God pursued Adam and Eve after they had sinned.  God pursued Cain even as Cain was mad as a swarm of bees.  Have you ever had a time when you realized then or realize now that God was pursuing you?  How did that pursuit change your relationship with God?
     
  2. Abraham shows an almost absurd level of trust in God when he is called to sacrifice his son Isaac (p. 16-17).  Is there an area of your life God is calling you to trust him with?  What are the next steps doing so?
     

God’s story is full of characters.  In these chapters, we’ve encountered many including Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah.  What patterns do you see in how God relates to these people?