“Intro: Love You Forever”
John 3:16
Intro – I’d like to read you a story…very important to our family…we read it often to our kids from the time they were small…when they became young adults and left home for school, we put a copy of it in their luggage…
-it’s called “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch…
-you’ve just experienced the power of a story…now just think: if that stirred you, then how much more could God’s story, the story of the Bible stir and move you and inspire you and transform you?…
People view the Bible in different ways:
-ancient literature…dry history book…that has nothing to do with life today in the modern world…
-list of rules…do’s and don’ts…
-some random people’s own ideas about who God is and what He’s like…
-user agreement…install a program on your computer…don’t read the words, just scroll thru and click “I agree” at the bottom…
Others hold a far higher view of the Bible:
-that it’s a living book…it’s God’s words…inspired by God…it comes from God’s heart to you and I…that God’s Spirit speaks personally to us through the words of this book…
-truth is, many people find it hard to read the Bible in a consistent way over the long haul… reading the Bible can be difficult, intimidating, even confusing…start at the beginning only to get bogged down by the time you hit Leviticus…give up…
-many find it a series of seemingly disjointed parts, some more interesting than others, but without a clear flow…and it’s easy to get lost in this book because we’re not sure how this part connects to that part…
The truth is, the Bible is many things: it is the history of God’s people…a revelation of God…it is academic and full of knowledge and spiritual insight and wisdom that can never be fully comprehended…it is the inspired, God-breathed living word…
-but at it’s heart, the Bible is a simple love story from God to people…Jn 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
In other words, the message of the Bible is (sing) “I’ll Love you forever, I’ll like you for always…”
Here at Northgate we are all about the Bible…
-we love the Bible, honor it, see it as God’s trustworthy and authoritative word…we hold scripture in high esteem and seek to align our lives with it rather than try to twist it into our own image or understanding…
I preach from it…always, only…and expect all of us to spend time in it personally and in small groups so we can learn it together…more than that, be transformed by it into the image of JC…
That’s why I am really excited about this new series called The Story…all of us are going to dive into God’s word together…reading the same portions of God’s word as one body…focusing on the same themes, same characters, sharing insights that God is showing us from His word by the HS…
-we’re going to let the Bible do what it does best: transform our lives, renew our minds, train us for godly living, develop maturity in us…grow faith in us…
2 Tim 3:16-17
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
One of the main purposes of the Bible is to bring the gospel message of salvation to a world of lost people…
2 Tim. 3:15 (one verse earlier)
“…how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
We’re going to learn the grand theme of the whole Bible, the one message it is wanting to convey: that God loves you, He created you, then He lost you because of sin…but He is reaching out to you to bring you back to Himself through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ…
-the grand story of the Bible is about reconciliation…God reconciling the world to Himself through Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 5:18-19
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
As we discover God’s story, we will see how all the parts are designed to point to one Person: the Lord Jesus Christ…and they point to one message: reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ…
Sistine Chapel illustration
How many of you have been to the Sistine Chapel in Rome? I have never been, but I am told it is a breathtaking experience…it is the masterpiece of Michelangelo…an entire room full of scenes from the Bible (pictures) with around 300 characters painted on the ceiling alone…Adam, Eve, Noah, Jacob, David and many more…each one telling a story from their life as recorded in the Bible…
-at the highest point in the ceiling nine scenes out of the book of Genesis unfold…just beneath those are paintings of twelve OT prophets who foretold the birth of the Messiah…
-moving down the walls, surrounding the chapel are the ancestors of Jesus, such as Boaz, Jesse, David and Jesus’ earthly father Joseph…
-in the four corners of the room are other dramatic biblical scenes such as the slaying of Goliath by young David.
-each scene, each painting, tells its own singular story, yet the artist united them all together to display one magnificent message: humanity’s need for salvation through Jesus Christ.
The most famous scene in the Sistine Chapel, the one your eyes are drawn up to instinctively, at the very highest point of the chapel in the very center, is the strong arm of God reaching out to the limp hand of Adam…
That’s the message of the Bible…God reaching out to us in love to save us from our sins…
…that room is an illustration of what we are undertaking for the next 31 weeks: we are going to see how all these separate stories and people in the Bible point to one main thing: the reality of a sovereign, loving God who is reaching out to humanity in the Person of the Lord JC…
We see that the grand story of the Bible is (sing)
“I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always…as long as I’m living, my child you’ll be…”
-or better known, (sing with me)
“Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong…”
Four ways to best connect with this series.
1. Read the book
-if you haven’t yet, get one – available today…
-read one chapter a week, acc to the schedule…
-for next week, read chapter one before Sunday…Creation…
If you do this you will begin to see the big picture of the Bible…you’ll get sense of how the Bible flows from Genesis to Revelation…
Now remember that the book is an abridged chronological version of the Bible
It not the whole entire Bible. It is a selection of 31 major passages that help us understand the story of God.
For example, many people know about the story of King David, how when he saw Bathsheba bathing, he called for her and committed adultery with her. Then he had her husband murdered to try and cover up his sin…
But what people may not know is that when confronted with his sin by Nathan the prophet, David was broken-hearted and repented and wrote Psalm 51…that beautiful psalm of confession and repentance…
-so what The Story does is it includes Ps. 51 right after the sin in 2 Sam 11-12…
So read the book to really engage with the story…stick with the schedule…
2. Attend weekly worship services.
-the messages we preach on Sunday’s, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will provide deeper insight into the passages and hopefully give us perspective on how the various parts weave together to form the big picture…
- we won’t be able to speak on the whole chapter’s content…just too much material…but we will focus on one aspect that gets to the heart of that week’s theme…
When you come - Come with expectancy…anticipating meeting with God and hearing from God…
And don’t forget to invite a friend….this journey could change the life of someone for all of eternity…
3. Connect in a small group
We believe that life is better when it’s done together.
That “together” reflects the way God made us to be.
He calls us into community!
Small Groups are a great way to connect and talk about life and God and His story and pray for each other.
We have a number of small groups that are focusing on The Story curriculum…there is a DVD with a 10 min talk based on the chapter and then a series of discussion questions…
-sign up for a group if you haven’t yet and are interested…this is really the place to go deeper in the word…share insights together, learn from each other and help each other grow in spiritual maturity…
The small groups will focus on the chapter in the book after the Sunday it is presented in the services…
4. Talk About It At Home
Teach your children or grandchildren the story… at home, together, reading, praying, in that way providing a Biblical foundation for the rest of their lives.
-there are study guides and discussion questions for people of all ages…ask us about that…
Conclusion
So, we now begin The Story, 31 weeks, from now until Mother’s day…
Once again, why are we doing this? Because God wants everyone to know that He Loves You Forever…
(sing with me) “Jesus loves me, He Who died, heaven’s gate to open wide. He will wash away my sin, let His little child come in…Yes, Jesus loves me…”
Prayer