Bible Blossom - Storyteller's Handbook

T E L L I NG T ALES : A B I B L E B LOS S OM P RIMER ON S TORY TELLING • 27

loves us, the Savior who redeems us by his death still can save. The Spirit who fell on the first company of disciples can still empower us today. What then, do we need to do? The answer is clear. We only need to hear this Story afresh, to sense its truthfulness and power once more, to recover the same true message that the consensus of the ancient Church fleshed out. The great traditions of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, and the Protestant Reformation have defended it, artists have drawn it, musicians sung it, and missionaries brought it. All we need to do is rediscover it, and embody it once more. Let us ask God to give us the courage to re-embrace this Narrative of narratives, this grand tale of God’s matchless love. When all is said and done, it is a simple story after all. It can be understood through Scripture’s testimony of creation, and seen in the great acts of God throughout the history of Israel. This great tale comes to its climax in the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus. Now, by faith, you can enter the Story, too. If you look around, you won’t fail to see many weird and fanciful competing master narratives seeking our allegiance. Religious jihad, political ideology, and strange philosophies all try to explain the meaning of the universe – where we came from and where we are going. For us who believe and follow Jesus of Nazareth, however, we need only hold onto the biblical Story. This Story of God’s saving acts in Christ for us is the narration of the entire universe. In its retelling, enactment, and embodiment, the truth about all things is made plain. All the big questions of life can be understood through the inspired telling of God’s acts in history. Every time we go to church or Bible study or prayer meeting, we have an opportunity to rehearse the truth about God’s great Story, and about his salvation in Jesus. You see, we are a continuation of the Story; we are that people who live out the Story in our confession, our songs andworship, our discipleship, and our testimony about Jesus. He is more than a tale; he is our very life and hope.