stories within the Story

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:1-4 ESV)

As I'm studying the prologue of the Gospel of John, I'm impressed that the grand story of history centers upon Jesus, who is the Word, the Logos, God the Son who was with his Father at the beginning of our universe. It all begins and ends with the Lord who was both Creator, and then Carpenter of Galilee.

For our own life stories to make any eternal sense (or significance) they must be embedded within this one, great, central Story, and seen in its context...

"Life is not random and meaningless. God tells us (and shows us) that there is a divine purpose at work behind all that takes place. This desire for meaning and purpose behind our individual stories is wired into us as humans. The stories of this world can never succeed at tying all our individual stories together into one great meta-narrative. But where the world’s great stories fail, the gospel story succeeds...

"Ironically, when we live as if our personal story is at the center of our universe, we struggle to find meaning and significance. But when Christ is at the center and we are pushed to the periphery, it is then—in that place of seeming obscurity and insignificance—that we find true worth and value, by giving glory to the crucified and risen King with whom we can become united through faith."

(Trevin Wax, Counterfeit Gospels)

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bible reading nov 1-2

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bible reading dec 3-5

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Howard Hendricks on OT books chronology

When I was in seminary, Howard Hendricks (aka "Prof") gave us a little card with the books of the OT chronologically arranged. The scanned copy I have was a bit blurry and I wanted to make something like this available for our church class in OT theology ("Story of Redemption"). A few minor edits and here it is...

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