Posts tagged narrative
Story 2: Mutiny in the Kingdom

Imagine it. The first man and woman lived in a glorious Garden. They had lives of perfect rest and happiness. They never had to worry about having enough food, about bad weather or illness or growing old. It was a world of endless bliss.

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Story 19: The Son of God's Love

Have you ever tried to explain something that was so epically amazing that you couldn't quite put it into words? Sometimes I think that's what the Apostle John faced.

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Story 20: The Light that Shines: Where Are You Getting Your Hope?

What do you do with your words? I've got to admit that sometimes the phrase "talk is cheap" is a good description for the things I take the trouble to say. If the Bible is right (and I believe it is) then we can know that the opposite is true of God.

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Story 21: The Kid Who Was God

What would it be like to be the mother of God? He was a perfect Son. That means He never sinned or did anything wrong...ever. How did Mary and Joseph feel when they sinned in front of Him? If they lost their temper at each other or the kids...if they wanted to waste a little money or gossip?

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Story 23: Preparing the Way for the Invasion of God

The oracles of a prophet seem like such a mysterious and radical concept. It's the kind of wild, supernatural work of God that we usually try to leave behind in our modern world. It's just a little too "out there" and uncomfortable.

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Story 27: Epic Adventure: The Chosen Ones of God

After his baptism, Christ was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to face the temptations of Satan. Meanwhile, the counsel of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the most powerful religious leaders in the country, sent more priests to question John the Baptist.

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Story 29: Proof to Believe: What Can Satisfy the Resistant Soul?

Jesus performed an amazing miracle for His mom. It was quiet and unseen by most, but a few of the people at the wedding feast understood what happened. The parents of the bride had failed to bring enough wine, and to save them from their shame, Jesus had turned many gallons of water into the fine drink.

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Story 30: Delving into the Mysteries of God: Nicodemus the Brave

The world of the Jews was being shaken. In the midst of their great, national Passover celebration, the young man named Jesus was turning everything upside down.

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Story 31: Divine Paradoxes and the Sin-Shattering Power of Humility

After the Lord and His disciples left Jerusalem, they went out to the hilly region of Judea. Jesus spent time with His disciples there and they baptized those that came to Him. John the Baptist was baptizing people in an area called Aenon. There was plenty of water there and many people journeyed to him as well. His disciples began discussing something that they thought was a real problem.

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Story 32: A Broken Woman in a Broken World and the Cleansing Streams of Living Water

As the ministry of Jesus began to grow in influence, a lot of people weren’t happy. John the Baptist’s disciples weren’t the only ones who noticed how popular Jesus was becoming. The Pharisees were taking notice of Him, too.

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Story 33: The Messiah's Preaching in Galilee Begins: Will the People Hear His Call?

As the Lord travelled to Galilee to begin His ministry there, He stopped for several days in Samaria. The people there had responded to His message of freedom and transformation with great faithfulness. Then the Lord journeyed to Cana.

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Story 34: Options for Response: Throw Truth off a Cliff (or lose your soul trying...)

As Jesus made His way through Galilee to tell the people of the region the Good News of the Kingdom of God, He traveled to His home town of Nazareth. They had waited for so many years through history for the Kingdom of God to come.

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Story 35: Introducing Mark

We have already learned about the writers of the book of Luke and the book of Matthew. Let’s refresh our memories, and then we’ll go on to learn about the writer of the book of Mark. Matthew was written by Jesus’ disciple, the tax collector. He wrote his book for the Jewish people to help them understand that Jesus was really the promised Messiah of Old Testament prophecy.

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Story 36: Signs of the End of Suffering: The One with Healing in His Hands

In the early days of Christ’s ministry, He spent His days preaching and teaching in the northern region of the nation of Israel around the Sea of Galilee. One day while Jesus was in Capernaum, He went for a walk along the edge of the water.

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Story 37: Leaving Everything You've Known for Everything You've Needed

How different were the people of Capernaum from those in Nazareth! They heard the words of Jesus and believed! Many were healed of their suffering. Can you imagine the excitement the people felt as they watched people being set free?

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Story 38: The Healing Power of Jesus

As Jesus and His disciples were traveling to the cities and towns around Galilee, the Lord continued to do His work of teaching and miraculous healing. Crowds came from all over to follow this wildly popular young preacher.

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Story 39: Forgiveness

The times that Christ lived in were very different times from our own. There were no news cameras or newspapers. It wasn’t possible to take a picture with a cell phone and post it on the internet.

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Story 42: The Man at the Pool

Another feast of the Jews had come, and so Jesus travelled down to Jerusalem to worship His Father at the Temple. Jerusalem was surrounded by high, protective walls that had been built hundreds of years before.

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Story 43: The Right Side of Belief Part 1: Hearing what He really said

The book of John was the last of the three Gospels to be written. At the end of his book, John tells the reason he wrote his Gospel. It was so that, “…you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name’”

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Story 44: The Right Side of Belief Part 2: Hearing what He really said

Listening can be a dangerous thing.Often, we can have so many thoughts in our head…so many assumptions about ourselves and others and the way the world works…that even when we do listen, we only hear what makes it through the grid of our own mental noise.

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