The Story
We believe that holding up everything we do is a Story.
A true Story about God and His World.
A story of Fall and Redemption. Of Brokenness and Grace.
This is that story.
One
There is a God who made the world. He made us. He created us to know him and to display, with joy-filled lives, how spectacular and good he is. When God saw his creation, he declared it was very good. He rested and invited us to enjoy rest and blessing in relationship with Him.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Two
God designed us to magnify his glory, to display to the whole universe his goodness by the way we treasure and obey him. As our Creator, this design should be the blueprint we follow. But, left to ourselves, that’s not what happens. Instead, we all choose to live for our own purpose and our own glory. We don’t treasure God or trust Him as we were created to. This twisting away from our Creator is what God calls Sin.
Romans 3:10-12 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Three
How serious is Sin? Well, God won’t let it go on forever. God is just, and our sin will be called to account. Our rejection of God’s design, our distrust, our disobedience—these have earned us God’s judgment. His judgement on our sin is eternal separation from his life and joy--in a place of punishment called hell.
This is serious.
Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death...
Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment
Four
But hope has broken in. God sent his Son, Jesus Christ to us. Jesus never sinned. He never rebelled. He always treasured and obeyed God. Perfectly. And then, unthinkably, He was murdered. His last hours were spent nailed to a wooden cross, executed as a criminal. Was this some senseless judicial mistake? No. It was the way the Story was written. Jesus died in our place, as our substitute. He died to satisfy the penalty of our sin. God's judgment fell on him, so that it doesn’t have to fall on us.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
Five
Jesus did something else. He didn’t stay dead. He rose three days later. He lives in power so that all who turn from their sin to Him can be forgiven, cleansed, made new--including you. There is no sin too serious. No life he cannot restore. In Jesus Christ, you can experience joy, peace, and rest in relationship with God that begins now and goes forever. This is grace.
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Six
So where are you in the Story? Are you ready for the kind of life God offers? Are you ready to turn from life on your own terms to listen and treasure your Creator? Are you ready to call on Christ and trust him as your only hope?
If that's you, call on Christ and hear what God says:
Romans 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”