From knowing Bible stories to knowing the Bible story

“It’s one thing to know Bible stories; it’s another to know the story of the Bible.” — Matt Smethurst, associate editor for “The Gospel Coalition”

For someone who grew up in church, I had a hard time figuring out how the whole Bible connected. I had a stack of devotionals, Awana books, The Mailbox Club studies, prayer journals, and daily Bible reading plans beside my bed, and I did my best to faithfully complete every one of them every day. Honestly, it frustrated me more often than it helped me, but that’s a part of my testimony that I’ll share at another time.

Even with all the input I was receiving, I was still having trouble connecting all the dots and seeing how the whole Bible was actually one story of God getting us back. I knew sin entered the world in Eden and that it meant we all have a sin nature and need a Savior. But really, I skipped from there to Jesus on Earth as that Savior, to Him becoming the sacrifice for us. The Old Testament stories weren’t on any timeline in my 8-year-old mind; they were scattered somewhere before Jesus.

I asked Jesus to be my Savior when I was about 8 years old, and it took about eight more years before I understood the big plan. I stumbled across a sermon series from Oak Hills Church based on The Story, a story Bible written in chronological order. (It’s written like a novel more than a Bible since there are no verses to follow.) I didn’t have the book, but I listened to all the sermons.

My walk with God changed when I listened through that series and understood the overarching redemption story that flows from the first page to the last page of the Bible. I saw God pursuing mankind from the moment sin entered the world until the end of time, and I realized that the story of man’s salvation isn’t limited to everything that happened once Jesus came and made things right. The story of man’s salvation absolutely includes the Old Testament stories, too, and I finally understood the timeline. How had I missed that for eight years?! My faith took off once the puzzle was put together.

The quote by Matt Smethurst at the beginning of the post has challenged me these past few months as I’ve studied and prepared to teach my class at church. I’m not using a curriculum or Bible study but instead am writing my own lessons with Matt’s quote in mind. I want these kids to come away knowing the Bible story instead of Bible stories. I want them to see how the whole Bible speaks of God’s pursuit of our hearts and of His desire to get us back. I don’t want them to miss these basics that somehow I missed.

I filled in for a Sunday school class this week, and one of the girls mentioned that the lesson didn’t seem to fit. They had just talked about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the lesson I taught was about creation. I know it was that way because the new quarter rolled around and with it new books, but still … she knew that it was out of order and had wanted it to fit. That only reinforced my decision to walk through the Bible with my kids on Wednesday nights.

Pray for me as I take my students through God’s Word this year. Pray that they will have a deeper understanding of who God is and of His story. Pray that God speaks with them and moves in their hearts and lives this year. And, pray that they know God and trust Him as their Savior.

If you’re interested in learning more about God’s story, check out the links below.

• Click here to listen to the first message in the 2008 Oak Hills sermon series “The Story.” This is where my journey with it all began.
• Click here to listen to the first message in the 2016 Oak Hills sermon series “The Story.”
• Click here for more “The Story” resources.