The Big Story How the Bible Makes Sense out of Life

Everybody on the planet believes some larger story in order to make sense of life. Most believe false stories that leave them disillusioned, enslaved, and hopeless. Only Christianity, only the Bible, offers the true story of the world-the big story that makes sense of both beauty and brokenness. At the center of this story is Jesus... the Savior who sets us free. Many Christians think the Gospel is simply the starting line of the Christian life. It got them started in a relationship with God and now that they are saved, they have moved on into supposedly "deeper" waters. This lie leads to legalism and can make many Christians completely miss out on what the Scriptures really intend with the story of Christ: The way to GET INTO the Christian life and GROW IN the Christian life is only by way of the Gospel. This Gospel is the Big Story. This message will help each of us diagnose how our own worldview may or may not line up with the one God tells us through His story.

JUSTIN BUZZARD is lead pastor of Garden City Church, a new church plant in Silicon Valley. He is a fifth generation Californian who has spent the last eleven years living and pastoring in the San Francisco Bay Area. Justin's passion is communicating the good news of Jesus and pushing people to pursue the unique calling God has given them.www.JustinBuzzard.net is a place where Justin writes about Leadership, Manhood, God, Culture, and Adventure from his vantage point in Silicon Valley. Justin has been married to the woman of his dreams, Taylor, for nine years and they are raising three little warriors age five and under-Cru, Hudson, and Gus.

Introduction: The Power of Story Everyone believes a larger story-is yours helping or hurting? 1: Jesus He is the center point of the whole thing. 2: God The big story starts with God, not us. 3: Creation The Bible can be understood in four acts. This is Act One-In the Beginning, God... 4: Rebellion Act Two-Sin and evil enter God's good world, causing tension, temptation, rebellion, and pain. 5: Rescue Act 3- God takes sacrificial action to rescue a world of rebels. 6: Home Act 4-The longing for home that we all feel can only be resolved by God bringing his people into a new heaven and new earth. 7: Life We aren't home yet, we live life in between the first and second coming of Jesus. 8: Story Evangelism A how-to guide for deconstructing the stories/worldviews we have all lived by at some point in our lives.