 + WATCH “Experience the Book” from the Museum of the Bible + PRAY for open hearts and minds, especially yours. + READ 1 Peter 1:10-12, 22-25; 2 Peter 1:16-21; 3:14-18 (ESV) + REFLECT As we talk about the Big Picture of the Bible, you’ll hopefully see just what this book means to God’s people. After all, this is where we find out who we are, where we came from, and why we’re here. The Bible is the book that tells us the story of Jesus. Now that might not seem very Earth-shattering. But if you remember what we said before about Jesus, and how “in him all things hold together,” then that story’s not just any story. It’s about HIM and since it’s about HIM, it’s the untold story, the secret history of the whole world. And now we know it. You see, when I talk about the Bible, I’m sharing a story that didn’t start with me; someone else told it to me. And that someone at some time learned it from yet another person, and so on. And because it wasn’t theirs, no one got to make it up or add their own spin to it. They took what they heard and passed it on. In fact, for thousands of years, billions of people around the world have come to know it. That history is no longer a secret, and once you know it everything else begins to make sense. Here’s how one persecutor-turned-preacher described it: Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:25-27) That story was a secret because only God saw it all happening in real-time, but this story is now good news because God has opened it up for all to see. Paul uses a variety of words, but this is what makes this story so special: God has spoken; it’s HIS story. This isn’t just any book; it’s the Biblia, the Book of Books. The God who exists from eternity has spoken his Word so you can know his power, wisdom, and glory—so that you can trust and obey him. Sadly, for many the Bible simply remains a mystery. Sure, it might seem like everyone on this side of the Atlantic has one, and most people know at least something about it. Even those who deny what it teaches can’t help but be moved by its beauty and depth of meaning. But few people really understand what they hold in their hands. The Bible is the most-read, most-translated, and most-influential book in human history. There are more handwritten copies of the Bible than any other body of ancient literature, and because of that we can trust that what we hold today speaks the same truths God’s Spirit gave to his spokesmen through the ages. And the more evidence we find—caves filled with hidden manuscripts, cities buried under centuries of dirt, or even the mapping of the human genome—the more we exult in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The evidence confirms what Christians already know by faith: that God exists and that he has spoken. For many, that’s still a mystery, but because of Jesus that’s a story worth sharing. So, where do we start? How about here: “In the beginning…” + ASK Three Big Questions
+ DIG DEEPER with slides for group discussion. 
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 + PRAY for open hearts and minds, especially yours. + READ Psalm 19 (ESV) + REFLECT One of the best ways to get into a story is to sing about it. And when it comes to the Big Picture of the Bible, the song that comes to my mind is Psalm 19. It was written about 3,000 years ago by a guy named David. Throughout his life, David did a little bit of everything. He was a shepherd, a songwriter, a giant-slayer, a soldier, and the one God handpicked to become Israel’s second king. And so his songs reflect the full range of human emotions; everything from worship and wonder, to doubt and despair. The scribes called this particular song a mizmor or “song of praise,” and in it David does three simple things… Look up. Look down. Look within. It’s not hard to imagine David as a stargazer. Shepherding was a 24-hour job. And though I’m sure he got plenty of rest along the way, it also seems he watched more than sheep. So he begins his song: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). When David looked up to the vast expanse above him he saw more than light; he saw the splendor of Someone greater than himself. And that Someone has a voice, a voice the stars themselves echo; inaudible, and yet flowing forth to the ends of the earth, renewing its intensity with every sunrise and softening its tones as the day wanes. But the stars can only get us so far. Space is cold. But since the one who stretched it out has broken into that space with his Word, we find a place we can call home. So David talks more about that Word; the very voice speaking through him at that moment: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7). When we look down into the Bible we discover not man’s witness but the Lord’s, not man’s ways but the Way of Christ, and not man’s words but the words of the Spirit. And for that reason—and only that reason—we find in the world joy despite sorrow, light despite the darkness, and justice despite all the wrongs around us. And yet those wrongs remain. Not only around us, but inside us. And by trying to separate those wrongs within from the wrongs without, we humans get confused on who’s really to blame for the breakdown of our world. You see, in some fundamental way, each of us shares in that brokenness. And so David sings, “Who can discern his errors?” (Psalm 19:12). The answer? No one. When we look within we find not only brokenness, but blindness to just how broken we really are—our wounds run deep. And this means we need help that no mere human can give. We need to be clean, forgiven, freed, pardoned. No word we speak or thought we think can do it. We depend on Someone Else’s strength. Someone Else must pay the price. As we work through the Big Picture of the Bible, try not to get too distracted by the details. Take a step back from the story to see how it all fits together, and why it all matters. In each lesson, try to think about these Three Big Questions: How is God revealing himself? How does this make sense of us? Where do I stand in this story? And remember David: Look up. Look down. Look within. So let’s start with this: why this story, why this book? + DIG DEEPER with slides for group discussion.
 I’ve always loved a good story. And I don’t think I’m alone. Come to think of it, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love being swept up into a good storyline. Whether it’s your favorite book or memory, your favorite TV show or movie, you probably have a favorite story. In fact, hearing, creating, and passing on stories is part of what makes us human. We are story-telling creatures. Our three kids remind me of this all the time. Of course, they don’t recognize it, but there’s a reason why our son grabs a lightsaber every time we watch Star Wars. Our latest discovery is the movie Moana, the story of a young girl who has to save her village and her island from an ancient evil. And in doing so, she realizes that she also has to remind her people who they are. In key parts of the movie, her ancestors sing, “We are explorers reading every sign / We tell the stories of our elders / In a never-ending chain … / We know the way” (go ahead and have a listen). Here’s why that matters: when they forgot their story, they forgot who they were. A few years ago I came across a quote that means a lot more to me now than it did then. When I read it I paused, pondered it, marked it in the text, typed it up in my notes… and then forgot about it. But when I came across it again a few weeks ago I realized just how closely my life had been shaped by the truth of that statement. Here it is: “I had always felt life first as a story: and if there is a story there is a story-teller” (G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, ch. 4). So what if I were to ask to you about your story. What would you tell me? Where would you start? What are your highlights? What would you leave out for now until we get to know each other a little better? What inspires you? Who is at the center of your story? How about this… He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 ESV) Did you catch that? Everything—creation, the cross, the church--comes together in Jesus—by him, through him, for him, in him. He is God’s image, the firstborn, the creator, the head, the beginning, the peacemaker. As a Christian, I believe the most important part of our stories is to know where we stand in HIS story—to grow into it, to be shaped by it, to rejoice in it. To be a disciple of Christ we don’t need a new story, we need an old one. We need to step back and take a look at the Big Picture of the Bible. But before we dive into that story, let’s think about three big questions…
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