Read an Excerpt
God's Story, Your Story Participant's Guide
By Max Lucado, Kevin Harney, Sherry Harney ZONDERVAN
Copyright © 2011 Max Lucado
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-69218-8
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
SESSION 1
WHEN GOD'S STORY BECOMES YOURS
God's story is glorious, surprising, victorious, and beautiful. His story, when we really listen closely, is our story.
INTRODUCTION
Do you remember a time you got lost? Perhaps it was a crowded day at the mall, and you wandered away from Dad and Mom for just a moment, and they were gone. You felt the paralyzing fear of looking around and failing to see the north star of your parents' strong presence. You were lost.
Maybe it was a school trip to the zoo and you inadvertently lingered at the monkey cage while the rest of the class moved on. Before you knew it, you were alone. People were everywhere, but not a face in the crowd was familiar. Lost!
It might have been a drive late at night, and a wrong turn spun you around, and, truth be known, you had no idea where to go next.
These moments of lostness can leave a pit in your stomach and bring fear to your soul ... until the store clerk finds your parents, your teacher taps you on the shoulder and says, "Keep up with the class," or a gas station attendant pulls out a map and shows you how to get back on the interstate.
What is even worse is coming to a point in life when we realize that we have lost our way as a human being. We might know our mailing address and how to get to school, work, or church, but we are not sure why we are on this planet. We have no sense of our purpose.
It is in these moments that we look to God, the Master Storyteller, and discover that the best way to understand our story is to listen to his. As we understand God's story and where we fit within it, the haze begins to clear and our story begins to make sense.
TALK ABOUT IT
Tell about a time in your childhood when you got lost and how you felt when you were finally found.
[Your Response]
VIDEO TEACHING NOTES
As you watch the video teaching segment for session 1, featuring Max Lucado, use the following outline to record anything that stands out to you.
An uninformed Munchkin
[Your Notes]
When everything changes
[Your Notes]
Getting lost in Grandma's story
[Your Notes]
What knowing does to us
[Your Notes]
Knowing God's story
[Your Notes]
The central message of God's story
[Your Notes]
Your story indwells God's story
[Your Notes]
VIDEO DISCUSSION
1. Share about a time when someone told you about your family history and certain things about you and your family members began to make sense.
[Your Response]
2. Tell about a time you were reading the Bible (God's story) and a light went on in your heart as you realized that this was really your story.
[Your Response]
3. If the story of the Bible is going to make sense, it is important to know how it begins and how it ends. In your own words, how does the Bible begin? What are the epic themes that launch us into the story of the Bible (Genesis)?
[Your Response]
In your own words, how does the Bible end? What are the epic themes that conclude the story of the Bible (Revelation)?
[Your Response]
4. How does your family history help you have a sense of who you are and where your life is going? How does knowing the story of God's family in the Bible help you know who you are and where you are going?
[Your Response]
5. Max talked about being dropped into Munchkin Land and being very confused because he did not actually know the storyline of The Wizard of Oz. How can reading the Bible without any context or background become a frustrating or dangerous enterprise?
[Your Response]
6. What is one of your favorite stories in the Bible and how do you see yourself and your personal story informed by this portion of God's Word?
[Your Response]
7. Read: John 3:16–17. In the video, Max said that this portion of God's story contains one of the central messages of the Bible. What core messages do you find in this passage?
[Your Response]
How can these messages help us understand who we are and how we are to live in this journey through life?
[Your Response]
8. Read: Ephesians 1:11–14. How do you see God's story and our story woven together in this passage of the Bible?
[Your Response]
9. What approach to learning God's Word has most helped you dig in and grow in your love for the Bible?
[Your Response]
10. How can your group members pray for you, encourage you, and keep you accountable in reading the Bible and seeking to know God's story in greater depth?
[Your Response]
CLOSING PRAYER
Take time as a group to pray in some of the following directions:
• Thank God for his Word, the Bible. Ask him to help you know and love his Word so that you may grow to see your story woven into his story.
• Pray for people you care about who are wandering and lost because they do not know God's story.
• Confess where you have avoided or neglected digging into God's story in the Bible. Pray for a renewed commitment to read and study the Scriptures with fresh passion.
• Lift up group members who have shared a desire to grow in their knowledge of and love for God's Word. Pray that they will take the steps needed, and exercise the discipline required, to go deep into the truth of the Bible.
BETWEEN SESSIONS
Personal Reflection
Take time to think through three or four of your favorite stories in the Bible. Why are you drawn to these stories? How do you see your story connected to these stories? How did God work in these accounts and what are ways you have seen God work in similar ways in your life?
[Your Notes]
Personal Action
Contact a patriarch or matriarch in your family and ask if you can spend time with them, face to face or over the phone. Ask questions about your family, their life, and those who have gone before you. Listen with an open heart and seek to discover more about what has formed you and those you love.
[Your Notes]
Group Engagement
Consider inviting each group member to make a personal commitment to read and reflect on the Bible in the weeks your group meets. Don't have a required reading plan, but have each person set a personal goal. Then, when you meet, ask every person to tell about how they are doing in meeting their own goal and, if possible, to share one lesson they learned in their reading and how it impacts and informs their personal story.
Name: Personal Goal:
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
[Name] [Goal]
RECOMMENDED READING
Take time to read chapter 1 of the book God's Story, Your Story by Max Lucado.
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Excerpted from God's Story, Your Story Participant's Guide by Max Lucado. Copyright © 2011 by Max Lucado. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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