the Story

June 25, 2018

Rev. Jason Gaskin

“Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.” The body of Christ is a storytelling people. The richness of our identity as a Church is grounded in a story. We tell it often... Jesus Christ, the son of God, gave his life on our behalf so that we might be everything that God intended his creation to be. We tell the story every time we gather for worship. We tell the story every time we break bread together. If people gather around the table... you can be sure.... a story will be told. A story that has been told many times... and the great mystery is that the story doesn't feel old but fresh and new. This week we will tell the story of how God transformed the life of Saul (we know now as Paul), a terrorist in many ways to Christians. This story teaches us that the vilest among us can be saved and transformed! It teaches us that these moments of transformation don't come in the sacred confounds of a church building... but most often when we are "on our way." And last, this story demonstrates that grace paves our future (not condemnation) so that we might be all that God has intended us to be. This is the story the church continues to tell. A story of hope in the midst of despair. A story of resurrection in the midst of death. A story of redemption when all seems lost. May we as the church continue to reclaim the Christ story... Our story.