Repeatedly, my hands arch themselves over the keyboard while one knee props open Acts for Everyone. I pause momentarily, as if to fight the impulse that has overtaken me. Then, my fingers start slow-dancing over the keyboard. It’s as if I can’t help myself:
One of the great arts of Christian theology is to know how to tell the story: the story of the Old Testament, the story of Jesus as both the climax of the Old Testament and the foundation of all that was to come (not, in other words, a random collection of useful preaching material with some extraordinary and ’saving’ events tacked on the end), and the story of the church from the first days until now. – N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone Part One
sounds good – does it get more detailed than this general statement of “the great art of knowing how to tell the story”? Since the bible is so big, knowing it well helps, since at different times different parts of the story would seem to apply to different people (or they’d be able to relate to the differing parts) I had a challenging time just trying to give a brief overview (kind of like a time-line or family tree) to FIRST grade sunday school class! Then just the other night Joe had good opportunity to share with a neighbor overview of Abraham to Moses .. neighbor thinks present day mid-east troubles are so ridiculous (I agree sort of) Jesus is there for them too!