We Already Know this Story:

I help out a lot with the Sunday School program at my new church called, “Treehouse.”   I help lead the songs and lead into the main story for their large group time.  Then I often go in and am a helper in one of the classrooms when they divide into their age groups. I have helped out in all the different age groups, but I usually put myself in the third through fifth grade classroom.  They have big personalities, which is really fun, but also can be a bit overwhelming with just a few leaders.  I have gotten to know them fairly well, and I hope I can get to know them even better in the future.  This week, it was all about the crucifixion of Jesus.  It is very interesting because we are also learning our holiday song at the beginning of our time together.  Then we move on to the beginning of the Easter story during Bible reading.  

During class time, the third through fifth grade boys really made me smile.  We re-read the story in our classroom of Jesus going to the cross and dying for our sins, and then there were a few boys who raised their hands and said that they know the rest of the story already.  They proudly said, “Jesus is then raised from the dead three days later!”  In their words, they spoiled the ending, and I do suppose that is a perfectly good ending to spoil.  They were quite proud of themselves, and I was very happy with them as well.  

However, then they made the statement, “We already know this story.”  Almost like they felt they didn’t need to hear it again.  (They also asked why we were learning this story during the Christmas season, which was a fair enough question.) I realized that we can often easily take this story for granted.  We can think about the crucifixion and the resurrection and believe that we already have heard and studied this story, so we know everything that we need to know.  The students also were really good about answering questions that have to do with grace and mercy that we gained through Christ’s death and resurrection.    

This is not the story to just push aside.  This story is the only reason we can be Christians, the only reason we can read God’s Word, go to church, pray to a God who loves us, have fellowship with other believers, and live with a mission in our lives, only because of the crucifixion and resurrection of God. When we get so acquainted with our Christian walk and our day to day lives in Christianity, we can forget our base, but our base or our foundation is so vital for how we handle the rest of our Christian walk.  

There are sometimes when I quickly forget the main reason for my relationship with Jesus.  There are many times I get in too much of the habit of legalism and start running through the motions of my Christian walk.  I can read the Bible because I do love to read the Bible, but I also do it because it is part of my regular routine.  I spend time in prayer every morning and I make sure to write down my prayer requests as well as what I am thankful for, but again, I also do this habitually.  I really notice this when it comes to practicing my Bible verses I set to memorization.  I love to run through them, so I don’t forget them, and I know that it is good to practice, but I also find that I get very monotonous about my memorization in verses.  However, being reminded of the importance of the Christian story, helps me remember to care about these simple discipline practices with the love and dedication to a God who loves me and saved me.   

In the MSG version of the Bible, there is a great truth found in Hebrews 13:16, “Make sure you don’t take things for granted or go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others.”   This is very important to remember.  Sometimes we can go slack and forget what the common good is.  The common good is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then defeated death by raising from the dead and continues to forgive us for every future sin and mistake.  We have a glorious Father to serve, and we must remember to keep this fresh in our hearts.

My challenge for you this week is to review the Gospel.  This can be in any of the four Gospel chapters and books, as long as you are reviewing the Greatest story that was ever told that happened so long ago.  Read through it, highlight the important parts and the parts filled with intense love, and thank God for his sovereignty, and his mercy.  It is a good week as ever to review the story that we should be the most thankful for, as it is Thanksgiving week.