The Greatest Story Ever Told

Intro

Who loves stories?

Why do bedtime stories only happen when you’re little?

I’m 31, and I’m still keen!

But ain’t no-one telling me bedtime stories anymore.

I even tried it on my dad the other night, I rang him up and asked him to tell me a story,

and he said “What?! Go read a book ya idiot!”

It was only like 10 o’clock at night…

It was 11 o’clock. But I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if bees became extinct.

But I’M NOT ASHAMED PEOPLE!

I still love stories, and I suspect, that if you’re a human, you love stories as well.

Story telling has been around for a long long time. As far as we know, we’re the only creatures who do it! Think about that for a second…

Where did storytelling come from?

And what was the first story?

We still do it today. Adults are just as addicted to stories as they were when they were children. Movies, Books, Music, Art…

History, religion, philosophy, science…

We all want to know our story. And, if we can’t find what we’re looking for, often we just make a story up! We create characters that we can relate to.

We create, the bad guys, the good guys, the hard to figure out just yet characters, and in all of our stories, there’s always a hero that saves the day.

We’re always listening to stories, thinking “where do I fit into this” “which character can I relate to” “who am I in this story?”

Well I was hoping I could tell you a story tonight…

Would you guys like to hear a story?

It’s a story about Darkness & about Light. It’s about Dragons & Dragon Slayers. It’s about Kings, Queens, Slaves, & Sinners. It’s a story about Victory & Defeat, Winners, Losers, Lovers & Haters. It’s a story about the Creator & His creatures, its a story about you and about me.

What I want you to be thinking about as we hear the story, is “where do I fit into this story”

In The Beginning

In the beginning, God created a beautiful world, a paradise, full of light, and life, oceans and beaches, forests and lagoons, mountains and meadows, and He filled it full of beautiful creatures roaming freely, enjoying God’s presence.

It was really, really good.

God, wanted to share His love, with his creatures.

And he made man and woman, to have a special relationship with Him.

He was their Creator, and He loved them. And He taught them what love was.

He spent time with them.

He provided everything they needed.

He made a beautiful garden for them, all sorts of beautiful trees,

with more kinds of fruit on them than you could imagine.

He blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.”

They were the Rulers of earth, in charge of everything, reigning with peace and justice.

And here’s the kicker, they could do it all in the nude. That’s my favourite bit.

But, there was one tree, that they were not to eat from. One tree. God told them

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

The man and the woman have everything they need. They obviously aren’t going to disobey their Creator, who loves them, eat the death fruit and die, right?

Obviously they’re going to get busy with ruling the planet and stuff, while not wearing any clothes… right?

The Fall

The man and the woman, it seems, decided “hey why don’t we go hang out, near that tree that God said not to eat from?”

His own children, listened to the voice of another creature who put a dangerous idea in their minds.

Gen 3:1-

Genesis 3:1–7 CSB

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

“Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent,

“We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

This is where everything changed.

4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

The beautiful world that God had made, and all His creatures that lived in it, were plunged into darkness.

And the beautiful world that the Creator had made, and all the creatures that lived in it, were plunged into darkness.

The Serpent had deceived the man and the woman.

Instead of becoming more like God, they had become less like God, because now, they had become disobedient rebels, who decided they knew better than their Creator.

God had showed them pure love, and they responded to it with contempt.

I remember when I was really young, maybe 13 or so, about a week before Christmas, I was sneaking around in my parents room while they were out. I knew I was doing the wrong thing, but I had to see if I could locate the treasure; the unwrapped Christmas presents.

Note, My mum and dad specifically told me not to poke around in their room if they weren’t there.

But, I disobeyed, and I poked around. And I found the goods!

But the consequences were awful.

Before I knew what I was getting for Christmas, I had a fantastic sense of exhilaration and anticipation. I could almost pop with excitement and wonder as to what I would receive on that glorious morning under the tree.

Sure enough, I struck gold. Right up, on the top shelf of their cupboard, under an old doona.

Now I knew I was getting a G.I. Joe action figure set, a spinny yellow helicopter thing, and an oversized new school bag with purple lightning on it.

I ruined Christmas for myself.

Why do bedtime stories only happen when you’re little?

I’m 31, and I’m still keen!

But ain’t no-one telling me bedtime stories anymore.

I even tried it on my dad the other night, I rang him up and asked him to tell me a story,

and he said “What?! Go read a book ya idiot!”

It was only like 10 o’clock at night…

It was 11 o’clock. But I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if bees became extinct.

But I’M NOT ASHAMED PEOPLE!

I still love stories, and I suspect, that if you’re a human, you love stories as well.

Story telling has been around for a long long time. As far as we know, we’re the only creatures who do it! Think about that for a second…

Where did storytelling come from?

And what was the first story?

We still do it today. Adults are just as addicted to stories as they were when they were children. Movies, Books, Music, Art…

History, religion, philosophy, science…

We all want to know our story. And, if we can’t find what we’re looking for, often we just make a story up! We create characters that we can relate to.

We create, the bad guys, the good guys, the hard to figure out just yet characters, and in all of our stories, there’s always a hero that saves the day.

We’re always listening to stories, thinking “where do I fit into this” “which character can I relate to” “who am I in this story?”

Well I was hoping I could tell you a story tonight…

Would you guys like to hear a story?

It’s a story about Darkness & about Light. It’s about Dragons & Dragon Slayers. It’s about Kings, Queens, Slaves, & Sinners. It’s a story about Victory & Defeat, Winners, Losers, Lovers & Haters. It’s a story about the Creator & His creatures, its a story about you and about me.

What I want you to be thinking about as we hear the story, is “where do I fit into this story”

In the beginning, God created a beautiful world, a paradise, full of light, and life, oceans and beaches, forests and lagoons, mountains and meadows, and He filled it full of beautiful creatures roaming freely, enjoying God’s presence.

It was really, really good.

God, wanted to share His love, with his creatures.

And he made man and woman, to have a special relationship with Him.

He was their Creator, and He loved them. And He taught them what love was.

He spent time with them.

He provided everything they needed.

He made a beautiful garden for them, all sorts of beautiful trees,

with more kinds of fruit on them than you could imagine.

He blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.”

They were the Rulers of earth, in charge of everything, reigning with peace and justice.

And here’s the kicker, they could do it all in the nude. That’s my favourite bit.

But, there was one tree, that they were not to eat from. One tree. God told them

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

The man and the woman have everything they need. They obviously aren’t going to disobey their Creator, who loves them, eat the death fruit and die, right?

Obviously they’re going to get busy with ruling the planet and stuff, while not wearing any clothes,

The Fall.

Who loves stories?

But something terrible happened, one day, His creation turned on Him.

His own children, listened to the voice of another creature who put a dangerous idea in their minds.

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman,

“Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent,

“We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

And the beautiful world that the Creator had made, and all the creatures that lived in it, were plunged into darkness.

The Serpent had deceived God’s children.

Instead of becoming more like God, they had become less like God.

Illustration about looking in the cupboard in mum and dads room, at the presents.

I remember when I was a youngster, I’d figured out where mum and dad hid the Christmas presents. Up the top of the big cupboard in their room. Obviously.

Note, My mum and dad specifically told me not to poke around in their room if they weren’t there.

But, I disobeyed, and I poked around. And I found the goods!

But the consequences were awful.

Before I knew what I was getting for Christmas, I had a fantastic sense of exhilaration and anticipation. I could almost pop with excitement and wonder as to what I would receive on that glorious morning under the tree.

Now I knew I was getting a G.I. Joe action figure set, a spinny yellow helicopter thing, and an oversized new school bag with purple lightning on it.

I ruined Christmas for myself.

Now I had to pretend to be surprised when I opened my presents.

All I felt now, was shame, guilt, and regret.

The Promised Hero.

God, made a promise to fix everything. He promised a hero.

But he also promised that there was now a war that would rage on between the forces of evil, and the children of Adam and Eve.

This hero would defeat our enemy.

Will the real serpent crusher please stand up?

Noah?

Moses?

David?

Jesus?

Jesus is the Serpent Crusher.

We need Jesus. He is the hero we have been looking for, imagining, telling ourselves we can be, waiting for.

I am a son of Adam and Eve. I have shame, and sin, and death in me. I needed Jesus, and I still need him today. But He has saved me. He is the real life hero of the human race. He is the One that all stories try to live up to. He is the reason we tell stories. He is the reason I m telling you this story.

The real kicker? It is not a made up story. It is our story. And its changing the world.

So ask yourself, why do we do stories? Why do we long for a hero? And why cant I still have bedtime stories as an adult?

These are the big questions friends.

The greatest story ever told, actually involves you. And you will need to come to terms with who your character is. Are you on the right side of the war? Are you a child of the serpent? Or a child of the Creator?

A light shining in the dark.Who loves stories?

Why do bedtime stories only happen when you’re little?

I’m 31, and I’m still keen!

But ain’t no-one telling me bedtime stories anymore.

I even tried it on my dad the other night, I rang him up and asked him to tell me a story,

and he said “What?! Go read a book ya idiot!”

It was only like 10 o’clock at night…

It was 11 o’clock. But I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if bees became extinct.

But I’M NOT ASHAMED PEOPLE!

I still love stories, and I suspect, that if you’re a human, you love stories as well.

Story telling has been around for a long long time. As far as we know, we’re the only creatures who do it! Think about that for a second…

Where did storytelling come from?

And what was the first story?

We still do it today. Adults are just as addicted to stories as they were when they were children. Movies, Books, Music, Art…

History, religion, philosophy, science…

We all want to know our story. And, if we can’t find what we’re looking for, often we just make a story up! We create characters that we can relate to.

We create, the bad guys, the good guys, the hard to figure out just yet characters, and in all of our stories, there’s always a hero that saves the day.

We’re always listening to stories, thinking “where do I fit into this” “which character can I relate to” “who am I in this story?”

Well I was hoping I could tell you a story tonight…

Would you guys like to hear a story?

It’s a story about Darkness & about Light. It’s about Dragons & Dragon Slayers. It’s about Kings, Queens, Slaves, & Sinners. It’s a story about Victory & Defeat, Winners, Losers, Lovers & Haters. It’s a story about the Creator & His creatures, its a story about you and about me.

What I want you to be thinking about as we hear the story, is “where do I fit into this story”

In the beginning, God created a beautiful world, a paradise, full of light, and life, oceans and beaches, forests and lagoons, mountains and meadows, and He filled it full of beautiful creatures roaming freely, enjoying God’s presence.

It was really, really good.

God, wanted to share His love, with his creatures.

And he made man and woman, to have a special relationship with Him.

He was their Creator, and He loved them. And He taught them what love was.

He spent time with them.

He provided everything they needed.

He made a beautiful garden for them, all sorts of beautiful trees,

with more kinds of fruit on them than you could imagine.

He blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.”

They were the Rulers of earth, in charge of everything, reigning with peace and justice.

And here’s the kicker, they could do it all in the nude. That’s my favourite bit.

But, there was one tree, that they were not to eat from. One tree. God told them

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

The man and the woman have everything they need. They obviously aren’t going to disobey their Creator, who loves them, eat the death fruit and die, right?

Obviously they’re going to get busy with ruling the planet and stuff, while not wearing any clothes,

The Fall.

Who loves stories?

But something terrible happened, one day, His creation turned on Him.

His own children, listened to the voice of another creature who put a dangerous idea in their minds.

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman,

“Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent,

“We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

And the beautiful world that the Creator had made, and all the creatures that lived in it, were plunged into darkness.

The Serpent had deceived God’s children.

Instead of becoming more like God, they had become less like God.

Illustration about looking in the cupboard in mum and dads room, at the presents.

I remember when I was a youngster, I’d figured out where mum and dad hid the Christmas presents. Up the top of the big cupboard in their room. Obviously.

Note, My mum and dad specifically told me not to poke around in their room if they weren’t there.

But, I disobeyed, and I poked around. And I found the goods!

But the consequences were awful.

Before I knew what I was getting for Christmas, I had a fantastic sense of exhilaration and anticipation. I could almost pop with excitement and wonder as to what I would receive on that glorious morning under the tree.

Now I knew I was getting a G.I. Joe action figure set, a spinny yellow helicopter thing, and an oversized new school bag with purple lightning on it.

I ruined Christmas for myself.

Now I had to pretend to be surprised when I opened my presents.

All I felt now, was shame, guilt, and regret.

The Promised Hero.

God, made a promise to fix everything. He promised a hero.

But he also promised that there was now a war that would rage on between the forces of evil, and the children of Adam and Eve.

This hero would defeat our enemy.

Will the real serpent crusher please stand up?

Noah?

Moses?

David?

Jesus?

Jesus is the Serpent Crusher.

We need Jesus. He is the hero we have been looking for, imagining, telling ourselves we can be, waiting for.

I am a son of Adam and Eve. I have shame, and sin, and death in me. I needed Jesus, and I still need him today. But He has saved me. He is the real life hero of the human race. He is the One that all stories try to live up to. He is the reason we tell stories. He is the reason I m telling you this story.

The real kicker? It is not a made up story. It is our story. And its changing the world.

So ask yourself, why do we do stories? Why do we long for a hero? And why cant I still have bedtime stories as an adult?

These are the big questions friends.

The greatest story ever told, actually involves you. And you will need to come to terms with who your character is. Are you on the right side of the war? Are you a child of the serpent? Or a child of the Creator?

A light shining in the dark.Who loves stories?

Why do bedtime stories only happen when you’re little?

I’m 31, and I’m still keen!

But ain’t no-one telling me bedtime stories anymore.

I even tried it on my dad the other night, I rang him up and asked him to tell me a story,

and he said “What?! Go read a book ya idiot!”

It was only like 10 o’clock at night…

It was 11 o’clock. But I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if bees became extinct.

But I’M NOT ASHAMED PEOPLE!

I still love stories, and I suspect, that if you’re a human, you love stories as well.

Story telling has been around for a long long time. As far as we know, we’re the only creatures who do it! Think about that for a second…

Now I had to pretend to be surprised when I opened my presents.

Where did storytelling come from?

And what was the first story?

We still do it today. Adults are just as addicted to stories as they were when they were children. Movies, Books, Music, Art…

History, religion, philosophy, science…

We all want to know our story. And, if we can’t find what we’re looking for, often we just make a story up! We create characters that we can relate to.

We create, the bad guys, the good guys, the hard to figure out just yet characters, and in all of our stories, there’s always a hero that saves the day.

We’re always listening to stories, thinking “where do I fit into this” “which character can I relate to” “who am I in this story?”

Well I was hoping I could tell you a story tonight…

Would you guys like to hear a story?

It’s a story about Darkness & about Light. It’s about Dragons & Dragon Slayers. It’s about Kings, Queens, Slaves, & Sinners. It’s a story about Victory & Defeat, Winners, Losers, Lovers & Haters. It’s a story about the Creator & His creatures, its a story about you and about me.

What I want you to be thinking about as we hear the story, is “where do I fit into this story”

In the beginning, God created a beautiful world, a paradise, full of light, and life, oceans and beaches, forests and lagoons, mountains and meadows, and He filled it full of beautiful creatures roaming freely, enjoying God’s presence.

It was really, really good.

God, wanted to share His love, with his creatures.

And he made man and woman, to have a special relationship with Him.

He was their Creator, and He loved them. And He taught them what love was.

He spent time with them.

He provided everything they needed.

He made a beautiful garden for them, all sorts of beautiful trees,

with more kinds of fruit on them than you could imagine.

He blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.”

They were the Rulers of earth, in charge of everything, reigning with peace and justice.

All I felt now, was shame, guilt, and regret.

And here’s the kicker, they could do it all in the nude. That’s my favourite bit.

But, there was one tree, that they were not to eat from. One tree. God told them

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

The man and the woman have everything they need. They obviously aren’t going to disobey their Creator, who loves them, eat the death fruit and die, right?

Obviously they’re going to get busy with ruling the planet and stuff, while not wearing any clothes,

The Fall.

But something terrible happened, one day, His creation turned on Him.

His own children, listened to the voice of another creature who put a dangerous idea in their minds.

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman,

“Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent,

“We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

And the beautiful world that the Creator had made, and all the creatures that lived in it, were plunged into darkness.

The Serpent had deceived God’s children.

Instead of becoming more like God, they had become less like God.

Illustration about looking in the cupboard in mum and dads room, at the presents.

I remember when I was a youngster, I’d figured out where mum and dad hid the Christmas presents. Up the top of the big cupboard in their room. Obviously.

Note, My mum and dad specifically told me not to poke around in their room if they weren’t there.

But, I disobeyed, and I poked around. And I found the goods!

But the consequences were awful.

The Promised Hero.

Before I knew what I was getting for Christmas, I had a fantastic sense of exhilaration and anticipation. I could almost pop with excitement and wonder as to what I would receive on that glorious morning under the tree.

Now, I knew I was getting a G.I. Joe action figure set, a spinny yellow helicopter thing, and an oversized new school bag with purple lightning on it.

I ruined Christmas for myself.

Now I had to pretend to be surprised when I opened my presents.

But worse than that, I had broken something that I didn’t know how to fix.

I had betrayed my parents, who loved me.

All I felt now, was shame, guilt, and regret.

The man and the woman, realised that they had broken something. And they knew, they could not fix what they had done.

They had betrayed the One who Created them. The One who had given His love to, given Himself to. And they had responded by taking

The Promised Hero.

God, made a promise to fix everything. He promised a hero.

But he also promised that there was now a war that would rage on between the forces of evil, and the children of Adam and Eve.

This hero would defeat our enemy.

Will the real serpent crusher please stand up?

Noah?

Moses?

David?

Jesus?

Jesus is the Serpent Crusher.

We need Jesus. He is the hero we have been looking for, imagining, telling ourselves we can be, waiting for.

I am a son of Adam and Eve. I have shame, and sin, and death in me. I needed Jesus, and I still need him today. But He has saved me. He is the real life hero of the human race. He is the One that all stories try to live up to. He is the reason we tell stories. He is the reason I m telling you this story.

The real kicker? It is not a made up story. It is our story. And its changing the world.

So ask yourself, why do we do stories? Why do we long for a hero? And why cant I still have bedtime stories as an adult?

These are the big questions friends.

The greatest story ever told, actually involves you. And you will need to come to terms with who your character is. Are you on the right side of the war? Are you a child of the serpent? Or a child of the Creator?

A light shining in the dark.The Promised Hero.

God, made a promise to fix everything. He promised a hero.

But he also promised that there was now a war that would rage on between the forces of evil, and the children of Adam and Eve.

This hero would defeat our enemy.

Will the real serpent crusher please stand up?

Noah?

Moses?

David?

Jesus?

Jesus is the Serpent Crusher.

We need Jesus. He is the hero we have been looking for, imagining, telling ourselves we can be, waiting for.

I am a son of Adam and Eve. I have shame, and sin, and death in me. I needed Jesus, and I still need him today. But He has saved me. He is the real life hero of the human race. He is the One that all stories try to live up to. He is the reason we tell stories. He is the reason I m telling you this story.

The real kicker? It is not a made up story. It is our story. And its changing the world.

So ask yourself, why do we do stories? Why do we long for a hero? And why cant I still have bedtime stories as an adult?

These are the big questions friends.

The greatest story ever told, actually involves you. And you will need to come to terms with who your character is. Are you on the right side of the war? Are you a child of the serpent? Or a child of the Creator?

A light shining in the dark.