This week we began a three week sermon series on worship titled, “Participating In The Story.”  Human beings are captivated by story.  Story has the power to define whole societies.  Story can define individuals.  Some of our own stories bring us great joy and we are quick to share them with others, and yet there are some stories we have never told because they haunt us deeply.  We use stories to help make sense of the world in which we live, but why do we like story so much? There are countless reasons, but I think, ultimately, there is something to the reality that our Creator loves to tell stories.  And he has given us a story that defines who we are as humans, that defines who he is as God, and why we are here on this planet and what we are supposed to do with it.

But could there be one story that defines who we are?  I mean, there are so many stories, there are so many people groups and cultures, with their own stories?  How can you say there is just one?  Isn’t that exclusive and narrow?  I want to suggest to you that, YES, each and every person has a different story, each and every people group has a story, and yet they are all somehow connected to our Creator’s narrative.  His story, is the drama that holds them all together.  As Christians, his story is our story.  To worship is to enter into the drama, to re-enact the story God has told and is telling…to worship is to participate in the story.