LIVING IN THE STORY

ACT 1 | CREATION
In Genesis, we have an origin story that tells of a world that is bursting with life and creative
energy. “In the beginning,” God creates the heavens and the earth and fills it with the beauty of
flora and fauna and says, “it is good.”
Then God, who exists in communal relationship with himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
creates humanity in his image to live in right relationship to everything that is. We’re created to
live and enjoy communion with God, with others, with ourselves and with all creation. At the
center of this garden temple is the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
With the words “be fruitful and multiply” echoing in the ears of all humanity, God gives us our
missional calling to generate life and culture by caring for one another, caring for creation and
cultivating the earth for the flourishing of life.

ACT 2 | FALL
In the same origin story where we see the goodness of all creation affirmed and the calling of
humanity to “be fruitful and multiply” received, we see the devastating effects of human sin and
rebellion. Seduced by the enemy’s temptation, the first humans desired life and wisdom without
God, grasping for freedom outside of God’s rule, breaking communion with God in favour of the
promises of the serpent’s lies.
Death, darkness and evil are introduced into the story and the consequences of our rebellion is
the fracturing of our relationship with God, with others, ourselves, and with creation. Sin and
misery, exploitation and injustice are now present everywhere. No sphere of life is left unstained.
We all bear the wounds of this rebellion. We have all become victims of our own brokenness.
Acutely aware that the world is not the way it’s supposed to be, we all desperately long for
redemption.

ACT 3 | PROMISE
Never abandoning his creation to destruction and decay, God acts to restore and save humanity.
As part of his redemptive arc in human history, God calls Abraham and his descendants to
represent him in the world, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make
your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you…and all peoples on
earth will be blessed through you.”
With those words of promise, Abraham’s family grows into a large tribe by the time they make
their home in Egypt. They flourish and become a great multitude there but eventually find
themselves enslaved, oppressed and crushed by the Egyptian powers. Israel cries out for
liberation and after hundreds of years of groaning, God hears and moves. He liberates them from
their oppressor, gives them an identity as the beloved people of God, equips them with a mission
to be a kingdom of priests, prophets and kings, and brings them into the Promise Land to
flourish.
Throughout their time in the Promise Land, there were moments when Israel fulfilled her
missional calling to bless the nations. However, the arc of Israel’s story leads them into exile.
They became estranged from God, land and influence, because of their idolatry, their
indifference to the poor and their failure to live out their missional identity. Yet God, refusing to
give up on his people, his promises, and his purpose, strengthens a hopeful remnant through a
prophetic voice that longs to see the renewing reign of God established here on earth for
generations to come.

ACT 4 | CHRIST
Remembering his promise to restore creation and reconcile humanity to himself, God continues
to work out his redemptive arc in history by joining the human story in the person of Jesus.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, this Jesus of Nazareth is now the
fullness of God revealed. He is God incarnate, the eternal Word made flesh, God who takes up
flesh and blood and makes his dwelling among us full of grace and truth.
As the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophetic longings of God’s people
in exile and is the full embodiment of the missional heart of God heard in the words, “For God
so loved the world that he gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.” Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, bind up the broken-
hearted, set captives free, and proclaim the new arrival of the kingdom of God, bringing about a
new exodus, and restoring our fractured world. “The time has come,” Jesus said, “the kingdom
of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Jesus and his message were received by some and rejected by many, especially as he confronted
the oppressive nature of the religious elite and the empire of Rome. He was ultimately arrested,
imprisoned, tortured and executed, left to die on a Roman cross. With the words, “it is finished,”
Jesus breathed his last earthly breath.
Yet his crucifixion, death and burial was not the last word; his suffering had redemptive ends.
Three days later, God raised Jesus from the grave, his resurrection bringing hope and renewal to
all creation. In him we stand forgiven. Through him we are brought into right relationship with
God, we are being reconciling us to each other, ourselves, and creation. Jesus, our Messiah, is
our one and only hope for peace and reconciliation between God and humanity, the renewal of
all things.
Before leaving us, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit so that we might be his witnesses and
live out our missional identity. “Go and make disciples of all nations,” Jesus commands,
“baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you.” With those words of commission resonating in
our souls, we worship and work with eager and earnest expectation of seeing Jesus’ return in
glory.

ACT 5 | PRESENCE
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a powerful wind came from heaven and filled the whole
house where they were sitting….All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.”
50 days after Jesus leaves our present reality, God fulfills his promise to renew his presence
among his people and all creation. Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on men and
women, young and old, we see sign and seal of God’s empowering presence being renewed
among all who trust in Jesus as Lord.
The Holy Spirit confirms in us that we are adopted and beloved children of God. He empowers
us with gifts and abilities to love and serve one another, renewing our desires to love God and
love neighbour. He convicts, guides, teaches, comforts, counsels, and leads us into truth through
our communal life of worship, work and missional practices.
Rooted and grounded in Christ, we practice spiritual disciplines and celebrate his presence with
us and our union with him in the sacraments of baptism and Lord’s Supper. We are the present,
historical, global and local expression of God’s people who follow the way of Jesus in love and
hospitality, peace and justice, generosity and service. Together, we embody the resurrected
Christ and the presence of God who lives and dwells in us by the Holy Spirit, renewing us for the
sake of a broken hurting world.

ACT 6 | FLOURISH
What was started in Christ, now continues in and through all who respond in faith to what God is
doing in Jesus. In Christ, God is restoring his image in our humanity, renewing his garden temple
and calling us to participate in the flourishing of new creation that is both now and not yet. This
includes our own reconciliation with God, with one another, extending to our neighbour and then
to all with creation.
We are called to bear witness to the good news of God’s restoring work in the power of the Spirit
in the same dying and rising pattern as Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, each of us, individually,
collectively and systemically are called to reject the powers of evil, reverse the flow of injustice,
repair the ruptures of relationship, and rejoice in the flourishing of peace and prosperity for all.
As a people sent to enact this part of the story, we prayerfully discern our personal and
communal vocation in God’s redemptive arc in history, actively finding ways to serve God
through church, community and cause.

ACT 7 | CONSUMMATION
One day this story of restoration and reconciliation will reach its fulfillment when Jesus returns
as the visible king of all the world and when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of
our God and of the Messiah, Jesus. Grounded in the resurrection of Jesus, the hope of
consummation is to see God take creation itself through death into new life, where a new garden,
a new people and a new city flourishes, sings and bustles with the glory of the presence of God.
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed
away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a
loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and
he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their
God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or
crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Until that day, we groan with all creation, longing for the day when Jesus will judge the world,
bringing an end to injustice and restoring all creation to God’s original purpose. We wait with
eager anticipation for the day when our bodies are raised, our tears are wiped, and we dwell
forever in the presence of God.
We long for the day when the weapons of wars will be melted down into gardening tools, wolves
will lie down with the lambs, children will play joyfully on city streets, and death will be no
more. For on that day, our relationship with God will be made whole, our relationship with every
nation, tribe, and tongue will be in harmony, our relationship with new creation will be
flourishing as God intends. This is what we long for. This is what we hope for. And we give our
lives to living out that future reality now.