The Story and the Song. Introduction from Psalm 19 and Hebrews 1

The heavens are singing about how great God is and the skies are shouting it out, see what God has made day after day, night after night, they're speaking to us. God wrote, 'I love you', He wrote it in the sky and on the earth and under the sea. He wrote his message everywhere because God created everything in his world to reflect him like a mirror to show us what He's like, to help us know Him, to make our hearts sing. The way a kitten chases her tail, the way red poppies grow wild, the way a dolphin swims. And God put it into words too and wrote it in a book called the Bible.

Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best, but the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done. Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but, as you'll soon find out, most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all. They make some big mistakes sometimes on purpose. They get afraid and run away and at times they're downright mean.

No, the Bible isn't a book of rules or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a story. It's an adventure story about a young hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about a brave prince who leaves his palace, his throne, everything, to rescue the one he loves. It's like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life. You see, the best thing about this story is, it's true. There are lots of stories in the Bible but all the stories are telling one big story. The story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this story and at the center of the story there is a baby. Every story in the Bible whispers his name. He's like the missing piece in a puzzle. The piece that makes all the other pieces fit together and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture. And this is no ordinary baby. This is the child upon whom everything would depend. This is the child who would one day-- but wait all stories starts where all good stories start - right at the very beginning.