"The Story" coming to River Valley Community Church in 2012

~ From Eli Suddarth - Director of Worship & Discipleship

If you attended service last week you saw our initial promotional video for our upcoming discipleship curriculum The Story. We are so excited about discipleship this next year, I wanted to take some time to introduce you to what’s to come.

The Story is a 31 week group study using materials composed by the writers and publishers of this program. Included is a translation of the Bible put into narrative form; essentially a 31 chapter novel-version of the Bible, and a group study workbook. Groups gather once a week to watch a DVD teaching on the historical background of whatever chapter is being studied and to discuss the material using the workbook questions. Then, individually, each person will read through the following week’s chapter in preparation for the next group meeting.

The goal behind The Story is to excite each of us about Bible reading. Whether you’ve felt overwhelmed in the past and never opened the book, or you’ve read it a dozen times, this curriculum will open your eyes to new understanding about God’s word by looking at it in a different way.

We are a story-culture, after all. Our society is constructed of the stories we have passed from one generation to the next. The Bible is a part of that same culture, but for many of us, we have only looked at it as a helpful guide to be pulled out in times of trouble, or as an ancient text with no real bearing on our lives today. The Story challenges all of that by pointing to Jesus throughout the Old and New Testaments. God’s Son is ever-present in the entire Scripture, and when you’re able to hear His story come alive, your story of a new life in relationship with Him will take shape and challenge you in new and exciting ways.

We will begin our Story groups the week of January 29th. Groups will meet, as we have done in years past, for 15 consecutive weeks, taking a break for the summer following the week of May 6th. We will then pick up right where we left off for the final 16 weeks of study on September 9th running through the week of December 16th. The summer break is to ensure that groups are able to take full advantage of the community element of reading Scripture we so value at River Valley.

A number of our groups have already committed to The Story in 2012, and we are praying for enough groups to accommodate every single person who is a part of our church family meeting on various nights throughout the week. If you are interested in finding more information about The Story visit their website www.thestory.com. We will begin sign ups for groups starting after the new year, at which time you can purchase the materials directly from us at 50% off the regular price.

If you have any questions, or would like to sign up immediately, please call me at the office 630.844.9115. I’m looking forward to studying The Story this year with my group; I hope you are too.

in Him,

Eli