Storiez

Shai Linne - Storiez

I love the idea of talking about the story of the Gospel; how it is truly is the greatest story ever told…and unlike so many stories told it’s all true! In fact it is the overarching story of the history of life the universe and everything. It is pretty awesome to speak to people about how God’s great story of winning a people for His glory intersects with their life stories.

Soma Communities have a close relationship with The Crowded House. They highlight six ways they live as church, or as they put it ‘rhythms’. These rhythms are: story-formed, listen, celebrate, bless, eat and recreate. You can read about them all here. But the one that particualy strikes me is ’story-formed’. They define it as the following:

We understand, experience and intersect with God’s Story and other’s.
God has been unfolding his Story since before time began. We believe we are participants in the Story and need to understand it and see how our lives intersect with it. Therefore, we regularly reacquaint ourselves with the Story by interacting with God’s Word. We look for ways and times to tell the Story often. We also take time to listen to others stories and help them find their lives within God’s Story.

I love the fact that we are story-tellers as God’s people; that we are here to tell the story. It is a story that never grows old and we should celebrate contiually as God’s people. And what an awesome story that God chose us before the foundation of the world that he might redeem us in Christ that we might be to his praise and glory!

My favourite rap artist Shai Linne has recently released a new album called storiez. It tells many different stories from the Israelites at the first passover to Spurgeons biography and it shows how they connect to that greater story. I strongly recomend it. Here are the lyrics from one track on the album called ‘Greatest Story Ever Told’. They get me every time…

Verse 1

Alright check it: let’s go back in time, brethren

Divine lessons always keep your mind guessing

The glory of the Triune God’s what I’m stressing

The origin of humankind was fine- blessings

Were plenteous- God is amazingly generous

Crazy benefits in a state of innocence

God told the man what he could taste was limited

Not long after came our nemesis in Genesis

He scammed well, man fell, damned to hell

The whole human race- he represented it

Fooled by the serpent, man through his work

Woman through birth- even the earth ruled by the curses

But instead of a wake immediately

God said her Seed would be the One to crush the head of the snake

Yo, wait what’s this? Whoa, a gracious gift!

In Jehovah’s faithfulness He clothed their nakedness

This was so they would know their Savior’s kiss

And bliss- but first, many growing pains exist

Suffering in the worst form, ugly deeds

Eve’s firstborn seed made his brother bleed

Indeed things got progressively worse

Every section of the earth’s been affected by the curse

And though God’s judgments against sin were gory

Praise the Lord! It’s not the end of the story

Chorus:

It’s the greatest story ever told

A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold

The greatest story ever told

Restoring all that the enemy stole

The greatest story ever told

The glory of Christ is the goal, behold

The greatest story ever told

It’s the greatest…

Verse 2

Next scene: man’s sin was extreme

God gets steamed, man gets creamed

The Lord is so Holy that He drowned them in the water

Fire in the valley of slaughter- Sodom and Gomorrah

But at the same time, He’s so gracious and patient

That from one man He created a whole nation

Eventually enslaved by the mentally depraved

They cried out to the only One with the strength that He could save

He brought them out with signs and wonders- satisfied their hunger

Then He appeared on Mount Sinai in thunder

Where He laid down the law for God-ruled government

Commonly referred to as the Mosaic covenant

Sin’s imputed- so for man to know he’s unrighteous

God instituted animal sacrifices

This was to show our constant need for atonement

And when it came to sin, the Lord would never condone it

And when His people disobeyed and went astray

He raised up prophets and kings to lead them in the way

But they would get foul with their idolatry- wet and wild

Prophecy- send them into exile

To take their punishment like a grown man

Then with His own hand He placed them back in their homeland

And while in their forefather’s land they dwelt

They awaited the arrival of Emmanuel

Chorus:

It’s the greatest story ever told

A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold

The greatest story ever told

Restoring all that the enemy stole

The greatest story ever told

The glory of Christ is the goal, behold

The greatest story ever told

It’s the greatest…

Verse 3

After 400 silent years filled with sighs and tears

In Bethlehem the Messiah appears

God in the flesh- Second Person of the Trinity

At thirty begins His earthly ministry

Baffling cats with accurate, exact facts

And back to back miraculous acts

A stumbling block to the self righteous

But the humbled- His flock, said “There’s no one else like this”

He came from heaven to awake the numb

Demonstrated His power over nature, son

A foretaste of the Kingdom and the age to come

But the reason He came was to pay the sum

For the depths of our wickedness, our wretched sinfulness

Bless His magnificence- He’s perfect and innocent

Yet He was wrecked and His death- He predicted it

Next He was stretched, paid a debt that was infinite

He said that He finished it- resurrected so the elect

would be the recipients of its benefits

Through faith and penitence we get to be intimate

His grace is heaven sent, it never diminishes

Now the Holy Spirit indwelling is the evidence

for heaven’s future residents who truly represent

Jesus, the Author, Producer, Director and

Star of a story that will never, ever end!

Chorus:

The greatest story ever told

A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold

The greatest story ever told

Restoring all that the enemy stole

The greatest story ever told

The glory of Christ is the goal, behold

The greatest story ever told

It’s the greatest…