The Story Book Evangelism

Michael Ryan

The story begins with God. God is the author and main character of this story. God has always existed, and has always existed as He is now. As Creator, God steps into the beginning of this story and speaks. In the beginning, God spoke and everything came into existence by His command. He created the Heavens, Earth, stars, planets, and everything. The masterpiece of all His creation was a man and woman. God created the first man and woman and named them Adam and Eve. They were created with the ability to relate to their Creator, God. God’s world began with everything in Harmony (peace). Imagine knowing God so intimately that you never wondered if He cared, if He were really listening, or how much He actually loved you. Or imagine being in such connected intimacy with your loved ones that you not only hid nothing, but you truly had nothing to hide. Everything was perfect so we use yellow to represent God and His perfect creation.

God’s creation was perfect and beautiful. But soon, dark clouds gathered over everything. An enemy was plotting against beauty and peace—against God Himself. This is where the perfect story takes a dark turn.

In love, God gave Adam and Eve the freedom to make choices, with one rule: Do not to eat fruit from a specific tree. One day, God’s enemy, a fallen angel named Satan, wanted to overthrow God. Taking the form of a serpent, he lied to Adam and Eve. He tricked them into thinking God is not good and did not care about them. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and decided to eat the fruit. In that moment, the whole world started to come unraveled. Consequences became part of the world. Nothing would ever be the same again. Newfound and painful emotions emerged: guilt, shame, and fear. Intimacy was broken. By this one choice, Adam and Eve shattered peace and changed the course of God’s story. They were in desperate need of help! They needed forgiveness. They needed the relationship with God and themselves to be restored.  God’s perfect creation became soiled by disobedience so the yellow becomes black to represent how sin entered God’s perfect creation.

In choosing to listen to Satan, Adam and Eve discarded God’s command and replaced it with one of their own making. They decided to determine for themselves what was right and wrong.

God wouldn’t leave them scared and in the shadows. God promised Adam and Eve a Savior to come and rescue them. This was a Promise Made; hope for man and woman to have that perfect peace again. And so God’s people waited. Generation after generation, God’s people looked for the Savior. The promised Savior, simply, was God. God became human in the person of Jesus Christ almost 2,000 years ago. He rescued the people by his life, death, and resurrection (being raised to life). He lived a perfect life as the Son of God. His life was unique: He enjoyed and obeyed God perfectly, without sin. This led to his death on the cross. We use red to represent the blood that Jesus shed to cover the sins of mankind.

BUT! The grave couldn’t hold Jesus. Three days later Jesus emerged from His tomb, fulfilling His earthly mission to defeat sin by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. Just as God promised! The promise made was a promise kept.

The promise kept through Jesus pointed to the greatest unexpected rescue in history. Jesus sets us free from sin to worship and obey God just as we were originally designed.

God’s story is written so that everything lost in the Fall was restored for us through Jesus. One day, God will make all things new. It is promised to all who have put their faith in Jesus Christ’s perfect life, atoning death, and conquering resurrection. The key to this ending is being Forever with God. Imagine having a complete relationship with Jesus, the One who loved us and died for us, spending forever with him and others with an unbroken relationship. Jesus wipes our slate clean of sin, allowing us to be forever with God. We use white to represent being made clean.

God is inviting you to be part of the story He is writing throughout the ages to come. He is offering salvation to you today, which is your invitation to the rescue God offers. If you would like to know more, we would like to help. Please click here to contact us:  (https://www.bethanyplace.com/contact-us/)

What’s next? GROW!  We use green to represent growing in our relationship with God.  Here are some specific ways we can grow:

  • Talk with God: Talking with God is a way to get to know Him more. He is always ready to listen and spend time with you. This is known as prayer.
  • Read the Bible: The Bible is the story of God’s love for His people. This is another way to get to know God better through understanding His message to us.
  • Find a community: Church and community is a way of getting connected with others who have also trusted in the rescue of God. We need each other for growth and encouragement.
  • Tell your story: Share this news with everyone! Let them hear the amazing story of God’s love and rescue and how it changed your life.

This story was developed by Jessica and used by the Yellow Hat team during Trunk or Treat to help share the gospel. It is a combination of the Wordless book and The Story method put together.

I am grateful to have experienced my first Bethany Place Trunk or Treat. It was like none other that I have experienced. May the glory be to God as we had: 16 Professions of Faith, 5 Interested in our church, 1078 Guests, and over 100 Volunteers. Thank you all who were willing to volunteer and shine the light…chasing away darkness!

-Jessica

PS: We have a Bethany Place Group for The Story method if you would like to join. Here is the link:  JoinGroup.org/BethanyPlace.