All books, and all stories, have a beginning and an ending. The Bible starts with, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” If we flip to the last book of the Bible, Revelation, the second to last chapter, it says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” That begs a question. What on earth happened? Why does there have to be a new heaven and a new earth? The answer to that question, and to many more, are found in the pages between those two books.

Many people think the Bible is a complex book. It is something that is hard to understand, has strange names, and weird places. It looks as if it has random events that were thrown together. It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. But in the pages of the Bible, there’s just one story. It’s God’s story of His relentless pursuit to be in a loving relationship with His people.

Beginning Sunday, Sept. 3, Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church at 1900 Pine Street in Sandpoint will embark on a 32-week journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Our goal is to see how God’s story shapes the daily journey of your story of life and faith. To do this, our weekly messages and Children’s Church during the service on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and our Adult Bible Class at 9 a.m. will all be focused on the same chapter from “The Story” for the week. In addition, our Pastor, Steve Heinsen, will sending out weekly text studies with greater details of the chapter we are reviewing. There will also be inserts in each week’s service folder with family and individual devotions for that chapter to be used at home. Copies of the book “The Story,” which are a series of selected readings from the Bible itself, are available at the church. You do not have to have the book to follow along. But it would be beneficial to guide you along the way.

Our goal is to connect with people in our community, wherever they are at in their walk with the Lord, to see how each person fits into God’s vision, plan, and story for His work among us. You are invited and welcome to walk along on this journey together. The Lord is working hard to connect people to Jesus in this community, and we would like to help you see how this is happening. It all begins with the introduction to “The Story” on Sunday, Sept. 3, at Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Sandpoint.