The story of the Old Testament is the story of a people who rejected God and a God who fought to win them back. It’s the story of a people who were promised hope and a better future, and yet they chose their own way. It is the story of a people who rejected God as King, established their own kingdom, and in the end, watched their own kingdom fall.

In the story of God and His people, there is only room for one kingdom. In this story, there is only room for one King.

Jesus made it clear throughout his ministry that what God had done in the past, the old covenant, has no compatibility with what God was launching, the new covenant.

So what do we, New Testament followers of Jesus, do with what came before? What do we do with the Old Testament, the stories, prophecies, and more specifically the law that God gave to Moses?

The story of the Exodus, of the Passover, is the story of a people that chose their own way, had been enslaved in a foreign land, and left hopeless. It’s the story of a God who rescues His people, at any cost, even the price of His own life. The story of a sacrificial lamb and freedom. It’s our story.

It’s one of the best known, seemingly crazy, stories of the Old Testament: A group of people who build a tower to get to Heaven, to make their names great. But what if the story we were told is wrong? What if the story of God’s wrath on human ambition is really the story of God’s grace and love in the face of our own failings and shortcomings?

At Babel we find a God who lets humanity choose our own way. Even when we don’t choose the God who made us, God pursues us and is working behind the scenes of our mess to write the greatest story ever told.

The story of the flood is a classic Bible story that many of us have heard over and over since childhood. But what if we were told an incorrect version of the story? What if Noah wasn’t the blameless person that Sunday School teachers made him out to be? What if Noah was just like us?

Humanity’s first story is the story of the God who made us, knows us, and loves us even after we chose rebellion against Him.

With a tree we chose a rebellion, and with a tree He purchased our forgiveness. Before we ever sinned God had a plan to bring us back, because the One who knows us most loves us best.

Time, space, and matter all had a beginning. This story we are a part of had a beginning. In the beginning was God, He spoke into nothing, and out of nothing all things were made. In the beginning God made.

We all love a good story. But the greatest stories of all don’t just tell a single story; they weave multiple narratives and storylines throughout the overarching grand storyline.

Great stories are complex, and at the same time simple. What’s true of our favorite stories, movies, and books is true of the story of Scripture.

The Bible is the most read, misunderstood, loved, and hated book ever. There is no other book like it. There is no other book that makes the claims that it makes. No other book has made the impact that it has or has contributed more to the human story.

What is the Bible? Why does it matter, or should it matter? And what does that mean for me today?

If prayer mattered to Jesus, prayer should matter to us. His example and instruction teach three keys to build the habit of prayer into our daily lives.