Watermark Bible Church, Portsmouth, Virginia

If you’re married you remember your engagement story – that special moment when the proposal was made and the response was given. This week as we continue our series, Long Story Short, we will be studying a beautiful love story. It’s the story of Ruth and Boaz. We’ll see how they met, the proposal, and their marriage. Their story full of love and redemption will become very important for Israelites and the world.

This will be an exciting week. Joining us are Justin and Rachel Rhoades, missionaries to London. They will share how God used them to lead a dying church in a spiritually dying area back toward health and vitality. After that, we will continue our series, Long Story Short. We left with Joshua prompting Israel to use who they would serve. We will see their choice as the story continues through the book of Judges.

We all things in like that we like and don’t like. Styles of music, food, sports teams, and more highlight our preferences. Maybe we do the same thing with the Bible. Parts that we prefer and parts that we don’t like as much. We’ll see both this Sunday and perhaps it will be the part we don’t like that is the most meaningful.

Have you ever taken a wrong turn? We all have. Sometimes it's just missing an exit on the interstate; other times we end up miles and miles off course. This week, as we follow the Israelites, we'll watch as they veer way off course. The results of their wrong turn are staggering, but behind those results are great reminders for us today.

Do you know how many laws we have in our country? Do you know how many laws formed the legal structure for God’s people, Israel? One of those questions was much easier than the first. As we continue tracing the major storyline of the Bible we’ll explore a new covenant with new commands. That covenant reveals a lot about God’s character and ours.

Sometimes we can read the accounts of the Bible and be tempted to wonder if God still works like that today. Did you know the people during the Bible times struggled with the exact same thing. We’ll see that as we continue our series Long Story Short. I hope the big story of the Scripture is beginning to be etched into your heart.

We all know too much about broken promises. There have been times when we’ve failed to keep our word, or someone failed to keep their word to us. Sometimes it might even seem justifiable. As we continue our series, Long Story Short, we’ll watch with wonder how God protects the promised covenant he made with Abraham. It would seem justifiable to make an amendment, but he doesn’t. This section reminds us again of God’s overwhelming grace.

We’ve all been stuck in traffic jams. Sometimes they make us a few minutes late, other times we miss meetings or appointments altogether. In those moments of waiting and feeling stuck I think most of us would confess we don’t wait well. As we continue tracing the big picture of the Bible, we’ll see that even as God begins his rescue plan, we struggle to wait well.

Have you ever been way up high? Maybe on top of a mountain, or a tower, or in an airplane? When you look down from there people look like ants. Cars and houses look like toys. On a clear day you can see for miles. It’s amazing what a change of perspective does. Most of the time as we study the Scripture we look at the details. We study a paragraph or two and then move to the next several paragraphs. We see what’s right in front of us. During our next series, Long Story Short, we are going to be whisked way up high to gain a birds-eye view of the scriptures. We’re going to see how these 66 books written by over 40 different human authors all fit together. We’ll gain a framework of understanding to recognize how each Bible story fits into the larger Biblical narrative. It’s going to be a fun ride and by the end this change of perspective will help you see the threads that weave the scripture together. You’ll gain renewed confidence that God knows what He’s doing and you’ll see that you can trust Him in the chaos of life.

This week we wrap up our series titled, The Table. I hope this study has deepened your understanding and appreciation of how the table symbolizes God’s provision for you and His presence with you. The table is this exclamation that yes, God can prepare a table amid your messiness. It’s a reminder that there is no more altar, Jesus paid it all. We’ve seen that we aren’t merely served from a table, we’re invited to the table. I hope you’ve walked away with those as well as other insights.