This weekend we continue with The Story Project series by stepping back to look at THE Story – God’s Grand Story of the Bible. The age-old question to explore as we do is, “How do I make sense of a story thousands of years in the making, one that takes place in lands far away?” And most importantly, “What does that story – the story of the Bible – have to do with my story??”

This week’s story is all about community, and how community becomes family – which is one of our 5 Guiding Commitments at Cape Cod Church (“We create community that becomes family”). Why is that so important? Because, as the US Surgeon General has stated it, we are currently experiencing “an epidemic of loneliness.” So how do we create community that becomes family? An unusual story from the book of Acts about “the most controversial visitor to ever visit a church” shows us four ways it happens.

As Pastor Tim Keller wrote, “We are future-oriented beings.” We want to see our lives as part of a story – a good story. In fact, that’s the way God made us: as creatures who want to live out a good and “full” life story. Unfortunately, our stories all include “chapters” that we’d rather have left out – chapters of suffering and pain. These chapters make us ask, “Why is suffering a part of the story?”