{"id":13926,"date":"2026-01-29T16:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T21:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/?p=13926"},"modified":"2026-01-29T16:38:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T21:38:44","slug":"the-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/2026\/01\/the-story.html","title":{"rendered":"THE STORY"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/garycombsorg.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/01\/The-Story-Logo-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13925\" style=\"width:394px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/garycombsorg.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/01\/The-Story-Logo-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/garycombsorg.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/01\/The-Story-Logo-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/garycombsorg.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/01\/The-Story-Logo-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/garycombsorg.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/01\/The-Story-Logo-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/garycombsorg.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/01\/The-Story-Logo-1.jpg 1921w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Every one of us is trying to make sense of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why are we here? Why does beauty exist alongside so much brokenness? Why do we long for justice, love, and meaning \u2014 and yet struggle with guilt, suffering, and death? Scientists search for a \u201cTheory of Everything,\u201d a single explanation for how the universe works. But even the best equations can\u2019t tell us why the human heart aches for hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s where the Bible comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beginning February 1, we\u2019re starting a new 12-week sermon series called&nbsp;<strong>\u201cTHE STORY: How the Bible Explains Everything.\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;This series is a journey through the grand, sweeping storyline of Scripture \u2014 not just isolated Bible stories, but one unified story from beginning to end. From the first words of Genesis to the final vision in Revelation, we\u2019ll see that the Bible is telling one coherent, life-changing story about God, humanity, and redemption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each week, we\u2019ll explore a major turning point in that story:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>#1 The Creation (and the Fall) &#8211; Genesis 1-3<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#2 The Catastrophe (Flood) &#8211; Genesis 6-8<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#3 The Covenant (Abraham) &#8211; Genesis 15<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#4 The Crossing (Exodus) &#8211; Exodus 14-15<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#5 The Commandments &#8211; Exodus 19-20<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#6 The Conquest &#8211; Joshua 21-24<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#7 The Crown (David) &#8211; 2 Samuel 7<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#8 The Captivity (Exile) &#8211; 2 Kings 24-25, Daniel 1<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#9 The Christ\u00a0 &#8211; John 1:1\u201318<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#10 The Cross (It\u2019s empty now) &#8211; Mark 15-16<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#11 The Church &#8211; Acts 2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#12 The Consummation &#8211; Revelation 21<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn\u2019t just history. It\u2019s&nbsp;<em>our<\/em>&nbsp;story. The Bible explains why the world is both glorious and grievous, why we feel both dignity and shame, and why Jesus stands at the center of all human history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ll begin with&nbsp;<strong>Genesis 1\u20133: \u201cThe Creation (and the Fall).\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;In this opening message, we\u2019ll discover that we were made on purpose, in God\u2019s image, for relationship with Him \u2014 and we\u2019ll also see how sin fractured everything. If we don\u2019t understand the beginning, we won\u2019t understand ourselves, our world, or our need for a Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how you can get the most out of this series:<br>\ud83d\udcd6 Read the upcoming Scripture before Sunday.<br>\ud83d\udd01 Read it again afterward and reflect on what you heard.<br>\ud83d\udc65 Bring your questions and insights to your Community Group.<br>\u26ea Make worship a weekly priority so you can follow the whole journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Come be part of the journey through&nbsp;<strong>THE STORY<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014 the true story that explains everything, and invites you to find your place in what God is doing in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every one of us is trying to make sense of our lives. Why are we here? Why does beauty exist alongside so much brokenness? Why do we long for justice, love, and meaning \u2014 and yet struggle with guilt, suffering, and death? Scientists search for a \u201cTheory of Everything,\u201d a single explanation for how the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[2022,2070,2052,2987,2281,2097],"location":[],"class_list":["post-13926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","tag-bible","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-metanarrative","tag-scripture","tag-story"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/garycombsorg.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/01\/The-Story-Logo-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13926"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13929,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13926\/revisions\/13929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13926"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=13926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}