Hopefully you didn’t watch the movie Titanic or Apollo 13 wondering what happens!
So why make a movie about it?

Why would we want to hear a story we already know?
Why retell history?

That’s the question we often face as Christians – why should we keep telling the same message?
Isn’t it outdated or obsolete?

During a fascinating interview, John Anderson and Jordan B. Peterson discussed the role of story and memory –
“The purpose of memory,” Doctor Peterson said, “is to extract out from the past, the lessons to structure the future.”
Memory is designed so we learn from the past, but only if we keep telling the story.
“Bring it forward,” he said, ”propagate it, make it the most noble possible story and then you will motivate people to transcend themselves.”

So you could argue that we need this story, we need the gospel.
It’s what we need to bring forward, to propagate, to spread.

That’s what Stephen does in Acts 7, he retells Israel’s history to Israel’s leaders.
He reminds them and us that:
God is at work in every season.
He is on the move, he always has been.
And he sent Jesus for people like you and me.

Don’t miss it,
don’t miss what he has done.

Don’t miss the story of history.
God works in unusual ways,
in unlikely places,
in the people you least expect.

We don’t need a new story, a new message, a new idea…
we need to be captivated by a God who is faithful, despite our unfaithfulness;
who has spoken and continues to speak;
has loved and continues to love;
who sent his son to be an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.

This is an adaptation from a sermon, you can listen to the full sermon here