The Big Story | Acts - The Mission Begins

The Big Story | The End - The Story Isn't Over

The Story Isn't Over: Living the Big Story Right Now Show Notes: We made it to the end. But the story isn't finished — not for us. In this final episode of the Big Story series, Lisa brings the whole journey together and asks the question every good story demands: so now what? This week we saw Jesus revealed in his full glory. We stood before the great white throne. We watched the New Jerusalem descend from heaven and heard God promise to wipe every tear from his people's eyes. And we came home — to a river, a tree, the face of God, and a world made whole. What was lost in Genesis 3 has been restored in Revelation 22. That is the story. It is the truest story ever told. And it is our story. So now we live it. Lisa offers a set of practical anchors for carrying this week's vision — and this entire series — into everyday life. How do we live as people who know how the story ends? How do we resist anxiety when we remember what's coming? How do we bring previews of the new creation into the present through acts of generosity, reconciliation, beauty, and faithful work? And then there's this: the story is meant to be told. Not everyone knows that there is a God who created them on purpose, who has been pursuing them relentlessly, and who has made a way for them to come home. You don't need a seminary degree to share it. You just need to tell someone what God has done — in scripture and in your life. Live It Out: * Live as someone who belongs to the King — trust him completely, obey him fully, seek his righteousness even when the world pulls in a different direction * When anxiety creeps in, return to the promise: God will make all things new. Let that hope replenish what fear tries to take * Look for ways to bring glimpses of the new creation into the present — an act of generosity, a word of reconciliation, a moment of beauty, a display of creativity or faithful work * Worship regularly — not out of obligation, but out of the overflow of knowing who God is and what he has done Tell the Story: Who in your world needs to hear that this story has a good ending — and that they are invited into it? Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]

The Big Story | The End - Back to the Garden

Back to the Garden: How the Story Ends Where It Began Scripture: Revelation 22:1–5 Show Notes: If you've been with the Big Story since the beginning, today's passage is going to feel like coming home. In Revelation 22, John's vision takes us deeper into the new Jerusalem — and what he sees there is unmistakable. A river. A tree. The presence of God. No curse. We've been here before. This is the garden. In Genesis 2, God planted a garden with a river running through it and placed the tree of life at its center. He walked with Adam and Eve there — present, known, loving. Then it was lost. The curse fell. Cherubim with a flaming sword were stationed to guard the way to the tree of life. That was Week 1 of the Big Story. We have traveled the entire Bible since then. And now, at the end of all things, here is the river again. Here is the tree again — bearing twelve crops of fruit, its leaves for the healing of the nations. The cherubim are gone. The flaming sword is gone. The curse has been lifted forever. And they will see his face. No veil. No barrier. No mediator needed. Face to face with God — not the way Moses had to be hidden in the cleft of the rock, but directly, truly, without anything in the way. Lisa closes this episode with one of the most beautiful observations of the entire series: the Big Story begins with rivers and ends with a river. It begins with a tree of life and ends with a tree of life. It begins with God walking among his people and ends with God dwelling among his people forever. This is not a coincidence. This is what God has been doing all along. In this episode: * How Revelation 22 mirrors Genesis 2 — and why that's intentional * What it means that the tree of life is no longer guarded * Why "they will see his face" is one of the most staggering promises in all of scripture * How God's original design for humanity — to reign over creation — is fully restored in the new creation Reflection prompt: Think back to where you were when this series began. What has changed in how you see God — his character, his faithfulness, his love — after walking the whole Big Story? Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]

The Big Story | The End - Everything New

He Will Make Everything New: The Promise of the New Creation Scripture: Revelation 21:1–7, 22–27 Show Notes: The Big Story has never been just about judgment. From the very first moment things went wrong in the garden, God has been working not only to hold humanity accountable — but to bring his people home. Today's episode is the one we've been building toward. In Revelation 21, John sees a new heaven and a new earth. The holy city, the New Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven from God — not built by human hands, but given as a gift. And then comes the voice from the throne: "Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people." He will wipe every tear from their eyes. No more death. No more mourning. No more crying or pain. The old order of things has passed away. Lisa reflects on why that detail — the city coming down — matters so much. This is not humanity climbing its way to heaven. This is God descending to his people. It's what he's always done: the tabernacle, Solomon's temple, the incarnation itself. And in the new creation, the distance closes completely. There is no temple, because God himself fills everything. The gates of the new city are never shut. The nations walk by God's light. The glory and honor of human culture — art, music, creativity, work — is gathered in and offered purely to God's glory. This is not the destruction of what humans have made. It is its redemption. In this episode: * Why the New Jerusalem coming down is one of the most important details in Revelation 21 * What it means that there is no temple in the new creation — and why that's good news * How God redeems human culture rather than discarding it * What "sturdy, weight-bearing hope" looks like when you actually believe this is where the story ends Reflection prompt: What is making you anxious, angry, or sad right now? Bring it before this passage. God has answered — and his answer is: "I am making everything new." Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]

The Big Story | The End - The Great White Throne

Nothing Is Hidden: God's Justice and the Book of Life Scripture: Revelation 20:11–15 Show Notes: We live in a world where it can feel like people get away with things. The powerful cover their tracks. The vulnerable are silenced. Justice gets delayed, diluted, or denied. And something deep inside us knows — this isn't right. That instinct is not just cultural. It's God-given. We are made in the image of a just God, and something in us knows that wrongs must be accounted for. Today, Lisa takes us to one of the most sobering scenes in all of scripture: the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20. The dead, great and small — powerful and forgotten, rich and poor — stand before the one seated on the throne. Books are opened. Every deed is recorded. Every wrong is laid bare. No justification survives this courtroom. No wealth buys a lighter sentence. No influence silences a victim's testimony. But this passage is not only about judgment. It's also about the mercy that runs alongside it. God's justice and God's mercy both find their answer at the cross — and in this episode, Lisa explains why the only thing that separates the condemned from the forgiven is whether a name is written in the Book of Life. The enemy who has been deceiving and destroying since the Garden of Eden also faces his final sentence here. He loses completely and permanently. In this episode: * Why the human longing for justice is not a flaw — it's a reflection of the God we're made in the image of * How God's mercy and justice both meet at the cross — and what that means for the great white throne * Why no "not guilty" verdict rings out for anyone, and what the Book of Life actually is * The question the passage leaves every listener with: who in your life hasn't heard the good news yet? Reflection prompt: Is there a situation in your life — or in the world — where you've struggled to trust that God sees and that justice will come? Let today's passage speak to that. Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]

The Big Story | The End - The King Revealed

The King Revealed: Seeing Jesus in His Full Glory Scripture: Revelation 1:9–18 Show Notes: We made it. After months of walking through scripture from Genesis forward, we arrive at the final book of the Bible — Revelation. This week, Lisa opens the last chapter of the Big Story and what we find is breathtaking. In today's episode, the Apostle John — the same disciple who leaned against Jesus at the Last Supper, who stood at the foot of the cross, who ran to the empty tomb — receives a vision that changes everything. The carpenter from Nazareth is revealed as the risen, reigning King of the universe. Eyes like blazing fire. Feet like glowing bronze. A face like the sun shining in full brilliance. This is not the Jesus of a Sunday school flannel board. This is the Lord of all creation in his unfiltered glory — and John falls at his feet as though dead. But the king knows him by name. And his first words are: "Do not be afraid." In this episode, Lisa reflects on what it means that the Jesus we've followed through the Gospels — eating with sinners, weeping at tombs, holding children — has always been this. He is the First and the Last, the Living One who was dead and is now alive forever, holding the keys of death and Hades. Sin and death do not have the final word. Jesus does. In this episode: * How John's encounter with the glorified Jesus fits a pattern seen throughout scripture (Moses at the burning bush, Isaiah in the temple, Israel at Sinai) * What the symbols in Revelation 1 actually mean — the lampstands, the golden sash, the double-edged sword * Why the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2–3 could have been written to any church in any century, including ours * What it means to give Jesus not just our affection, but our allegiance Reflection prompt: The Jesus we've been following through the Gospels has always been this. How does seeing him in his full glory change how you relate to him today? Hear the message for this week's devotional on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney [https://www.youtube.com/@ChristFellowshipMcKinney] Get the written devotional at: https://cfhome.org/EGD [https://cfhome.org/EGD] If you are in the North Dallas area and would like to join us for services each week, you can find all the information at https://cfhome.org. [https://cfhome.org]