Eldredge - Epic study guide: the story God is telling

EPIC

STUDY GUIDE

THE STORY GOD IS TELLING

JOHN ELDREDGE
with CRAIG MCCONNELL

Copyright 2007 John Eldredge

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, Attorneys and Counselors, Orange, California.

ISBN-10: 1-4185-0015-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-4185-0015-3

Printed in the United States of America.

07 08 09 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

I had always felt life first as a storyand if there is a story there is a story teller.

G. K . CHESTERTON

T his little study guide is offered to help you get the most out of the message of Epic. Were assuming that you are doing this as part of a group, perhaps in a class, a small group study, or a home fellowship. If youre going through this material alone, write out your answers to each of the questions as if you were journaling through your experience.

We recommend that you read the whole story of Epic before you start this study guide. After all, this about the Larger Story! Youll want to take it in before you explore it deeper.

Each weeks session will present a couple of excerpts and several questions for you to answer prior to your group time. Each session will also encourage your to think through and write out your story. Well also include some thoughts on the theology of each session, and the Scriptures referred to in the chapter being studied.

UTILIZING THE EPIC DVD

If possible, you may want to utilize the DVD presentation of the Epic material in conjunction with this study guide. This is a live presentation of the material by John Eldredge, and can really enhance your Epic experience. If youre doing this study in conjunction with your church, the DVD is available in the Epic Church Kit. You can also find Epic DVD in your local Christian bookstore or at www.thomasnelson.com.

If your group has access to this resource, we would suggest that you add a session on the front end of your group (making a total of seven sessions). Have your group gather, introduce one another and watch the 38-Minute Version on the Epic DVD, which is an introductory overview of the material by John. It will help everyone take in the whole story at once (which is usually the best way to take in a story). Follow up the viewing with a few simple interactive questions. A Facilitators Guide is included with the DVD to help you make the most of your experience!

There is a Larger Story. And you have a crucial role to play.

Ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of gloryto make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him endless energy, boundless strength! (Ephesians 1:1718MSG)

I wonder what sort of tale weve fallen into?

J. R . R . TOLKIEN, THE LORD OF THE RINGS

L ife, youll notice, is a story.

Life doesnt come to us like a math problem. It comes to us the way that a story does, scene by scene. You wake up. What will happen next? You dont get to knowyou have to enter in, take the journey as it comes. The sun might be shining. There might be a tornado outside. Your friends might call and invite you to go sailing. You might lose your job.

Life unfolds like a drama, doesnt it? Each day has a beginning and an end. There are all sorts of characters, all sorts of settings. A year goes by like a chapter from a novel. Sometimes it seems like a tragedy, sometimes a comedy. Mostly it feels like a soap opera. Whatever happens, its a story through and through. And when it comes to figuring out this life youre living, youd do well to know the rest of the story.

Have you viewed life, your life as an unfolding story? React to Johns thought: Life is a story.

John shares the story about a father coming home to his daughter and a damaged car to make the point that if we dont know the full story, we can easily jump to the wrong conclusion. What conclusions have you jumped to regarding God and his heart towards you that may be the result of you not knowing the full story?

Story is the language of the heart.

If you want to get to know someone, you need to know their story. Their life is a story. It, too, has a past and a future. It, too, unfolds in a series of scenes over the course of time. Why is Grandfather so silent? Why does he drink too much? Well, let me tell you. There was a terrible battle in World War II, in the South Pacific, on an island called Okinawa.Tens of thousands of American men died or were wounded there; some of them were your grandfathers best friends. He was there, too, and saw things he has never been able to forget.

How has hearing someone elses story changed the way you have looked at that person?

We humans share these lingering questions: Who am I really? Why am I here? Where will I find life? What does God want of me? The answers to these questions seem to come only when we know the rest of the story.

How would looking at life as a great Story change the way you live? What questions might it answer for you? Does it affect your understanding of Christianity?

WE HAVE LOST OUR STORY

If there is meaning to this life, then why do our days seem so random? What is this drama weve been dropped into the middle of? If there is a God, what sort of story is he telling here?

No wonder we keep losing heart. We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, often a confusing mixture of both, and we havent a clue how to make sense of it all.

Can you relate to this confusion? What part of your story has caused you to lose heart?

If our lives are a story, what kind of a story have you fallen into? Is it the kind of tale you have hoped for or dreamed of living? Why or why not?

THERE IS A LARGER STORY

I want you to notice that all the great stories pretty much follow the same story line. Things were once good, then something awful happened, and now a great battle must be fought or a journey taken. At just the right moment (which feels like the last possible moment), a hero comes and sets things right, and life is found again.

All of these stories borrow from the Story. From Reality. We hear echoes of it through our lives. Some secret written on our hearts. A great battle to fight, and someone to fight for us. An adventure, something that requires everything we have, something to be shared with those we love and need.