What's Next and Why Stories Create Great Containers for Truth

Hey, it's Shannon for a quick update on what's next in 2024. I have several exciting things to announce, plus the roadmap for what's coming in the coming months. 

We're welcoming Emily Jensen, Trillia Newbell, and Amy DiMarcangelo for our J-Term Series!

Get updates from Shannon: Here

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Transcript

Music: Cade Popkin

Shaped by God's Promises: Lessons from Sarah on Fear and Faith 
     {buy now}

Comparison Girl for Teens
     {buy now}

Transcript

Speaker 0: 1:37

Hey there, it's just Shannon. Today. I have not done an update episode in a while, so I just wanted to take a moment to tell you some of the exciting things coming up here on Live, like it's True in 2024. So the first thing is I have two books that will be launching this spring and summer, and so I've arranged for two podcast series that are gonna supplement the messages to both of those books, which I'll be telling you about in the coming months, but for just now, let me just share the titles. So first of all, we have Comparison Girl for Teens. This is a follow-up of my book Comparison Girl, a Bible study for women. The subtitle for the teen book is Thriving Beyond Measure in a World that Compares. It is co-authored by my friend Lee Neenehice and published by Kriegel. So if you have a teen that you love who might need this book, keep an eye out for an announcement coming in the spring. I can't wait to share that book with you.

Speaker 0: 2:42

The second book coming out later this late spring, early summer, is shaped by God's promises Lessons from Sarah on Faith and Fear. It's a six-week Bible study on the life of Sarah. So if you'd be interested in this study for yourself or your group. Make sure that you sign up for my regular emails so that you'll be alerted when the time is right. So, like I said, I have two series coming. I've recorded most of the interviews for both of these series one on what Jesus has to say about comparison and then the other on the life of Sarah, and both again, we're looking at in each episode, at a story in this series and asking how can we live like this? Story is true, but before all of that, we are going to jump into a J-term series. So do you know what J-term is? J-term stands for January term. It's a short three-part series of really great episodes that I was just bursting to share with you before we got started on these others, which will take us far into summer, so I just had to sneak in this little three-part series with three guests.

Speaker 0: 3:52

It's another standout series where my guests are selecting the story of the Bible that we will be discussing, and we're kicking off the first episode with Emily Jensen. We're gonna be talking about her new book he is Strong. So we're talking about a story from the life of Moses, a man who didn't feel very strong when God asked him to go and tell Pharaoh let my people go. So in this episode we're talking about our own weaknesses and what God thinks of them. It's just a fabulous episode. I know you're not gonna wanna miss it.

Speaker 0: 4:24

Then I have Trillia Neubel coming to talk about her new children's book and how to disciple the children we love with stories from the Bible. Then, last but not least, we have Amy DeMarangelo coming to talk with me about the story of the Good Samaritan, which is a story that she uses all throughout her new book. Go and Do Likewise a call to follow Jesus in a life of mercy and mission. We're gonna talk about how saying yes to mercy opportunities is risky but good. I just loved meeting with these three women and I know that each of these conversations is gonna stir your faith and invite you to live like the story of the Bible is true.

Speaker 0: 5:03

So before I let you go, I've just been thinking about how stories create containers for truth. They bundle up these profound truths in such a succinct way Like think about the Good Samaritan, which I'll be talking with Amy about. It's a story in my Bible. It's only 199 words under 200 words. That's like a couple of paragraphs in my Bible. And yet Amy's book is not the only volume written about this little story in our Bibles. I'll bet we could fill up entire shelves on our bookcases with all of the human authors who have tried to unpack this one story and grasp what it is teaching us about God and how we're to relate with each other.

Speaker 0: 5:44

It has so much truth. That's what stories do. Stories they're retrievable. They help you to remember. You're far more likely to remember a story than think about the last sermon that you listened to or the podcast or the book that you read.

Speaker 0: 5:59

Which is easiest to remember from that content? Is it not the stories? It's probably not the complicated, abstract truths, and I can't prove this, but I believe God uses stories to convey truth, because he first created us to be story-driven creatures. He made us. Doesn't it make sense that he would know how to best package up truth so that we will remember?

Speaker 0: 6:26

I like to think of each story as like a velvet pouch, you know, with a drawstring, and it's filled with all of these theological gems, and so when you learn the story, it's like gathering up treasure. Each story is like this little velvet pouch which holds it all together, and so, by filling the shelves of your mind with these stories. What you're doing is storing up truth that you can easily retrieve for yourself and give away, so I hope this motivates you to jump into my new J-term series episodes and the ones coming yet this spring, but also more than 50 episodes that we've now collected for you at Live Like it's True. Let's be people who know the story, share the story and live like the story is true.

Speaker 0: 7:08

Okay, I know I said just one more thing, but I have just one last thing to tell you. I'm so excited to announce that Live Like it's True is now part of Resound Media Network. Resound is a collection of podcasts and blogs and other resources, and their vision is to equip the church with resources that are faithful to the scripture and that promote fruitful ministry so the gospel of Jesus resounds across the world and at the generations. I hope that you'll go to resoundmediacc for more, and I'm just so excited to be part of their network.