The Big God Story

Recently our church decided to embark on the journey of changing our curriculum for k-5th grade students to Tru Curriculum, by David C Cook. This change dovetailed into our increased focus on resourcing families and the energy we are putting toward family ministry. As the lead staff member responsible for our children's ministry curriculum, I knew this challenge would be seismic for our volunteers, staff team, kids, and parents; however I dramatically underestimated the change my own family would experience as a result of the intentionality of using the Tru curriculum.In order to prepare, I purchased a copy of The Big God Story resource. Then a couple of weeks ago I took the book home to read to my daughters (Isabel -5 and Sofia - 4). I wanted Isabel and Sofia to experience the beauty of the language and the amazing illustrations over time, so I stretched out the experience of reading the book over several nights. We would read the story together before bedtime. Nighttime reading has been a longtime tradition, but both of the girls seemed to be particularly interested in finishing The Big God Story.One night, we were finishing an experiment with apples and lemon juice. The girls were sitting on the floor in our upstairs bathroom, enjoying the crisp, tart apple slices. Since bedtime was drawing near, I thought it would be a great time to finish The Big God Story. I opened up the book and read from the time of the 400-year silence through the end where celebration of the new heaven and new earth was revealed. I got to the final page and read it's invitation to take an individual place in the big God story and my daughter Sofie asked excitedly, "How can I do that?".We talked about sins and forgiveness and making Jesus her Savior. Then we gathered together and she prayed by herself, her eyes shut so tight as she stood on the bathroom stool, "God, I want to be part of your story...."As I took a moment to reflect on the experience later in in the evening, I realized that Sofie knows so much about the Bible. She has been in church her entire life. We read God's Word together, we pray together, my wife and I ask her questions about her experiences in church. There is no doubt that at four years old, Sofie knew the stories but somehow she had missed THE story. And once THE story was told to her in words she could understand, she had to be part of it, there was no choice but to join it's sweeping movement, to be completely caught up in the story God is telling and the part she is to play. And the heavens rejoiced when her name was penned into the Book of Life.If you're a parent or a children's ministry leader, I cannot more highly recommend Michelle Anthony's book The Big God Story.FYI - David C Cook provided me with a complimentary copy of The Big God Story for reviewing purposes (long after I had already bought the book and read it to my kids).

I LOVE this book. Like the title says, its the BIG picture of the Bible. The illustrations are BEAUTIFUL I have bought three of these for gifts and one for myself.

My family has loved this book. The author does a wonderful job of sharing the Gospel in a concise, child friendly manner. My 7 year old son was able to read most of the words in this book. Some of the names and places he needed a little help. We have taken turns reading it around the dinner table and always leads to great conversation. I got this at a reduced priced ($4), but is well worth the full price. This will be a keeper in our children book collection, to be passed down to grandchildren.

I bought this book to go along with some curriculum from David C. Cook, and absolutely fell in love with this book! This is a wonderful way to show children all the amazing things that God through the ages, but in a way that kids could "get it." The invitation at the end is to ask children to be part of this story as well, children really respond well to it. I read this in my Sunday School and it was a hit, the kids were so excited about this book.I will make it available at my resource table at church, it's a great tool for parents who are interested in building into their children's spiritual lives.

The Big God Story is definitely worth the buy. It makes the entire bible a narrative that is understandable as a whole. Sin entered the world and God had promised to bring a redeemerwho is Jesus. To be honest, great for adults to understand the big picture of the Bible too.

This is an amazing book which highlights key stories in the Bible with God being the main character .

Great for young children to help them "summarize" the main points of the bible. Sets the stage for more in-depth bible study for older kids nicely.

Great children's book. Great illustrations and a wonderful way to teach children how God used all kinds of people in His story.

not as good as I thought it wpould be - very simple

I don't have kids yet, but if I had kids, I would tell them this wonderful story! :)The drawings are beautiful.