Many of us turn to the TV to watch a movie or two to keep us entertained. But have we really taken time to understand why the stories played out in movies engage us so fully? Abraham Debbarma, Pastor at the Manor Road Evangelical Church, explores how our need for a gripping story could lead us to the greatest story of all.

That’s why movies like Disney’s ‘Frozen’ 
or ‘The Lion King’ are some of the best. The characters and the plot magnetically 
pull you in, so much so that you might feel you are part of the story yourself.

It’s also why books such as Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ or C.S. Lewis’s ‘Narnia’ are still so sought after. In their 
books, Tolkien and Lewis weave stories 
about how light conquers darkness. How the wrong is made right. Through 
the tapestry of adversity and impending 
gloom, we see redemption. The truth 
always triumph the lies and the darkness.

We can’t escape our need for a good story. In fact, I believe we have been hardwired by our Creator to be drawn into stories, to enjoy them, and to relate to them.

I believe we have been built with this 
homing device in all of us that longs for justice, light and truth to triumph. That is why when we watch a powerful 
movie or read a gripping book our hearts draws us into the narrative.

They are like a sign-post pointing and directing us to a bigger story. The bigger story of a God who steps into a world filled with injustice, pain, suffering and death, in order to bring light and hope.

The bigger story of a Creator who will one day restore all things back to how they were always meant to be.

I remember watching the movie ‘I am Sam’ some time ago. It’s about a man with an intellectual disability who fights the system to have custody over his young daughter. I must admit it is hard not to shed tears when a story about a father’s love for his child is played out in front of you. I felt the pain and the hurt and the frustration more 
as a parent myself.

These ‘smaller’ stories move us because they are beautifully and intricately woven into the very fabric of the ‘greatest story’ ever told. The true story about the love of our Heavenly Father who would offer the ultimate sacrifice to bring us back to Himself.

Jesus came to tell us this greatest story. A story that you and I are invited into. This is how God showed his love among us:

“He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”
1
 John
 4:9

Abraham
 Debbarma

Pastor, Manor Road Evangelical Church