The Story of God Series by Kenneth Padgett and Shay Gregorie

Summary

The Story of God with Us does a very brief “fly-over” of the Bible, concentrating on points of God dwelling with His people or where His people turn from Him: The Garden, The Tower of Babel, Abraham, King David’s reign, the exile, Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection. It then looks forward to the Holy City in eternity. The phrase that is repeated often throughout the book is “So He could dwell with us, and we with Him. Always and forever, world without end.”

Continuing in The Story of God series, Our King again traces the story of redemption but focuses on how God is a king unlike any other earthly king, who will have His people reign with Him someday. The stanza that is repeated throughout the book is, “He’s a King like no other, defender and friend. Always and forever, world without end!”

The Story of God Our Savior finished the series by showing through the story of redemption how all people desperately need a savior, and how Christ is that Savior. The repeated phrase is, “He’s abounding in love, a Savior who mends! Always and forever, world without end!”

About the series, the author says, “The Story of God series is a collection of picture books that allow the reader and hearer to explore the whole biblical story in one sitting. Each book traces an important and foundational theological theme from Genesis to Revelation. Our hope is that Story of God series will increase biblical literacy, cultivate a biblical imagination, and kindle a life-long love for the God of the Bible.”

Mom Thoughts

These stunningly illustrated picture books will captivate any child or adult’s attention with their gorgeously detailed artwork and poetic-like text. These are also large books, which makes quite a visual statement. While these are a “10,000-foot overview” of scripture, the authors’ goals are clear: to show how even though mankind constantly runs from God, His plan to rescue His people will not fail. He made us to be with Him, He is our good King and Savior. I also love how this helps children to see scripture as one large, continuing story. This is a publisher that takes very seriously the art in their books, and each one is truly a visual masterpiece. I also appreciate that each book makes its own way through the redemption story, but takes a different focus each time. They can be read individually or as a set.

Something to note: on the last pages of book one, there is a line of text that says, “Listen for his voice. It may come with the power of 1000 falling mountains or like cool rain on dry ground. It may come with the gentleness of a snowflake landing, or without even the slightest sound.” When I asked the author to expand on his thoughts here, this is what he said, “So, we’re mainly talking about hearing God in the Bible, and even in this still-unfolding-story God is with us and he speaks to us through the Spirit (still, mainly through the written word). The statement is not so much about an audible voice, but about an imagination that is soaked in Scripture and a heart that is filled with the Spirit. I would also say that God is “speaking” in creation. An awe-inspiring sunset is silent, but it beckons us to worship. Also, each one of those was an allusion to the story as it unfolded in our book. The promise to Abraham came with “the power of a thousand falling mountains”; The promise to David came like “a heavy rain on thirsty land”; the arrival of Jesus in the clear silent night came like “a gentleness of a snowflake landing just before an avalanche.”