He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over.”
Joshua 4:21–23a

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READ: Joshua 4:10–24

Who doesn’t love a good story? Screenplay writers and novelists alike understand that our brains and hearts are wired for story, and they craft stories with remarkably similar plot lines: a hero battles an antagonist to overcome a challenge and reach a satisfying ending (called a denouement in the writing world).

Jesus understood the power of stories to capture people’s hearts, which is why His sermons frequently included parables. He used parables to teach values and principles in a way that would grab the emotions of his listeners. One of Jesus’ most well-known stories is the Parable of the Lost Son (or The Prodigal Son). No doubt Jesus understood that if people could connect emotionally with the characters in this story, they would then resonate with the hero’s plight and embrace the principle or lesson He was teaching.

The people of Israel loved a good story, too. They embraced an oral tradition of storytelling, passing down the history of Israel by retelling significant stories to their kids and grandkids. Significant events like Joseph becoming Pharaoh’s top leader and saving Israel from a massive famine; Israel’s flight from Egypt; and the crossing of the Red Sea with Moses were no doubt stories that Joshua’s people had heard countless times. And now, they’d have a new story to pass to new generations: their own crossing of the Jordan River with Joshua.

You can be sure that the children who watched those waters part and crossed that river on dry ground would never forget what God had done for them. They would tell their own kids this story someday, and the pillar of stones that Joshua instructed the twelve men to erect in the river would be their physical reminder of that event for generations to come. And here we are—3,4316 years later—still telling the story!

A STORY OF THEN & NOW

Keep Showing Up | Denise J. | Willow South Barrington

I was in eighth grade when I stood before my church and was asked, “Do you believe Jesus is your Lord and Savior?” They hadn’t prepared me for the question, but I knew my answer mattered. “Yes,” I replied. That moment started my journey of truly following Christ.

When we moved to the Chicago area a few years later, I joined a Bible study where I met a few kids who attended Son City—the youth group in Park Ridge that would become Willow Creek.

Son City gained traction, and soon we were renting buses from Palatine High School to bring kids with us. I jumped into a Son City leadership role and led the girl’s Green Team (we divided the schools by colors). Eventually I helped launch Willow Creek in the Palatine movie theater. We raised money for rent and equipment by selling tomatoes to our neighbors and talking to them about our dreams for a different kind of church. I watched God build a church out of our faith and our desire to show He is relevant to everybody.

In the middle of it all, my mom passed away, and as the oldest, I took on more responsibility at home. Willow became my spiritual family. There, I found depth of Bible teaching, solid friendships, and a place to serve—whether leading small groups, helping launch neighborhood ministries, or just showing up. I even met my husband at Willow—he was the roommate of one of the guys leading a men’s small group. Over the coming decades, even through seasons when things at church got difficult, I stayed—not because of any one person, but because God is bigger than any of our mistakes, and He wants the body of Christ to keep showing up. I’ve seen God’s faithfulness in every season—through community, hard conversations, answered prayers, and wild dreams. God is faithful, and Willow is where He’s shown His faithfulness to me again and again.

DID YOU KNOW?

Jesus, the ultimate storyteller, told a whopping 40+ different stories (parables) that are recorded in the Gospels. In Luke 15 alone, Jesus told three different parables, all with a similar theme: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost Son. In each, the humble hero loses something of infinite value, stopping at nothing until they find what was lost. Three stories, three heroes, one satisfying outcome. For listeners then and now, Jesus’ message is clear: God will stop at nothing until His lost ones are found and brought home to Him.

A PRAYER

What story in your family gets told and retold for the next generation? What do you think new listeners take from this story? What story of God’s work in your life would you like the next generation to hear?

FOR REFLECTION

What story in your family gets told and retold for the next generation? What do you think new listeners take from this story?

What story of God’s work in your life would you like the next generation to hear?