10 of those

Outside your window, music bleeding through the walls, sirens at all hours—you start tuning it out. But even when you stop noticing it, the city’s noise is still affecting you, shaping your everyday life. 

In the same way, we live in a culture that’s constantly telling us stories—stories about who we are, what matters, and how to be happy. Even when we don’t notice them, they’re shaping us. These cultural narratives help us make sense of ourselves and our world. These are the stories we live by, the scripts we inherit, the frameworks we rely on to tell us who we are and how to live. 

Making Sense of Us is a 7-week video curriculum that helps young and newer Christians, and even non-Christians, explore key narratives that have shaped Western culture. You’ll see how these stories fall short, and how the one true story of the gospel fulfills our deepest longings. 

• Explore key narratives that have shaped Western culture—our stories about self, happiness, science, justice, liberty, and progress.
• See how the gospel answers common cultural longings. Understand why people in our culture find these stories compelling, and learn to share how the gospel speaks a better word.
• Learn on your own or with your church. This 7-week video curriculum is suitable for individuals, groups, or church-wide study. 

Making Sense of Us is a timely and captivating study. It’s rare in that it balances timeless wisdom with clear application for the pressing issues of our day. I agree wholeheartedly with its theme—namely, that our culture offers counterfeit stories of identity and meaning, but only the gospel fulfills our deepest longings.

—Sean McDowell, PhD, professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, author of more than 20 books, and a popular YouTuber

If you’ve ever wondered how to think critically and biblically about the stories the culture tells, and how to tell a better story, this resource is for you. Each teacher helps us consider how our greatest longings ultimately lead us to the only One who truly satisfies. I can’t recommend this resource enough.

—Vanessa Hawkins, author and director of community life at Redeemer Lincoln Square, New York City

It’s tough to imagine a better lineup than the one TGC has put together here. Each of these leaders is an expert in reading both the Bible and our culture. The spirit of Tim Keller—and behind him, Lesslie Newbigin—is alive and well in them. Each cultural narrative is explained simply yet with enough of a twist that you’re left going, “Wow, that was fresh and profound.”

—J. D. Greear, pastor of the Summit Church and author of Everyday Revolutionary: How to Transcend the Culture War and Transform the World

Christianity’s influence on our society is undeniable and invaluable. The values our modern society holds most dear, and the goals it wants to progress toward, find their foundation in the fundamental ascendancy of the Christian worldview. Supposing progress—or any cultural longing—can exist apart from Christian values is a pie-in-the-sky pipe dream. As Glen Scrivener skillfully highlights in his Making Sense of Us lesson, it’s because we are, knowingly or not, immersed in a Christianized society that our desires make sense to begin with.

—Wes Huff, historian, researcher, YouTuber, and vice president with Apologetics Canada

We are shaped by the stories we believe. Sadly, we’re also surrounded by false narratives that leave us confused, longing, and hopeless. Making Sense of Us examines six of the most common of these narratives and helps us see them in light of the biblical storyline—the true, good, and beautiful story God has given to us. Each author skillfully shows us how we can anchor our lives more deeply to the only narrative that gives life.

—Courtney Doctor, Bible teacher, director of women’s initiatives for The Gospel Coalition, and author of books such as From Garden to Glory and In View of God’s Mercies.

Making Sense of Us is such a timely resource. Engaging with six stories central to Western culture, the study combines theological wisdom, evangelistic creativity, and historical insight with a compelling presentation. It will help people make sense of the world around them, their neighbors, and themselves.

—Andrew Wilson, teaching pastor at King’s Church, London

What story are you living in? When doing both Christian evangelism and discipleship today, we’d do well to start with that question. We’re drawn into stories of courage and honor, friendship and failure, good and evil, and suffering and hope because they speak to our deepest desires and fears. The problem is that the cultural narratives that script our lives have dangerous and deadly plot holes. While unmasking these cultural narratives, the teachers in Making Sense of Us neither wag their fingers in condemnation nor shrug their shoulders in passivity. Instead, with clarity and wisdom, they point us to the gospel story. There we see how Jesus crucifies these false narratives then brings them back to life, redeeming them as subplots in the greatest story ever told. 

—Josh Chatraw,Billy Graham chair of evangelism and cultural engagement at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama

Cultures, communities, and individual lives are shaped by the stories that surround us, but sometimes these narratives can be hidden beneath the surface. Making Sense of Us carefully teases out the stories forming us, then examines each one from the perspective of the Christian metanarrative.

—Timothy Paul Jones, PhD, C. Edwin Gheens endowed chair and professor of Christian family ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and author of Did the Resurrection Really Happen?

The videos are cinematic and compelling. The workbook is clear and accessible. Either in a class or a small-group setting, Making Sense of Us will serve both seekers and followers who want to understand their world and take next steps as followers of Jesus. I can’t wait to use this in my church!

—Seth Troutt, teaching pastor at Ironwood Church, Mesa, Arizona