Genesis Series, Scripture Guide 1
Over the next three summers, as we work our way through the scroll of Genesis, we will dive into the practice of Scripture in our Communities. Because Jesus was immersed in, lived by, and ultimately lived out Scripture, we engage in this formational practice to learn how to recognize God's voice, to understand his character, and to find ourselves in the story of his world and mission to make all things new.
Leader note: Do you have a story from your Community’s time in the Generosity Practice you’d like to share? We would love to hear from you.
Take Communion (2 minutes)
Leader Note: Begin this time by taking communion together, whether as a full meal or some version of the bread and the cup before or after your meal. If you don’t already have a Communion liturgy, have someone read through the Psalm below.
Psalm 104v1–3, 33–34
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved…
I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord.
Read this Overview (5 minutes)
Most of us in this room likely have a Bible somewhere in our homes, or at least a Bible app on our phones. While what we call the Bible today presents to us as one big book, in reality it’s a whole library of texts—scrolls of different genres, communicating in distinct ways and addressing specific peoples. And while it may not have all been written to us, it is certainly still for us. We believe the Bible in all its variety and texture is part of a unified narrative—pointing backward to creation and forward to redemption through the person of Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we follow his lead in trusting the Scriptures around which he built his life.
As a church community, we will take the summer to slowly walk through Genesis 1–11, beginning with the story of Creation on the opening pages of the Bible. These chapters hold the Bible’s beautiful and tragic origin story, explaining the deceptive crisis and redemptive promise that are braided through the biblical drama.
The adventure of reading and engaging with Scripture is different for everyone, as we all have our own relationship to Scripture based on our individual experiences, backgrounds, and personalities. And with these unique differences in mind, each of us will commit to growing in our individual practices of Scripture throughout the next few months of this series.
Practice for the Night (25 minutes)
Tonight, we’ll spend some time together talking about our relationship with and practice of Scripture as it stands right now, and begin to discern where the Spirit might be leading each of us to lean in this season.
To begin, let’s talk through a few questions together:
What from these last few weeks of teaching on creation revealed something new or meaningful to you about God as Creator?
What is your current practice of Scripture like? How did you get to this place?
Is there a particular way of engaging with Scripture that you really enjoy or find helpful? (e.g. memorizing Scripture, lectio divina, word study, etc.)
This summer, the aim for each of us is to find or deepen our rhythm of engaging with Scripture. But we want to do so by starting where we are, not where we think we should be—the goal is not to go from never reading Scripture to reading the whole Bible in the next 3 months! So consider where you currently are and prayerfully decide on one step to take that is sustainable and life-giving for you. As you reflect on what invitation God might be extending, here are a few different modes of engaging Scripture:
Follow along in Genesis. In these Guides, we’ll share the upcoming teaching texts, so in the week leading up to each Sunday’s teaching, commit to reading and re-reading the passage that the teaching will cover. This mode of study can help bring the teaching to life!
Meditate on Scripture. Lectio divina is an ancient, time tested way of meeting God through the Scriptures by reading slowly and repetitively with the goal of hearing God’s voice. You can use a BREAD journal (designed for this exercise), or read a Psalm of your choosing each day and practice listening to the Spirit through the words of Scripture. For more about how to practice lectio divina, visit page 6 of BREAD, provided at this link.
Memorize Scripture. Setting scripture to memory is a way of planting it deep in our hearts, allowing it to shape our thoughts. Paul exhorts us to continually renew our minds through scripture, knowing that as we allow God to renew our minds he also transforms our lives with his truth. This summer, perhaps consider one of these options for setting scripture to memory:
A shorter passage you may already be familiar with, such as John 3v16, Proverbs 4v5–6, Psalm 23, or Genesis 1v26–31
A longer passage that may be meaningful to you, such as John 15, Galatians 5, or Romans 12
That said, the right step for you might be something else entirely! The goal is simply to take a step forward from where you are now in order to meet God in the pages of Scripture.
While we've only had a few moments to think about it, is anyone feeling resonance with and curiosity about how they might be engaging Scripture for the summer?
Practice for the Week Ahead (5 minutes)
This week, think and pray about how God is leading you to deepen your practice of Scripture this summer, and next week we’ll come back ready to share. We will begin each Guide in this series by checking in with one another about how this is going.
If you are starting at square one—maybe you very rarely read Scripture—a small step might be committing to read the teaching text from Genesis before Sunday’s teaching each week. You could read in a paper Bible, listen on your commute, or choose something else that fits in your schedule. If you read Scripture fairly regularly as narrative (e.g. working through a Bible reading plan), consider engaging with lectio divina a few days a week, asking the Spirit to speak to you personally through the passage you read. If you already have a robust practice of daily Scripture reading or lectio divina, a good next step might be memorizing a passage (or more!) of Scripture and planting it in your mind and heart.
End in Prayer (1 minute)
Leader: Pray to close your time, asking the Spirit to guide each person in their practice of Scripture.