What wakes you up in the morning?  What shapes your view of the day?  Perhaps our days should begin where God’s story begins – with goodness and gratitude.  In this first of our four-week series, IN THE BEGINNING, we see how the Creation Story in the book of Genesis reminds us that when the world seems out of order, we can trust in a God who makes all things good. 

Groups Discussion Guide

To view the Leader Guide for this week, click here.

To view a .docx version of this guide, click here.

Introduction

Last week, we went through the last week of our preparatory series for our 18-month long journey that we will be going through as a church community. Specifically, we talked about how we can grow through the journey of learning the Bible together, not just by getting to the end.  

What are some of the action steps you decided to take since last week? How are you doing with those action steps? 

After your time of connecting, begin your meeting with prayer.  

Key Verse for the Week  

*Read this verse, then encourage the practice of memorization through the week. 

Isaiah 40:28 

“Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.” 

**When practiced consistently, memorizing Bible verses can be an important spiritual practice that centers your mind around the truth that God has given us. 

Connect   

• What is something you like about the area you live in? If you could live anywhere in the world where would you live? Why is that place significant to you? 
• When you think of the world, what are some good things that come to mind? 
  • Why are they good? What makes something good or not good? 

Opening Thought 

When we look at the world, it can appear chaotic and like nothing works how it is supposed to, sometimes. It can be easy to think there is no hope for any kind of order. The good news, however, is that God actually created the world and us to work together well, thriving in order. This is something to be excited about because it is a reflection on the goodness of God, and we can see this from the very beginning of the Bible. 

This leads us to our big idea for this week:  

Big idea for the week
We can celebrate God’s goodness in the Creation Story 

Unpack 

To be able to know the story of God, we have to read the story! This week, we will be unpacking the entire story of Creation in the book of Genesis as the basis for our conversation. You can divide up the reading or elect one person to read.  

Read 

Genesis 1:1-1:25 

Unpack 

• What stood out to you in the verses you just read so far stood out to you? What makes that significant? 
• Why do you think this story was placed in the Bible? Why do we need to have a story about how the world was formed?  
  • What do you think the author of this story is trying to help his audience understand about God? 
• How does recognizing that the world reflects God’s goodness affect how we see and feel God’s goodness in our own lives? 
  • How does knowing God brings order out of disorder help you trust him in challenging times? 

Read  

Genesis 1:26-2:3 

Unpack 

• In the verses we just read, we see that God didn’t call creation “very good” until he had made humans. Why do you think this is? What makes us so special? 
  • How often do you feel like you and others are uniquely important? 
• What do you think it means that God made humans in his image? What implications does this have for how we treat ourselves and others? 
• How does knowing this story help us reflect on God’s goodness in our world? 
  • How does knowing this story help us reflect God’s goodness to the world? 

Apply 

Based on the verses we just read, there are some things that we can do in response. Take a moment to discuss these questions as a group to decide what your personal action steps for the week can be: 

• How will you reflect on God’s goodness by engaging with the natural world this week? 
• How will you honor someone in your life because you are both made in God’s image? 
• How can we as a group seek to remember and show God’s goodness in our lives this week? 

Closing 

Read the first section to your group, then read the verse out loud to the group, and finally, move to the Prayer and Verses section: 

When we spend time paying attention to God’s careful creation of the world around us, as well as ourselves, we can see his goodness reflect back at us. We ourselves are a part of this reflection process when we honor others as valuable and full of God’s divine dignity. As you go through this week, remember this and try to give glory to God in the way you spend time with creation and each other.  

Prayer and Verses 

Ask for prayer requests and conclude your time with prayer then share the Key Verse for the Week and Daily Devotional Verses with the group. 

Daily Devotional Verses  

Use the S.O.A.P. method to reflect on the verses below. 

Scripture: Read the verses several times. Reading out loud can be helpful as well. 
Observation: What can you see about the scripture you read? 
Application: What is God wanting you to believe, do, or feel, based on what you have read? 
Prayer: This is a chance to talk to God about what you have read and ask him for help in living out what you’ve learned. 

Day 1: John 1:3 

Day 2: 1 Chronicles 29:11 

Day 3: Ephesians 2:10 

Day 4: Nehemiah 9:6 

Day 5: Psalm 34:8 

Day 6: Genesis 2

Key Verse for the Week  

Isaiah 40:28 

“Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.”