This reading guide was created in the Spring of 2023 for our preaching series, Beginnings, in chapters 1-11 of Genesis.

These chapters not only introduce the Bible, they’re foundational to our understanding of God, ourselves, and the world as we know it. They reveal the goodness of God’s design and decrees, the glory and sin of humanity, and the only hope for a fallen world. They also establish bedrock principles for how we should understand things like work, rest, community, marriage, temptation, ambition, and so much more. Most importantly, these eleven chapters set the stage for the story of the whole world: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Recreation.

It’s ultimately a story of grace. The God who graciously created all things also graciously provides a way of redemption for all things.  

We have divided these chapters into seven weeks, which represent different sections/movements of the narrative story. For each week, we have given you four days (or touch points) of guided content. The first day is geared towards helping you read and make observations of the text. The next three days are about helping you study and reflect on the passage in a personal way. Go through things at your own pace—the purpose is to think deeply about the scriptures and to take them in.  

We look forward to going back to the beginning of the story with you. This section of scripture will give us greater assurance about our origins, greater confidence in our purpose, greater clarity about the direction of history, and greater hope in Christ (the true Hero of the story). We pray that this guide helps you meditate on the Word of God this summer and that the story of Genesis would be read/seen in a fresh way.