Gen 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them

The book of Genesis opens with God forming this amazing world and His most beautiful creation, us! Everything was perfect for a while, until Eve believed the lies of the devil and ate the forbidden fruit, and Adam willingly followed suit. At this point sin entered the world and they became separated from God. Because of this disobedience, descendants of Adam (you and I) are born with sin in our nature. The world around us, God’s precious creation, is corrupted by sin.

But God had a plan to rescue and redeem us! In Genesis 3:15 God made a covenant with man that one day He would send a Saviour “the seed of a woman,” to defeat the enemy and rescue His people. That Saviour was Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again to save God’s people from their sins.

As you go about your daily life, remember that you are God’s creation, that in your sin you are imperfect, and that Jesus has paid your debt for you so that you can stand before the Lord unblemished. In light of this, let your thankfulness to God affect your thoughts, actions and attitudes. Consider the lost, and how you can communicate God’s eternal plan to them this week.

Genesis means ‘beginnings’, it is the first book of the Pentateuch (‘5 volumes’) which makes up what Israel recognised as the Law. In Genesis we see the beginnings not only of all creation but of the Nation of Israel. We see God intervening in the history of human fallenness by choosing (electing) a man and his family. It is ultimately God’s story but becomes their story (and ours) when He brings this family into being and makes promises to be covenanted with them to be their God.

Authorship: Moses

Type of Literature: Historical Narrative

Purpose of Book:

It was written so that the Israelites (and all of us) would know where they came from (identity). And to give an account of the beginnings (creation and fall) and therefore the need for a saviour!

Structure:

4 EVENTS, 4 PEOPLE

1.       CREATION (Gen 1-2)

2.       FALL (Gen 3-4)

3.       FLOOD (Gen 5-9)

4.       TOWER (Gen 10-11)

1.       ABRAHAM (Gen 12-24)

2.       ISAAC (Gen 25-26)

3.       JACOB (Gen 27-36)

4.       JOSEPH (Gen 37 -50)

Main Themes:

·         COVENANT  - with Abraham (Ch 12) & repeated to Isaac & Jacob – that they would become a nation, the promise is set!

·         REDEMPTION – the unity of mankind in sin and our need for a saviour

Welcome to the Compass Church Bible Reading Plan 2016!

At the beginning of each week you will find a post with an overview of the book that we are reading that week - this will give you a little bit of insight as to the history & content of the book.

At the end of each week there will be a post with a life application for that book to help you put what you have read in to action.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the new and improved members' area. Here you will find exciting new features such as the ability to see a live rota showing where and when you are scheduled to serve, access to the latest sermons and a members' directory allowing you to search for members in the church, and more will be coming soon.

We will be providing information on how to use all these exciting features to your Core Group leaders so that you can get the most out of them. We hope that this new members' area will be much more useful to you and that it will make life easier by allowing you to see more information and interact with the church more. You can even securely link this to your Facebook or Google+ account allowing you to sign in automatically using those details. Please rest assured, your information is extremely secure and you are in control over what you would like to be visible through the members' directory.

If you have any difficulties accessing anything in this members' area, please email members@compasschurch.co.uk and someone will get back to you with some help. Otherwise, enjoy!

God Bless

Paul and Karen