Welcome to the Mariners Church Life Group Leader podcast. This weekly conversation is designed to equip and resource youth to build a healthy life group community that studies God's word, practices spiritual rhythms, and changes the world together. Hello, Life Group Leader. So glad to join with you for this week's leader podcast.
I'm Scott and I'm the discipleship pastor here at Irvine. And I'm here with Lenda Vino, the discipleship pastor over marriage. Awesome. Lenda, well, excited to kick off this new teaching series on Genesis.
Yes, very exciting. And hopefully everyone will pick up their magazine this weekend. So all the questions to the teaching series will be in there. And there's some amazing stories, graphics.
Yes. But if they don't get the magazine, there's probably a PDF online. That is true. So we're going to kick it off with week one, the beginning of everything, the beginning of humanity or story in a relationship with God.
Looking at Genesis 1 and 2, but Lenda, I want to just start out with the starter question that I love doing in our life group, leaning in. So the question is, if you could change one thing about the natural world, what would it be and why? Well, I really love me a nice warm sunny day. So 76 is the ideal temperature in my mind.
We've got a lot of that in Silicon. We don't get a lot of it right now. All right now. Yes.
So that's one thing. I would have it be just like a mild, or like you could tell what you want the weather to be. Yeah. Something like that.
I would say more predictable. More predictable. Yes. Yeah.
Well, we are very blessed to live in Silicon. Yes, we are. You don't get such nice weather in other parts. Yes, we are.
If you'd ask me if I would change about the natural world, I'm not a big bug person. I don't think a lot of people are bug people. Yeah. So roaches, spiders, all that.
Eliminate them. And whole decomposers. These are a purpose. They do serve a purpose.
But I did live one time in a roach and fesset place. So I could do without insects in this one. We could probably all do without. Yes, we can.
All right. Well, moving on to just looking down into the scriptures for this week as we look at Genesis chapter one and two. Yeah, I just want to encourage people in a lean and it is really meant to be something to generate conversation, even if your group's been around for a long time. It's just something fun just to generate conversation.
It doesn't need to be too serious. I think when you read sometimes that lean in questions, they feel weighty. Yeah. But just make it fun.
That's good. And then go into the and then go into the deep and down to the scriptures. Right. So looking down into Genesis one, what do you learn about the nature of God from from this chapter from this creation narrative?
And again, a lot of time to pause. Don't worry about people not talking very quickly. Maybe go around and have people read different versions of Genesis one one through 25. Sometimes that gives insight.
Yeah. Context is a great thing to just develop context around the whole book in general and talk through it and then talk about the question. Yeah. But have people really so conscripture?
That's good. So yeah, what do you learn about the nature of God from the creation narrative? So as you read through that, maybe read the question first, have people talk about it, read the different versions and then ask the question again. And the passage is right inside the magazine, which is so great.
But you should bring your bibles to bring your bibles. Yes. Yes. Yes.
So how would you how would you walk people through that question? Well, I just I know just when you see the word nature in God, there's so much majesty just in those two, just the creation of who God is when we look at things and what we look. I was watching a silly thing on monarch butterflies and then they're in 10 I was out with that's the right word. They have like a GPS tracking system in them that tells them how to go to Canada and how to come back from Canada.
So you just you the intricacies of what God does in creation and then the majesty of things like the Rocky Mountains or the Grand Canyon, right? And so the attributes of him being gentle and humble and also being majestic and bold and mighty. Yeah. All those things are great.
I would agree with you. Yes. I see just how incredibly powerful he is. Right.
He speaks into being. Yes. And he and it comes right from nothing into something right and how creative he is as well to absolutely creating all the different beautiful things to the Sun moon stars right mountains the seas, the creatures and and yeah, we're and he's continuing to bring life and and showing his creative power. So yeah, so I guess that that that really focuses on the nature of God that we see the creation narratives, but as we refer to the Genesis 126 to the second chapter, the start of the second chapter, what do you learn about the identity and our purpose as human beings as given by God?
Yeah. And there's going to be a lot of little nuggets in there and again starting with the question before you dive into the scripture, reading different versions, reading context. I love to do cross references to help people understand in my group. So doing things like that will help generate more conversation around those things.
But yeah, just that we work that we take care of the nature, we take care of the field, we take care of the animals, all that contributes to what God gave us and how we are able to cultivate caring for the land. Yeah. And I think that really leads to looking out as well to as he has called us to be fruitful to to to multiply to steward his creation as we're made in his image. So what does that look like?
Yeah. Right. Or in your group even. In our group, when it is worked out in the way that God intended for us to flourish.
Right. And how sin plays a part in that in the the gravity of the world and what sin has done to destroy the good things that he produced and he created and just, you know, again, seeing other people as image bearers and loving them well. Yeah. Yeah.
So I guess it's really, you know, in our groups, we can first talk about like how beautiful God's amazing creation was like before the brokenness before the fall. Right. And we see glimpses of that. Like even we can talk about them.
What are the amazing parts of creation for you? So what is it for you? For me, it's outside nature being in nature, oak trees, stars, the warmth of the sun and the moon, the way it travels, the way the earth spins, the place perfect placement of the earth with the other planets. It's I could go on and on.
It's just remarkable. Yeah. Yeah. And in our group, we can speak into that.
I can see glimpses of his glory of his majesty in all of creation. And to be reminded of it. I think that's what's so great about the study is just being, we take it for granted sometimes, but just to pause and talk about it and talk through it. Is it just a great reminder?
Yeah. You were just talking about the moment about when it isn't, we're not working out what we've created for. Like, where have you seen that in our world? And what are the consequences of our brokenness and our fallenness?
Oh, yeah. Just the pain, loneliness, isolation, people who have broken relationships as a marriage pastor, broken marriages, all of that, that is that God loves that has been broken. Health, illnesses, diseases, all of that. Yeah.
And I think we can be honest and vulnerable in our groups of sharing about both the beauty and the brokenness of all two because we're all experiencing it in our lives. So I guess the last part and what we can kind of conclude with this is looking inward. Like, what does it mean to you to know that you were created in the image of God? And we kind of touched on this.
But how does that affect how you live your life? Well, that's removing the naysayers. Removing the low frequency talks. Satan comes to still kill and destroy.
He's going to tell us to compare. He's going to tell us to isolate. He's going to tell us that we're not worth it. He's going to tell us all the negative things.
And yet we take that to God's word. And then when we read about who God has created us to be and we compare it to what God says, that has to be the latter voice in our head. That has to be what we're focusing on. Love God, love others, right?
And in spite of who they are and who we are that we know that we are created in the image of God. Yeah. Yeah. It reminds me in the New Testament, the Bible, that how we are to imitate Christ and how we are his creation.
We are his children. We've been adopted as we put our faith in trusting Christ. And I think this also impacts me of how I view other people as well and take. That every person is made in the image of God, whether they realize or not.
And that every person is worthy of on and respect. Sure. And I don't always see it that way. When I get cut in traffic or when I feel injustice from someone or slighted, I will want to curse them.
I want to see like, oh, this person did me wrong. But when I pause to understand like, wow, that person is made of the image of God. Yes. And with the same grace that God has given to me that grace is offered to that person as well.
Right. It probably takes more energy to be angry and frustrated than it does to just go, yeah. You know, they're God's child. God loves them.
Yes. And not just obviously the strangers are people that we don't know personally, but our family numbers are like, remember, friends as well too. To see that every person is made in God's image. Yeah.
Do we reflect God's how much we love God in what we stand do? Do we reflect our love for God in what we stand do? Yeah. Because that should be more fun.
Yeah, that's good. Well, Linda, any closing thoughts or words or encouragement to our life group leaders to say begin this new series? I just think cultivating conversation and connecting is just so key. So I don't feel guilty if you don't get through everything or the conversation didn't go exactly how you pictured in your head that we are continuing to go through the book.
We will learn more as we go along. And it's okay to not know the answer and just say, well, I'll try to figure that out or try to help you figure that out or find the answer. I just, you know, take it a deep breath and just want to encourage life group leaders that you are not called to this because you know all the right answers you were called to this because you're a servant and you said yes and obedience. So just encouraging them in that.
And this is a great series that we get to walk through. I love that Linda. Thank you, Linda, for being part of this podcast and for all your group leaders, we are praying for you and excited for you as you begin this new series.