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John Ortberg is the senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (MPPC) in the San Francisco Bay Area. His bestselling books include Soul Keeping, Who Is This Man?, and If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. John teaches around the world at conferences and churches, writes articles for Christianity Today and Leadership Journal, and is on the board of the Dallas Willard Center and Fuller Seminary. He has preached sermons on Abraham Lincoln, The LEGO Movie, and The Gospel According to Les Miserables. John and his wife Nancy enjoy spending time with their three adult children, dog Baxter, and surfing the Pacific. You can follow John on twitter @johnortberg or check out the latest news/blogs on his website at www.johnortberg.com.

Kevin G. Harney?is lead pastor of Shoreline Church in Monterey, California. He is the author of many books, including?No Is a Beautiful Word,?Seismic Shifts, and the Organic Outreach?Trilogy, as well as more than a hundred small group guides, curriculum, and numerous articles written in partnership with Sherry. Kevin and his wife Sherry are co-founders of Organic Outreach International, a ministry that trains and resources global leaders to do evangelism in natural and effective ways. He also does extensive teaching and speaking both nationally and internationally.

Sherry Harney is an author and a speaker who serves as the Spiritual Formation and Discipleship Director at Shoreline Church in Monterey, California. She is also the cofounder of Organic Outreach International. For over three decades Sherry has spoken for local, national, and international groups and events. She focuses on prayer, spiritual formation, leadership, and organic outreach.

Over the past three decades Sherry and Kevin have coauthored and partnered with writers such as Ann Voskamp, Max Lucado, Nabeel Qureshi, Jim Cymbala, Miles McPherson, Mark Batterson, Chrystal Evans Hurst, Christine Caine, Gary Thomas, N.T. Wright, Laura Story, Craig Groeschel, Dallas Willard and many others. Kevin and Sherry have three married sons, and three grandchildren.

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'Our hearts hunger for order and a sense of belonging in the chaos of life. We long for community. Deep inside us, we yearn to connect with God and with those around us. That's not surprising---it's a reflection of God's own longing. Guiding you through the first five books of the Bible, this participant's guide reveals God's passionate desire for intimacy with his people and among his people. Designed for use with Creating a New Community DVD.The Truth for Today small group series is a high-impact tool for discovering the power and relevance of the Old Testament. This innovative series combines Bible study with an enjoyable, interactive format to help you and your group experience God's Word as it really is: energetic, immediate, and life-transforming. Other Truth for Today small group studies:Volume 2---Stepping Out in Faith: The History of Israel (7 Sessions)Volume 3---Developing a Heart for God: The Wisdom Books (8 Sessions)Volume 4---Pursuing Spiritual Authenticity: The Prophets (8 Sessions)'

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Creating a New Community

Zondervan

Contents

Introduction.....................................................71 God's Greatest Dream...........................................9Leader's Notes...................................................952 Community Busters..............................................17Leader's Notes...................................................993 It's Time to DTR (Define the Relationship).....................27Leader's Notes...................................................1034 God Is with Us.................................................35Leader's Notes...................................................1065 God the Deliverer..............................................45Leader's Notes...................................................1106 God the Lawgiver...............................................55Leader's Notes...................................................1137 Lessons from the Wilderness....................................65Leader's Notes...................................................1168 What Indiana Jones Was Looking For.............................75Leader's Notes...................................................1199 Loving God's Law...............................................85Leader's Notes...................................................123

Chapter One

God's Greatest Dream

Genesis 1 and 2

Introduction

Words have power!

The things we say and write can change the course of our lives and even history. Consider some of these famous and history-changing words:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood....

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King Jr. (August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial)

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. Winston Churchill (June 4, 1940, in the British House of Commons)

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus Christ (John 14:6)

Just as these words had a radical impact on the course of history, so the opening chapters of Genesis introduced words that changed history. The beginning words and themes of Genesis are more countercultural than most of us have ever dreamed.

Looking at Life

1. Describe a time when the words someone wrote or spoke had a dramatic impact on your life.

Learning from the Word

Read: Genesis 1

The Way Things Were

To get a sense for how these opening words of Genesis would have hit people in the Old Testament world, you must imagine you lived in those days. You have never heard about a personal God who created all things and who promises life in heaven. This idea has never entered your thinking.

Rather, since you have grown up in the ancient Near East, you have heard a number of stories about how creation took place. None of these stories involves a loving and personal Creator. Rather, they embrace a belief that the universe is filled with many gods who are limited in power, morally fallible, petty, and jealous of each other.

The result of this worldview is that you live in fear and are ruled by superstition. You are in a world with fertility cults that encourage gross sexual immorality. The people around you worship objects like the sun and the moon and even small stone statues. The common belief is that heavenly bodies, like stars, actually influence human affairs.

You perform practices like human sacrifice in an effort to manipulate the gods and gain their favor. Human beings are nothing more than servants created to do the work the gods don't want to do. Life is a cycle of conflict between people and the gods, and in turn, between fellow human beings. Life is not about servanthood but dominance. Immense violence, elimination of the weak, and infanticide are common practices.

The prevailing worldview says that life is just an endless cycle. Life is, in the words of the scholars, "a wheel of life that rotates around the hub of death." One generation is born, grows old, and dies, and another one comes along, and so it goes without any meaning or purpose.

Into this horribly destructive belief system these words are spoken: "In the beginning God"-a transcendent, all-powerful, eternal, personal being-"created the heavens and the earth ." These words were spoken, and the world has never been the same.

2. How does Genesis 1 challenge the prevailing worldview of the people who first read these words?

3. What insights do you gain about the character of God from Genesis 1?

How do you see the distinct persons of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) working in harmonious partnership in the opening three verses of the Bible?

God's aim in history is the creation of an inclusive community of loving persons, with himself included as its primary sustainer and most glorious inhabitant. Dallas Willard

Read: Genesis 2:15-25 4. In light of Genesis 1 and 2:15-25, how does God feel about his creation in general and human beings in specific?

How does your perspective on human beings compare with God's?

5. In light of God's view of human beings, respond to one of the following questions:

How will you begin changing a behavior pattern toward one of your family members?

What will you begin doing differently in how you relate to a person at work or school?

How will your attitude and behavior begin to change as you relate to a person you don't tend to get along with?

The Creation and the Creator

God created a place where we could enter into community with him and each other, but we must live with a deep awareness that the Creator and the creation are infinitely different. Though the creation can reveal things about the nature and character of the Creator, the creation must never be worshiped. There is a human tendency to get this confused! In the New Testament, the apostle Paul put it this way: "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen" (Romans 1:25).

Look at the order of creation and note how God made the sun, the moon, and the stars. In the order of creation, the sun and moon are not spoken into existence until the fourth day. This truth spoke volumes to people who worshiped the heavenly bodies. Genesis teaches that the sun and moon are not divine; they are created objects. They were made by the one God who spoke heaven and earth into existence. Not only does the Bible teach that they have a beginning, but they will also have an end (Revelation 21:23).

A healthy understanding of creation will give us a balanced perspective on material things. We should not be captivated by the stuff of this world, but rather by the One who made it all. Too often in this life, we can become enamored by material things.

6. What do these opening chapters of Genesis teach you about the relationship between the creation and the Creator?

7. Tell about a time when you experienced God's presence and power while in his creation.

How did the beauty and majesty of God's creation move you to give praise to the Creator?

8. Give an example of how we can fall in love with the things of this earth and how they can become more important than God, the One who made them.

9. How can an excessive passion for material things break down our community with God?

Describe a time when you saw this happen in your life.

10. How can an excessive love of material things erode our community with one another?

What do you do to battle against this happening in your life?

The temptation to love the things of this world is illustrated in a painfully clear manner in a magazine ad for a particular car company. The marketing team came up with this slogan: You can't buy happiness, but now you can lease it!

Genesis gives us a new perspective. We can't buy it, we can't lease it, but God invites us to freely receive what we could never afford.

Closing Reflection Take a few minutes of silence for personal reflection ...

In this portion of the Old Testament, and throughout the Bible, we are taught that it is easy for us to give our devotion to the things of this world and forget the One who made them and gave them to us. Identify one material thing that can get too strong of a grip on your heart. It might be a certain food, an entertainment or hobby you enjoy, or the pursuit of some new material thing. Offer this to the Lord. Ask him to help you have a new perspective on this as a gift from his hand and not an end in itself.

You might even want to abstain from a certain food for a week, or give up a hobby or entertainment for a month. Find some creative way to get your eyes off the things of this world and back on the giver of all good gifts.

Take time to respond to these closing questions:

What challenge did God place on your heart during your time of personal reflection? How can your small group members pray for you and keep you accountable to grow in this area of your life?

Close your small group by praying together:

Pray for eyes to see the beauty and wonder of God's creation.

Pray for discipline as you seek to keep God first in your life above all other things.

Truth in Action: On Your Own Between Sessions

A Walk with God Take time in the coming week to go for a walk with your Creator. Set aside no less than fifteen minutes for this experience. As you walk, imagine God, the Creator of heaven and earth, walking beside you. Be sure to let him know what you think of his creation. What do you see that is "very good"? Pay attention to things you hear, smell, feel, and encounter that help you give praise to him. Let him know that you see his fingerprints all over creation.

To solidify your encounter, you could record this experience in some creative way. Write a journal entry, compose a song or poem, draw a picture, or find some other way to express how you have experienced the beauty of the Creator through the artwork of creation.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Creating a New Community by John Ortberg Kevin Harney Sherry Harney Copyright © 2003 by Willow Creek Association. Excerpted by permission.
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