GENESIS 1

1. Mission Spot: Asking Good Questions — 10 minutes

Preparing for Alpha

As we move towards Alpha in Term 4, we will spend a short amount of time each week thinking about mission. These mission spots will help us stay connected to the reason we are running Alpha and prepare us to invite people intentionally.

This week, we are thinking about how asking good questions can open the door to deeper and spiritual conversations.

Why good questions matter

Good questions communicate genuine interest. They help us move beyond small talk, understand what is happening in someone’s life, and create natural opportunities for deeper and spiritual conversations.

Being intentional with the questions we ask can help remove barriers and move the convesration into places of substance.

Discuss

  1. Think of a time when you saw a good question open a conversation to spiritual things/ allowed a relationship to go deeper into talking about things of substance. What sorts of questions allowed this to happen?

  2. Look through the questions below. Which could you imagine asking someone this week? How would you change any of these questions to have them feel more natural?

Questions about life

  • What has been challenging recently?

  • What are you looking forward to at the moment?

  • What is taking up most of your headspace right now?

Questions about faith and spirituality

  • What was your religious or spiritual background as a child?

  • What words would you use to describe yourself spiritually?

  • Do you have a spiritual belief of any kind?

  • Have you ever experienced God? If so, what was that like?

  • What barriers, questions, or experiences make belief in God difficult for you?

  • Where do you see God at work in your life at the moment?

  • Is there anything I could pray about for you?

3. What other Questions wold the group suggest?

This week’s challenge

Choose one question from the list—or one suggested by the group—to ask someone this week.

Before moving on, ask one person to pray that God would give the group opportunities to be intentional with people over the coming week.

2. Genesis 1 Discussion

Leader’s Note;
1. In future weeks we will be focusing in on Gen 1:26-30 about humankind, their purpose and being made in the image of God, so don’t feel like you need to fully flesh out those verses this week, the aim this week is just to get an overview.

2. There has been significant debate about how Genesis 1 should be understood. Some read it as a literal, historical account of seven ordinary 24-hour days. Others understand the “days” as longer, non-literal periods of time. Still others see Genesis 1 as a theological account that uses the stylised, image-rich language of its ancient setting to give God’s people a true understanding of God and creation,one that stands apart from the worldviews of the surrounding cultures.
These questions are important and worthy of thoughtful discussion. However, our focus tonight is on what these different views broadly agree upon: what Genesis 1 teaches us about who God is, what his creation is like, and what his world is for.

Introduction

When you think about creation or the natural world, what is something that fills you with wonder—and why?

Read Genesis 1-2:3

Consider sharing the reading between several people, with each person reading one “day” of creation.

Optional video

Watch BibleProject’s Genesis 1 Visual Commentary (approximately eight minutes.)

Discussion questions

  1. What first stands out to you as you read through the creation account?

  2. What words, phrases, or repeated patterns stood out to you as we read Genesis 1?

  3. What things do these repeated phrases tell us about God’s character, power and desires for his creation?

  4. What surprises you about the way Genesis 1 describes God creating the world?

  5. What does God’s ability to create simply by speaking tell us about his power and authority?

  6. God repeatedly sees that what he has made is “good,” and finally “very good”. What makes creation good? How might this shape the way we view the physical world?

  7. What contrasts do you notice between Genesis 1 and other stories our culture tells about the natural world, humans and the origins of the universe?

  8. Which part of Genesis 1 most encourages, challenges, or changes the way you think about God?

Closing reflection

  1. If the world belongs to a good and intentional Creator, what difference should that make to the way you live this week, particularly in how you treat people, approach your work, or care for creation?

  2. What is one way this week you can be intentional about having creation point you to acknolodge and be grateful for the God who made it?

Prayer
Close by thanking God for the goodness of creation, and ask that we would be helped to .