Weekly Reading for April 2 – 8
Preparing for Next Week’s Message
Sermon Series: Gardens and GravesSermon Title: From the Tomb to the Garden
This reading plan will get your heart and mind set for the next message on April 9, 2023:
- SUNDAY: Matthew 27,
- MONDAY: Matthew 28,
- TUESDAY: Mark 15-16,
- WEDNESDAY: Luke 22-23,
- THURSDAY: Luke 24,
- FRIDAY: John 20-21,
- SATURDAY: 1 Corinthians 15,
Reflecting on the Most Recent Sermon
Sermon Series: Gardens & GravesSermon Title: From Paradise to Exile
Delivered On: April 2, 2023
VIEW SERMON NOTES
Memorize and Reflect
Genesis 1:31God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Prayer Direction
Thank God for speaking life into existence and for His plan to give us abundant life. Confess that the same sin that drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden and toward the grave can creep into your heart. Thank God that He is in the business of inviting us back into his life (Garden of grace).“Live It!” Challenge
Walk in a Garden – Take fifteen minutes to take a walk in a garden alone, with someone you love, or with God. While you walk, look at the beauty and thank God that His plan, from the beginning, was life, beauty, hope, and fellowship with Him and each other in a perfect garden.Small Group Discussion
Tell about a garden (or garden like place) that you find peaceful and life-giving.
What can you learn about God when you realize that He started out by putting people in a beautiful garden and that at the end of all things there is a new heavenly garden?
Read: Genesis 1:1, Genesis 26-28 & Genesis 2:20-25. What do you notice about how God created and what He felt about His creation (including people)?
Read: Genesis 1:29-30 & Genesis 2:24-25. In perfect paradise God made a man and woman to reflect His glory in this world. What should this teach us about Men and woman and God’s plan for us in relationship to each other?
Read: Genesis 2:15-17. In perfect paradise, God gave people responsibility and work to do. What does this teach us about work and boundaries in life?
Read: Genesis 3:1-6. What do you learn about Satan and temptation in this passage?
Read: Genesis 3:7-13. What were some of the consequences of sin and rebellion and how did this destroy the goodness of the garden and open the door to the grave?
Read: Genesis 3:14-19. What pain did the man and woman face because of sin and how do we experience pain when we make decisions to embrace sin and reject God’s ways?
Read: Genesis 3:22-24. How does sin and rejecting God‘s ways banish us from the good life He designed (the Garden) and move us toward isolation from Him, brokenness in our relationships, and pain?
What has Jesus done to bring us from the grave of sin to the garden of His grace and how can we embrace God’s good gifts with greater passion?