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Pentecostal Church
Essential 100
E100 – the Essential 100 bible readings that we as a youth group are reading through together!
What goes around comes around?!
Feb 18th
This week as we continue to look at the life of Joseph, we read about when Joseph is reunited with his brothers.
* Genesis 42
In this chapter, Joseph’s brothers, caught in the middle of the famine, travel to Egypt in search of food. Meeting with their brother face-to-face, they do not recognise him especially since he is in such a high position. Joseph however recognises his brothers instantly and has the consequent dilemma of deciding whether or not to punish his brothers for what they had done to him years earlier. Joseph probably got lots of pleasure from accusing his brothers of being spies, especially because they were so reliant on his help. Even though the brothers didn’t know Joseph was their brother, they were still struck by guilt over what they had done to him. They assumed that their current situation was punishment for how they had treated him, after all “what goes around comes around…”.That isn’t how God treats us, however, often difficult times that occur in our lives are a result of things that we have done wrong. We can often be faced with the consequences of our sins.
However, what is striking in this story is how insecure More >
Go, Go, Go Joseph
Feb 14th
We’ve now reached the next group of readings which look at the story of Joseph! 14 chapters of Genesis detail the journey that Joseph took, bridging the gap between Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Moses. The readings this week look at the when Joseph was first starting off.
* Genesis 37
Things were pretty heated in Israel’s (Jacob’s) family. The dreams that Joseph was having were causing quite a stir. He was already pretty hated by his brothers because of the favouritism his father showed him, but the arrogance that Joseph shows drives his brothers mad! Joseph boasted about the way God spoke to him through dreams, and when he described the dreams it was even easier for Joseph to claim superiority (after all, the dreams did seem to suggested that one day his family would bow before Joseph). This further rubbed salt into the wounds of the brothers who were already pretty jealous of Joseph because he had their father’s blessing. If Israel (Jacob) had just told all his sons he loved them equally things wouldn’t have been quite so bad. Consequently, (as it states three times in the passage), the brothers hated Joseph. These type of feelings, if left to More >
Double Trouble…Esau and Jacob.
Feb 7th
The passages for this week look at the relationship between Isaac’s sons; Esau and Jacob.
* Genesis 27, 28
This passages is all about brotherly rivalry and fights over the family inheritance. As tradition in this culture, the eldest son would receive the blessing of his father before he died- it was his birth right. Although the passing on of inheritance, doesn’t happen quite like this today, we still crave for the parental affirmation that both Esau and Jacob sought. The absence of such affirmation can have a real influence upon adult life.
Thus, this passage details a story of trickery by a mother and her favourite, younger son, Jacob; they steal the blessing usually bestowed by the father on the older son (Esau). How can it be that this family which seems full of jealousy, deception and pride goes on to build the nation of Israel? Because God’s grace is good. And God uses us to do his work even when we’re messed up.
Also, in Genesis 28:10-22 we see how God meets with Jacob. He flees his family because of what has happened, and it is in that ‘alone time’ that God can come to Jacob and reassure him that he is More >
A Father of Many Nations… but how?!
Jan 31st
This weeks passages look again at the life of Abram and the relationship he had with God.
* Genesis 15
In this passage, Abram confesses his concern for his lack of family to inherit his land.When God first called Abram He promised to make him into a great nation. Yet, since Abram and Sarai do not have children, this seems impossible. However, God dispels this worry by promising that Abram will soon have an heir- in fact his descendants will be as many as the stars in the sky! Abram and Sarai were obviously very sensitive about being childless, and all God’s talk of them one day being the founders of a great nation, was a real test of their faith.
Abram also doubted that he would be able to take possession of the land that God gave him. God fills Abram in on a bit of the plan knowing that this is the encouragement that Abram needs.
God doesn’t chose to always tell us His plan in advance. Yet, if we look at what God has done in the past (in both our own lives, and in the bible), then we can know that he will be faithful to us in His plans More >
After the flood…
Jan 25th
The passages this week look at what happened after God had flooded the earth and started again. The second passage leads us on from ‘the beginning’ to the next section, look at the life of Abraham and his descendent Issac and Jacob. These three figures are often called the ‘Patriarchs’.
* Genesis 11:1-9.
After the flood, God told Noah to “be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” (Genesis 9:7). When we reach chapter 11, this has happened and things seem to be going really well. There are plenty of jobs, and the people are working together. However, although things seemed good, the heart attitude of the people was to bring glory to themselves, and not to God. Building the Tower of Babel was the attempt of the people to be in charge. So God decided to scatter the people, and therefore eliminate the pride that had taken over their hearts. God chose to confuse the people by cutting off their communication with one another by creating different languages, so that they could not continue to do defy God by doing their own thing. God knew that so much could be accomplished with all the people More >
Noah: The flood…and the promise!
Jan 17th
This week the readings continue through Genesis looking at the story of Noah.
* Genesis 6:5- 7:24
The story of the flood looks at the consequences of sin for man. God hates sin, and when he saw all his people letting sin rule their lives, he was “grieved…and his heart was filled with pain” (6:6). So, God chose to wipe out the sinning mankind living on his earth and start afresh without the sin-filled culture of the day. However, God chose Noah to be part of his plan. “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of this time, and he walked with God.” (6:9). Noah was different to others of his day. He did not partake in the sinful culture that surrounded him but instead followed God and was obedient when God asked him to build the ark.
The flood brought a new beginning, eliminating the sin and corruption which had damaged God’s creation. God did this even though God knew that it was only temporary since the fall would have a lasting impact on the people.
Do you find yourself in situations where you are surrounded by sin? How can you respond in a way that is pleasing to God?
* Genesis More >
In the beginning…
Jan 10th
The two readings this week are from Genesis.
* Genesis 1,2.
This passage introduces us to the author of the bible- God! We will be discussing this more on Sunday morning, but if you want to share about how God has spoken to you through this passage, or have questions of comments, then please leave them below.
- What evidence for the existence of God to you see in the world around you?
- How does the role of science fit into the creation of the world?
* Genesis 3
This passage looks at when sin first entered the world. It shows how the original sin was to question (v1), challenge (v.4) and then disobey (v.6) God. The actions of Adam and Eve have had a massive impact on all of creation. Sin caused a barrier between us and God, which meant that the intimate relationship that Adam and Eve had originally had with God was destroyed and then instead hid themselves from him. Fortunately we know that God had a plan to solve that problem.
A few questions to help you think more deeply…
- Look at what God said in Genesis 2: 16-17. How does this compare to how Eve and the serpent say in Genesis More >
Welcome to E100
Jan 4th
Welcome to E100 – the Essential 100 readings from the bible. We’re going to read them together, think about what they mean and then reflect upon how they affect us and our walk with God. I do hope you’ll join us as we journey together through the bible – it will be stretching but because we’re all in this together it’ll be a lot of fun and will be something that brings us together too!
It would be really add to the experience if each of us could add our comments and reflections to each post – you can do this by clicking on the word “comment” or “comments” above and then scrolling to the bottom of the post where you can add your comment.
