The God of Genesis is totally concerned with the welfare of humanity. Anxious to make sure that Adam’s need (our need) for companionship is met. This is the foundational message throughout the second creation account - humanity is by nature relational, and to live without community is choosing to live as partially human.

God created Heaven and Earth to be his dwelling, and his desire has always been to share it with us. Genesis 2 gives us a picture into God’s nature as a loving and relational God who has chosen to include us as partners in caring for creation alongside him. It also serves as an encouragement that any disconnect we now feel with God, was never meant to be what we experienced. We were made for intimate relationship with him. God always desires this, and we are meant to thrive as people deeply loved and created with unique gifts, called out into the world with a purpose.

It can be easy to read the Genesis account of creation as actually being one big cosmic disappointment: God created something good, but Adam and Eve (and all of us by extension) messed it up and now human life is all a bit of a let-down. But to do so is to miss what God always intended (and through Jesus has acted decisively to restore). Humankind is the pinnacle of His creation. Not only are we images of God in creation - like Him in countless ways and given dominion over the universe - we are in fact extensions of His very being. We are God’s idols. We are His presence on earth. That’s how special we are to Him.

The first chapter of Genesis is one of the most controversial passages in the bible, but let’s not get side-tracked on that. It’s quite a few other things too. Mind-blowingly revealing, beautifully poetic & meticulously structured, it serves as an triumphant introduction to the whole new message about the kind of God, God is. It’s vital to look at the context it was written in. Dating back to the Babylonian exile, this was a piece of liturgy for a downtrodden people who were questioning everything about their call and the nature and even existence of the God who called them. Here, the overture to the whole of the Old Testament is introduced: Creator God is all powerful, He brings order out of chaos, He is in control, He names us, He loves us and He says that we are good. Genesis 1 calls us back to worshipping Him because He is God. And He is good.

Genesis. How are we supposed to read this fascinating, but often controversial first book of the bible? As History? Science? Or something different? As we delve into this book we see from the start that above all else, it is a book about a creative God. He is the subject and everything else is the object of His abundant creative power. Creator creates creation. Human existence is not an accident. All along, creation was and is, intended for good. The opening verses of Genesis are a song of love and worship to an infinitely powerful, redemptive, creator God. It calls us to worship Him.

These past few weeks we have been focusing on what is to come for Bread - basically, we are very excited for this next phase. So in the midst of that, let us think a little more about what we are both collectively and independently, called to do. How did Jesus call His first disciples? How is it significant? Can this help us decipher how he has called, and continues to call, everyone who has since followed Him?

Continuing our recent talks on what sort of church we want to be - this week we focus on the Spirit’s power in all believers to do supernatural things. Let us be a church where everyone, irrespective of where they have come from, is encouraged and open to being filled with God’s power. The first disciples were mistaken for gods because of the supernatural power of the Spirit enabling them to heal the sick, release people from spiritual darkness and preach with authority and conviction. We, as heirs of all that Jesus promises, should look to do the same. Not by our own power or might, but by the Spirit of God who uses us in our weakness.

As we saw last week, we’re in a time of ‘let’s get ready’ at Bread, and we know that all the things we’re called to are down to the Spirit. He leads and we follow. But what stops us being able to get fully on board? For loads of us, rather than being the empowering, encouraging, life-changing, grace-filled library of wisdom and wonder, the Bible can feel more like a heavy Instruction Manual that confuses us as much as it guides. In fact, if we were exposed to, or experienced graceless religion in our upbringing and the Bible was used as something to hit people over the head with, we can still find it very hard to get passed an angry or wrath-filled view of God. This talk is about the simplicity of the Bible really being all about Jesus. He is our high priest who has already changed everything forever. Understanding the context, wrestling with the inconsistencies, learning to see Jesus in every page is where the Bible comes alive. Jesus is the word - sharper than any two-edged sword - and He it is who speaks directly to our hearts through his book.

This summer is going to be a time of preparation for our church. We believe there are exciting opportunities for growth in the coming months. So we want to be ready. We will be talking more about exercising faith through giving our time, money, effort and resources to see Gods kingdom grow in the next few weeks. But let’s never forget that growing God’s kingdom isn’t really down to us. It’s His church and He will build it. Our job is to be full of the Spirit so that we can best follow where He leads. Where the spirit is there is freedom, growth, life and goodness. We must be full of the Spirit.

Jesus has just chosen and appointed his twelve disciples, the crowds following Him are surging in size, and all of the signs of the Kingdom are in full swing - people are being healed, set free and becoming Christians. But in response - we see that Jesus is met by conflict. Unsurprisingly, the Pharisees are attempting to silence him, but certainly more shocking - his family describe him as ‘out of his mind’ and intend on taking charge of him. In light of these responses, and Jesus’ subsequent comparison between biological family and the family of God, what can we learn? How is God’s family different from our human experiences of family? and why should the Kingdom take precedence?