Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

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...