Assigned Scripture
Genesis 1:1~2:2
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” . . . the first day.
6 . . . “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” . . . the second day.
9 . . . “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” . . . “Let the land sprout with vegetation . . . the third day.
14 . . . “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. . . . the fourth day.
20 . . . “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. . . the fifth day.
24 . . . “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” . . . 26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” . . . 31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! . . . the sixth day.
2 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.
John 2:13-22
13 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”
17 Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.”
18 But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”
19 “All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” 21 But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Group Response
Following the weekly gathering, you’re invited to respond to the service by engaging in group discussion.
Discussion Questions
SUMMARY: The Temple was the heart of the Jewish people, it was the place where YHWH had promised to live in the midst of his people, it was the place where heaven and earth overlapped. But God did not originally design his temple to have four walls. As we follow the temple motif throughout the biblical narrative, God reveals his invitation to participate in extending the kingdom of heaven by building a new temple… or perhaps it’s an old temple, made new by his Spirit.
- When you think of God thru the lens of today’s theme/image, what quality or attribute of His stands out more than others?
- How does it change the way you think of God’s grace or God’s intentions? What does it call out of you?
- What is one thing you can do this week to live into that? What do you want God to do for you as you do?
- Pray a blessing over one another in your group, using what you’ve heard in each person’s answers.