Life Group H.E.A.R. Journal: Genesis 2

27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

- Genesis 1:27-28

An easy, memorable way to learn how to read and process the Bible is through the H.E.A.R. journaling method. This process helps us read God’s Word with the goal of understanding it and applying it to our lives. The letters stand for Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond. 

• Highlight a scripture: Pick one verse (or pick a set of connected or related verses) from Ephesians 1. Highlight this verse or write down the Book, chapter, and verse number.

• Explain the context: By asking some simple questions with the help of God’s Spirit, we can understand the meaning of a passage or verse. The following questions can help us understand the context of a passage: What’s happening in the story? Why was this written, and to whom? How does it fit with the verses before and after it? What does God intend to communicate through this text? 

• Apply it to your life: Application is the heart of the process! Answering a series of questions can help us uncover the meaning of these verses to us on a personal level. What is God saying to me? How can this help me? What does this mean today? How would applying this look in my life?

• Respond with action: This is the last part of the H.E.A.R. Journal. Your response to the passage may take on many forms. You may write a call to action. You can describe how you’ll be different because of what God said to you through His Word. You may indicate what you’re going to do because of what you have learned. You can even respond by writing out a prayer to God.

This week, we’ll read the Main Text from Pastor Roland’s sermon last week: Genesis 2:15-25. We’ll write our responses and share them with our group. (If you already journal some other way, feel free to do that.) Pay special to the Apply and Respond steps; that’s where God’s Word comes to life! If you get stuck, try using these questions to help you think about how this passage relates to Pastor Roland’s sermon. Answering these questions might be helpful, but it’s optional.

• Do these scriptures remind you of part of last Sunday’s sermon? 

• What does this passage teach about marriage?

• What does this passage teach about being single, preparing for a relationship, or being in a relationship?

Let’s encourage each other in God’s Word!

When Love Falls Short

Main Thought

Have you ever run out of something you need? Maybe you’ve run out of something like time, gas, or money. It’s tough to need something and not have enough. This happens with love too. There is an endless demand to love people, but we don’t have an endless supply of love. When love falls short, it produces problems like gossip, bitterness, or anger. What do we do when our ability to love falls short? We go to God! God’s “love supply” is endless. We can go to God as our shelter when we’re overwhelmed, when we’ve been hurt, or when we make mistakes. Once we’ve experienced God’s love, we’re better equipped to extend God’s love. God’s love becomes our standard and our source as we love others.

Main Passages

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

- Ephesians 3:17-19

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

- Ephesians 4:1-3

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

- Ephesians 4:29-32

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought or Passages above?

2. Have you felt short on love over the past week or two? What exposed your lack of love?

3. What do you think it means for God’s love to be our shelter or source? How will you tap into that?

Mixed and Fixed Messages

Main Thought

We’ve seen and heard mixed messages about marriage. They come from places like movies, music, and the lives of other people. These mixed messages produce mixed results. God wants to fix the marriage message! 

The Bible teaches us that marriage is meant to mirror the “Gospel,” or the good news about Jesus. If we can understand the love of Christ for us, and how He relates to us, then we’ll understand God’s desire for marriages. What does the Gospel teach us about the love of Christ? Jesus rejected sin. He remained committed to His love for God and us. His sacrificial love brought Him to the Cross, where He died in our place for our sin. His sacrifice created a covenant with us. (In the Bible, a “covenant” is an unconditional promise - often motivated by what one gives rather than by what one receives.) His love sanctifies us, cleansing our character, as we become more and more like Him.

These elements of the Gospel message create a lens by which we can view marriage more clearly. Marriage is meant to be committed and exclusive. It’s founded on sacrificial love, which informs our motives and actions even when passionate emotions fade. Marriage is meant to be a covenant. And marriage should cleanse us. In marriage, we’re meant to help one another become the best possible versions of ourselves. This beautiful vision of Marriage becomes reality when it reflects the love of Jesus Christ, revealed in the Gospel. That’s how the marriage message can be fixed.

Main Passages

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

- Ephesians 5:15-17

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

- Ephesians 5:25-32

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in last week’s sermon, the Main Thought, or the Main Passages above?

2. What’s one or two things that created “mixed messages” regarding love or marriage for you? It could be the media, the lives of people you know, etc.

3. How does the Gospel help you understand marriage more clearly?

God's Purpose for Marriage

Main Thought

Genesis 1 poetically describes the creation of the world. In Genesis 1, God creates light. He creates the earth. He creates humanity. Then, alongside these other incredible things, God creates marriage. God’s purposes for marriage can be viewed simply yet are incredibly profound. His purpose includes reflection. Marriage is meant to mirror God and His Kingdom. God the Father wants us to be united in heart and purpose, like He is with the Son and the Holy Spirit. God’s purpose for marriage includes replication and multiplication. God’s purpose for marriage also includes rulership. Through marriage, God wants to empower us to act on His behalf in the world.

Main Passage

​​26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

- Genesis 1:26-28 ESV

Discussion Questions

1. What stands out to you in the Main Thought or Main Passage above?

2. Do you think our society or culture believes that marriage has a purpose? If so, what does that purpose include?

3. How can marriage reflect God and His Kingdom?