Introducing “With God: In The Beginning”

You were made for life with God. Every longing is ultimately an echo of our eternal desire for that kind of life. The good news is that God desires to live with us, too. From “In the beginning” to the final “Amen” of Scripture, God is inviting us to live into wholeness with him. Throughout 2026, Christ Community is journeying through the whole biblical story, discovering how we can say a bigger “yes” to life with God today and forever. Whether your life is a mess, feels like a wilderness, your family is in darkness and in need of hope, or even if this is a quiet and joyful season, join us as we lean into life with God as he designed and revealed in his word. We’ll learn the best life is living With God.

The Discipline of Study

One of the clearest ways we experience the “with God” life is through the Bible. Far from being just black words on white pages, the Holy Scriptures are the “living and active” word of God (Hebrews 4:12). They speak God’s very words to us breathed out by his own Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16). If you want to be close to anyone relationally, you must listen to what they say. How much more true with God!

Through these first seven weeks we will focus on the discipline of study, improving our skills of reading, understanding, and applying God’s words to our lives. Each week along this journey, you will find blogs, videos, articles, learning activities, reflection questions, and prayer prompts to help you become a better student of the Bible. Let's get started!

Prayer

Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit, please illuminate the sacred page, we pray, that our minds may be open to receive your word, our hearts taught to love it, and our wills strengthened to obey it. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Read | Genesis 1:1–2:3

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.

Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the third day.

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years. They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night—as well as the stars. God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.

Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.

Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

So God created man
in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.

Click here to listen to the Scripture in ESV.

How is God present in this story? How is he present with you now?

Focus

Read this blog by Caleb Jenkins.

Pray

Spend some time in silence reflecting on what you learned today. Ask God to help you read his word, recognizing both its divinity and humanity.

Going Deeper

Listen to this selected episode of the BibleProject’s podcast, The Paradigm.

In theFormed.life, the daily Scripture reading will take you through the whole story of Scripture in manageable chunks, allowing time for other study, reflection, and prayer, rather than including every verse and chapter in the Bible. If you would like to go deeper and read through the entire Bible in a year, use this whole Bible reading plan from the BibleProject. Print it off and use it as a checklist to track your progress! Whether you are new to following Jesus or have read through the Bible multiple times already, join us in this journey to grow in knowledge of and love for God’s word as you experience his presence through it.