Prepare your heart for the Sermon by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together hearing God's Word.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Carefully Think

• Read Genesis chapter 1, focusing on vv. 24-31. Notice that the phrase “according to their kinds” carried through in vv. 24-25. What did we learn last week was the significance of this phrase? How do vv. 24-25 speak to the issue of evolution?
• Notice the contrast of v. 25. How does God choose to make man? Is this distinct from creation? How does God’s statement about man’s dominion impact our understanding of man’s relationship with the rest of creation? What does it mean that God created man in his image? Is this different from likeness? What in the text makes you think so?
• Look at v. 28. Did God bless anything else that he created? What was God’s command to mankind? What was the purpose of God’s command? What does it reveal about God that the first thing he communicated to man was a command?
• What was God doing in v. 29? Was God stingy with mankind? What does God’s provision in this verse teach us about God and man?
• What is different about God’s assessment of his work in v. 31 compared to the previous days of creation? How does this assessment set mankind apart among his creation?

Prayerfully Meditate

• Consider the fact that God has made you in his image. Even if you don’t grasp what that means, what are some simple implications you can draw from this fact? Should man be valued? Is man different than the rest of creation?
• What’s man’s purpose in light of being created in the image of God? Is it to promote self, or to promote God? Contemplate the richness and goodness of God.
• Why would God choose to bless mankind above the rest of creation? How does this demonstrate his goodness? How do the commands of God relate to his goodness?
• Think on the provision of God in v. 29. Even before sin and the fall, this demonstrates man’s dependence on the Lord. Have you seen the richness of God’s provision in your life? Don’t think fancy cars and wealth, do you have food? Do you have breath and life? More than those things, what has God provided in Christ? How should we respond to a God who so richly provides?