God’s Story Is Our Story: From Genesis To JesusSample

Why do this plan: Before Ezra ever took up the mantel of leadership in Israel, he made a strange decision. He set his heart on one goal: studying the word of God. Why? We might assume that he wanted to teach it to others, and this is true. But before he taught it, Ezra wanted to learn how to do it. The Bible is God’s authoritative word to his people, meant to shape their life together. It is designed to shape their sense of mission and calling in the world. In other words, somehow these stories (most of the Bible is narrative or poetry, by the way) are meant to change how we “do” life. They will make us aware of our glorious calling and our terrible ruin. They will show us God in action, acting to restore the whole cosmos through a specially chosen people. As they do so, they invite us into that mission, into worship, into repentance, into faith, and into obedient action. But before we can “do” God’s word, Ezra shows us that we first must learn it. That's why we put together this plan to help followers of Jesus learn and apply God's story. Together we will make God's story our story.

What you will learn in this plan: The goal of this  plan is to help readers learn God’s story. In particular, you will learn three things: 1) How the entire story is summed up in its great climax: Jesus. 2) God’s cosmic mission to bless the nations and restore creation. 3) God’s shocking grace in the face of human idolatry, evil and injustice. 

How to use this Reading Plan: We wrote this study in 7-day sections. In total there are 35 sections. Here is what you should expect

• Days 1-5 of each section consist of 1-2 chapters of reading (or listening, if you prefer). We pair 1-2 of them per week with short videos from the Bible Project, which explain the message of different books, as well as key theological themes. Expect 15-30 minutes of reading/watching on these days.
• Day 6 of each section is a 3-5 verse reading that summarizes the previous week. We recommend using it to reflect and meditate. Expect this to take 3-5 minutes.
• Day 7 of each section is a 3-5 verse reading and a short devotion, which summarizes and applies the previous week’s reading. Expect this to take 3-5 minutes. 

The key to this plan is to keep going even if you miss a few days! If you do miss some reading, simply go back to watch the videos you missed and read that week's short devotion.

What now? Set up this reading plan so that you receive daily notifications from the youversion app. To do that, exit this devotion and click the three dots "..." in the upper right hand corner of the app. Then click "settings," and then swipe on "reminder" (and follow any instructions.

Since this plan is all about making God's story our story, our first Bible Project video summarizes the entire Biblical story in five minutes. It's worth revisiting this video just to remind yourself of where you are as we read through the Bible together.