80 Generations (September)

September 2023 (3 - 30 September). See the Resource Pack PDF for information on the weekly subthemes and the daily prompts and Bible readings which shape our Daily Worship. Check out our Bible Study Questions PDF to see the material adapted for small Connect groups or personal Bible study. 
 

80 generations between us and Jesus

Join us this September as we consider the genealogy of our faith and the mindboggling fact that only 80 generations stand between our lives and when Jesus lived his human life among us.

Last month in Habitats of Hope we were looking around at where we find ourselves and now this month we are looking back at where we have come from. Not only where, but who we have come from.

We’ll be thinking about time, tradition, innovation, redemption, deliverance, burning bushes, manna from heaven, and the things that that sustain us.

This month we are trying to put time, meaning and purpose into perspective, using the the title 80 Generations. If a generation is 25 years, did you know that it is only 80 generations since Jesus walked this earth in person? In other words, if each generation could shake hands, you would only need to shake 80 hands until you would shake the hand of Jesus. What is even more powerful than that is the nail pierced hand of Jesus can reach out across the generations to touch each of us now. Proverbs 18: 24 reminds us there is one who sticks closer to us than even a brother.

In Psalm 90 the writer goes further, referring to God’s timing as “A thousand years in your sight is as one watch of the night.” In the ancient world one watch of the night was about three or four hours. So in God’s economy of time, Jesus rose from the dead six hours ago. And when it comes to the stories of the Exodus well they just happened ten and half hours ago.

During September we are going to take four of these interesting stories of deliverance from the book of Exodus and view them as unfinished scenarios, that still have a contemporary connection with our lives, in that they describe the human condition.

We are all people enslaved in time searching for purpose and perspective.

It is hoped this time of study will help us to reach out and shake the hand of Jesus across the generations. But also to see that the Jesus story speaks into the lives of all of us who are enslaved in 21st century materialism and injustice.

Shaking hands with Jesus across the generations

Join a Connect Group

Why not try joining a connect group this month? There are multiple In-Person and Online Connect Groups all over the country that use Sanctuary First's Connect material, why not get in touch as see if there is a group near you? Contact

Each week of the four week theme runs Sunday-Saturday and has its own subtheme, which contains daily Bible readings and prompts for thought (see the Resource Pack PDF for more information). Check out our Bible Study Questions PDF to see the material adapted for small Connect groups or personal Bible study.