INTRO-1: The Book of Genesis is the ultimate Rocky story!

I hate unnecessary complexity!  

My preaching and teaching philosophy is to keep things super duper simple.  

It doesn’t matter whether I’m teaching the Bible or another subject.  

I can tell you from hard-earned experience that whenever I’ve failed in the classroom or in front of the pulpit, the primary reason was because I tried to cram too many facts and complicated ideas into one lesson or sermon.  

Most people are pretty stressed out and can only absorb so much in one sitting.  

Everybody’s busy raising their kids and worrying about their careers.  

When they come to church or the synagogue, the last thing on their minds is “the incarnate deity of Christ” or “Arminianism versus Calvinism”.  

I’ve heard plenty of droning sermons in my time and I’ll be honest with you, once the pastor starts rambling, I begin fantasizing about the four pieces of juicy Kentucky Fried Chicken I’m gonna have for lunch.

So remember, fellow Bible preachers and teachers (and students), when you get out there in front of your audience, focus on ONE point and flesh it out via an illustration or an entertaining story.  

This will enable you to demonstrate the practical relevance of what you’re teaching and how it can be specifically applied.  Once you achieve this, your audience will be in the palm of your hand.  

This is exactly why I plan to have every blog post on this site focus on one singular but important and powerful theme that can potentially be fleshed out into a dynamic Bible study lesson or sermon.  

So with that in mind, I’d like to share one powerful way you can communicate to your audience what the book of Genesis is all about, an overarching theme if you will, that captures the heart and soul of the whole book of Genesis. 

After reading through a couple of commentaries, it finally dawned on me. 

THE BOOK OF GENESIS IS THE ULTIMATE ROCKY STORY!!!

  That’s right!  

The underlying theme of Genesis is about the overcoming of all odds to achieve ultimate victory through faith in God.  

Think about it. 

God chooses one childless and elderly couple way beyond their ability to bear children. 

And God says to the husband Abraham that not only is he going to have a child but He is going to make him into a great nation, bless him abundantly and grant his descendants the Land of Canaan. 

Given Abraham’s current circumstances at the time, the promise seems impossible. 

Actually, it is more than impossible, it borders on the absurd.  

Both Abraham and his wife are waaaaaaaaay past the child-bearing age and they’re nomad wanderers with no country they can call their own.  

However, after going through obstacle after obstacle, at the end the of the book of Genesis, lo and behold the beginning of what will become the 12 tribes of Israel is firmly in place.  

Furthermore, we have evidence of this miracle in the existence of the nation of Israel today. 

A nation that was resurrected from the dead in 1948.