Week 2: Our True Identity
Monday: January 8
Read the Essay or Story in your CORE 52 Book (5-10minutes)
Adult CORE 52: Pages 12-17
Teen CORE 52: Pages 10-13
Kids CORE 52: Page 14
Watch the video lesson below (5-6 minutes)
Tuesday: January 9
Memorize the weekly Core Verse
(Use the video to help you with memorizing each week!)
Genesis 1:26 — Then God said, “Let us make man in our image…”
Wednesday: January 10
Read the additional scripture below to see how the Core Verse was expressed in the real lives of God’s people.
Ephesians 1 (NIV)
Chapter 1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Thursday: January 11
Read 3 additional mini-passages, and think about how they connect to the Core Verse and what it teaches. You might begin by reviewing the core text from memory.
Psalm 8:4-5 (NIV)
What is mankind that you are mindful of them,human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)
For you created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
Hebrews 2:6-8 (NIV)
But there is a place where someone has testified:“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
7 You made them a little lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honor
8 and put everything under their feet.”
In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them.
Friday: January 12
Complete Your Challenge
Adult Challenge:
Identify one area of your life where you’re living too individualistically, and then invite someone into that area of your life.
Teen Challenge:
We claim an important part of our true identity when we take community seriously. Pick three friends and think about what abilities and characteristics they have that reflect God’s nature. (Your friends don’t need to be Christians, just humans.) Then share what you see with them. It will blow their minds.
Kids Challenge:
Create something this week that would improve someone’s day (cookies, a dance, a picture, a story…).
Overachiever Challenge:
Memorize Psalm 8:4-5
