Skeletons In Jesus' Family Tree Series

Today we launch a special time for you and our church. You’ve Got the Time is more than a sermon series, it’s a spiritual growth campaign. It’s time where you are empowered to finally finish the entire New Testament in a little more than a month. Surveys reveal that many people spend more time showering and talking on the phone than reading their Bibles in a given week. You’ve Got the Time is a simple tool aimed to fix your spiritual inertia.

You’ve Got the Time is taking 28 minutes a day to listen to the New Testament on mp3. You’ll cover the entire New Testament in just forty days. You listen on your iPod, your computer, as you exercise, or on your way to work. 28 minutes a day for forty days – it’s just that simple. You can pick up free mp3s at any of our exits as you leave today. Our entire church family is beginning today. If you’re doing with me, just put on one of the wristbands to remind yourself. If you have questions, see anyone in the green shirts. I’ll be preaching on selected Scriptures throughout 40 days as you listen. In addition, you can check http://www.scottmaze.com where you’ll find short articles explaining some of the more difficult passages.

Today, I want to tackle a passage that for many of you might be thought of as dull genealogy. You might be tempted to think the first words of the New Testament are just throwaway words. Many would simply dismiss this passage as boring and irrelevant. Yet, we would make a serious mistake if we thought lightly of any single sentence in pages of the New Testament. Why?

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The Power of the Bible

Why should you devote a month to listening to the New Testament? Even the most prejudiced person against the Bible would admit that the Bible is a unique book. If for no other reason than this Book, though it has existed for many centuries, is the most taught, bought, distributed, and loved book in existence today.

It is not an exaggeration to say that no text has been criticized as much as the Bible. During the Stalin era in Russia, the Marxist government derided the Bible as a book full of legends, myths, and old wives’ tales. Stalin’s government even established an anti-Bible museum in Moscow to try to convince the people. Why would a government take time to build and maintain such a museum? Because they knew that this One Book had the unique power to change people’s lives.

Scripture is God’s very words. It has the power to change lives. The book you have on your lap is a living book and it is unlike any other book in existence today. It has the power to change your life.

Let’s dig in…

In place of reading today’s text, I want you to hear the passage read as you would listen to it in the campaign. Play mp3 of Matthew 1:1-17.

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.