Sermon Central
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A Scandalous Beginning Series
Contributed by Michael Jones on Dec 5, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: This series details the "messy" people and events that surrounded the birth of Christ. 2 of 3.
How many people have ever researched their family tree?
Our family name reveals great information
- Our geographic roots (Area of the world) Ming Na- Chinese Lopez- Hispanic
- Our biological roots (Who we are related to) Hayes’ Family
- Our financial standing (Gates, Rockefeller, Walton, etc.)
We do not have control over our family history
- We have some relatives that we are excited to be related to
- We have some relatives that we don’t want to be related to
We will be looking at the birth of Jesus over the next three weeks to examine His family history.
Our topic will be “From a Hot Mess to a Holy Miracle”
- A Scandalous Beginning
- A Shameful Birth
- A Startling Truth
What is a hot mess?
The Hot Mess
We read the genealogy of Jesus. Matthew reveals the story of 4 women in Jesus’ life whose lives were a mess.
Story of Tamar (Genesis 38)
- Judah has three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah
- Judah chooses Tamar to marry Er
- Er was evil in God eyes so he kills him
- Onan is now to marry her due to the law
- He doesn’t want to have children with her so God kills him
- Judah promises Shelah to Tamar, but does not plan on following through
- Years later Judah’s wife dies and Tamar realizes that she will not be marrying Shelah
- Tamar tricks Judah into having sex with her and blackmails him (Gen. 38:15-19)
Story of Rahab (Joshua 2)
- Did not have a last name
- Known by her profession
- Spies were sent to Jericho on a mission
- Rahab lied to protect them because she knew of their God
- Rahab asks for their protection (vs. 8-13)
- In Chapter 6 they kept their promise
Story of Ruth (Moabite)
- Great story of faith
- The Moabites began because of incestuous relationships
Story of Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11)
- She was seen bathing by David
- She had an affair with David and became pregnant
- David tried to cover up his sin by sending Uriah home to his wife
- David then got Uriah drunk (vs. 12-16)
- David had her husband Uriah killed
- Bathsheba eventually marries David and they have a child named Solomon
Jesus’ family tree was full of people whose life was a mess.
Jesus made sure they were named, because they were important.
Out of this mess will come the Son of God Jesus Christ.
How will His history affect His conception and birth?
Come back next week to find out.
