I'm related to you?

Child Dedication:

Good morning. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Today, we have a special opportunity to act as church family. As you very well know, we have a lot of kids in our church! And God continues to bless our church with more and more. And this morning, we are having another child dedications.

So, real quick, a child dedication is two things.

It’s an opportunity for us as a church family to celebrate life. We celebrate new life in our church! We are thankful for the children in our church! And we rejoice with their parents on their growing family.

Also, the book of Proverbs says, “Raise up a child in the way they should go and when they get older, they will not depart from it.” This morning, as a church family, we are going to be witnesses to a commitment this family is making to raise up their child to love and follow Jesus. And, it is our responsibility to come alongside this family to support them in fulfilling this commitment!

So, I’d like to invite Doug, Katrina, and Oliver to the front...

This is how it’s going to go down. In a moment, I’m going to read a few biblical commitments, for the parents, about raising their child in the Christian faith. And if you agree with them, after I’m done, you will say, “We do.”

Then, I’m going to read some commitments for us as a church family. And if we agree, we will also say, “We do.” Then, I will pray for Doug, Katrina, and Oliver.

Read commitments.

Pray

At this time, I’d like to dismiss the River Kids!

Children’s Announcements:

If you don’t know what a core value is, let me phrase it this way. On your bulletin you have vision, mission, values. Vision is where God is calling us to. Mission is how we get there. Values are why we do things the way we do. One thing we value is God’s Word – the Bible. It affects everything we do here.

One of the primary ways God’s word is taught at TRC is on Sunday Morning. It’s not the only place (nor should it be), but we recognize it’s a primary place and therefore we emphasize Sunday morning. The Sunday morning worship experience is important! It’s where people are able to hear, receive, and learn the Word. That’s super important!

So, related to that are our River Kids and River Littles. You guys know we have a lot of kids in our small church. That’s good. It’s good they are here! It shows life. More importantly, they are where they should be – in their Father’s house. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me!” As noisy and crazy as it can get sometimes, they belong here AND the fact that they are here shows God trusts US with their lives! But just because we have a lot of kids doesn’t mean their presence rules our lives. This may not be an important point of view, but I don’t believe the Bible teaches the presence of children should overwhelm the experience of everyone else – especially if this is where worship and the teaching of God’s word happens. So, I want to mention a few things…

One, our River Kids team is working on a few things to help with our ever-growing children’s ministry. We want to promote an environment where kids feel valued, where the parents feel blessed, and where the Word of God can flourish – both to children and the adults of TRC. So, there are a few changes coming down the pipe.

One thing that isn’t a change but a loving reminder is running and volume. Look, let the one without sin cast the first stone. I have 3 energetic and sometimes loud boys. And – they are here for at least 4 hours on Sunday – sometimes 6 when they have to come with me at 6:45. That’s a long time to be at church! And kids want to play, have fun, and make noise. We want them to do that – but in the right way and the appropriate time. So, here’s the reminder: We are asking parents to make sure your children are not running and using appropriate volume levels. Regarding running: It’s primarily a safety issue. But it’s also a building rules issue. The community center requires us to do our part to respect their building. As hard as it can be, our time here inside the building is not the appropriate place for running. Additionally, we ask there be no screaming, yelling, and that our children learn appropriate volume levels. Sometimes kids get excited. That’s okay! That’s good sometimes. Especially if they are participating in worship. But it’s not okay when they are becoming a distraction in worship. So again, this is not about rules and regulations. We are NOT going to regulate sound levels or children’s presence in the sanctuary – we are not that type of church. But we will encourage discipleship, which involves children learning how to worship God among the congregation.

Which brings me to my final thing for today. We want to give kids the appropriate environment to worship. Sometimes that is with us as we worship as a family. Sometimes that is in River Kids classes. So, my request to our church family is please continue to pray about how God would have you serve. If you didn’t get a chance to sign up for something at the Ministry Fair, there’s still an opportunity to do that. Come see me, Janelle, or Alyssa after service and we can point you in the right direction. Maybe it’s in River Kids or River Littles. And those ministries are more than church childcare, it’s children’s discipleship! It’s giving kids the opportunity to learn the Word of God in a way and environment that’s best suited for them. It’s also an opportunity for their parents to engage with the Word of God without worrying about their kids. Because let’s be real, as much as we preach we aren’t going to judge you because your child is having a rough morning or still learning how to worship in certain environments (totally true), it’s still hard to be in that moment. When we are able to offer River Kids and River Littles, we remove that stress. That starts with two things: People willing to volunteer their time – even sacrificially – to disciple kids, and give their parents an opportunity to worship without added stress. And for those serving in River Kids, you being faithful to show up for your week. Because here’s what we’re not going to do: We’re not going to burnout our faithful servants. That’s not how a family works. So if we don’t have enough volunteers to offer it every week, we won’t. And as we’ve been discussing, that affects everyone.

So let me summarize it this way:

1. Parents: You and your family are loved. We value you. And we want to encourage and support you as you help your kids learn to worship, both during service, or in classes, or before and after service. And the best way we can do that together is promoting a safe, flexible, and loving environment. For us parents that starts with doing our part: making sure our kids aren’t running and teaching them when it’s appropriate to be loud or quiet.

2. Church Family: Let’s be patient with our kids. This takes time. Be patient with families, kids, and our volunteers as we continue to grow together. Also, pray about how you can serve. Because our goal here is to worship God together. To know Him and grow together. And develop an environment where the Word of God has a chance to impact our lives – through kids classes and a worship experience where there is both love and environment for the Word of God to be received.

3. Finally, thank you for allowing me to mention this. Thank you for the grace in this church. Thank you for the grace in allowing families to develop this progressively. Thank you for allowing our church to be a place where we don’t have to “lay down the law.” That’s not who we are – nor is it who we want to be. We want families and their kids to love church – not dread going. And thank you for grace towards me, as I’m sure I haven’t explained this in the best way. So, if I’ve said anything offensive, please forgive me. It’s not my intention.

Big Idea:

God wants us in His family, even when no one else does.

Intro:

This morning we are starting a new Christmas sermon series titled, “I didn’t expect that!” Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. As you know, it’s only a few short weeks away.

And one of the cultural elements of Christmas involves gift-giving. Yes, I know sometimes “presents” can sometimes interfere with the purpose of Christmas, but I think it also reminds us the greatest gift God gave the world, which is Jesus.

And I like giving gifts. Part of who I am, how my personality works, and the culture I was brought up in, values gift giving. It’s how I show appreciation and affection. I especially love the surprise element of gift-giving. I love when people open a gift and are like “Wow! I didn’t expect that!” The surprise can make it special. That’s what this Christmas series is going to focus on: Looking at God’s surprises found in the Christmas stories.

However, sometimes surprises aren’t special. Sometimes surprises are scary...

For example, imagine going to school (or being back and school) and seeing this shady person. You don’t personally know them, but their reputation precedes them! They’re known for doing the things no one else will do - or at least won’t publicly announce doing. They are the type of person that your parents tell you not to hang out with. So, you keep your distance, which is no big deal to you, because no one else hangs out with them. So, it’s not even like you’re being mean… you’re just following the norm.

Then, at Thanksgiving. You see a familiar face walk through the door. No. It can’t be so-and-so! You run over to mom and say, “Why are they here?” Mom says nonchalantly, “Oh, that’s your cousin!” And you think, “No way! I’m related to you!?!”

Yes you are! SURPRISE!

In Matthew’s gospel, the Christmas story (the story of Jesus’ birth) is found in the two chapters. And as I was reading them a few months ago, I noticed a few surprises - that started off scary. But as I reflected on them, I realized how special they were. And it left me saying, “I didn’t expect that.” I wouldn’t expect God to include those things in the Christmas story!

And the first one is found in . If you have your Bible/app, you can turn there.

The title of this morning’s message is “I’m related to you?”

Matthew’s gospel starts off with what we call a genealogy. It’s basically a family tree. They are super excited to read, right? No - they aren’t for me either. But in Scripture, they are super important.

One reason Matthew includes one is because one of his purposes in writing is to show the Jewish people that Jesus is the promised Messiah, according to the promises of God. You see this in verse 1...

Matthew 1:1 ESV

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

And to the Jewish people, you would need to prove this statement. And so Matthew begins by showing how you can trace Jesus’ family line through King David and all the way back to Abraham - the ones God made promises to.

And I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we’re not going to read all the way through genealogy together. But I do want us to read the next couple of verses, because they hold a surprise for us...

Matthew 1:2–6 ESV

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,

Matt 1:2-

Somebody say, “Interesting.” At first glance, there is an obvious emphasis on “fathers.” That was important to the Jewish people. So, that’s not a surprise. What is a surprise is the moms found in this passage. For example, think about Tamar, the mother of Perez and Zerah...

Exegesis:

Backstory on the Women:

Tamar: The story of Tamar is found in (you don’t need to turn there if you don’t want to). But it’s a pretty scandalous story. Basically, Tamar was the wife of Judah’s oldest son. His son was a bad dude, so God took him out. And back then, it was Jewish custom for the brother to marry the widow, so the family name could continue. So, his brother did, but he really didn’t want Tamar. God wasn’t please with the brother either, so he got taken out too. Finally, there was one more brother, but Judah was like, “I don’t want my son to marry Tamar either - she’s like a black widow.”

So, he tells Tamar to wait until his last son is old enough to marry. But even after that, he never lets it happen. That’s when the story gets really sketchy...

Halloween wasn’t too long ago. What would you say to your daughter if she said, “Mom, Dad… Can I be a prostitute for Halloween?” You’d be like, “No!” Why? Because that’s shameful… even when you’re pretending! Well, Tamar did that.

One day, she pretended to be a prostitute and manipulated the dad (Judah). She ends up getting pregnant with twins by the dad. There’s way more to this story, but I think that’s enough for our purposes...

Rahab: The next mom on this list is Rahab. Her story is found in the book of Joshua. She lived in the city of Jericho, which was the first city the Israelites entered when they finally crossed into the Promised Land, after Egypt. Guess what… she didn’t pretend to be a prostitute like Tamar, she WAS a prostitute! Enough said!

Ruth: Next up, is Ruth. Now, Ruth was a good girl. She’s awesome. She’s so awesome God gave her her own book of the Bible! However, Ruth was a Moabite. What’s that mean? Well, she wasn’t a Jew; in fact, the Moabites were the mortal enemies of the Jews. They have their own scandalous beginnings, which I won’t go into this morning. But I will mention this...

The Moabites worshiped idols. And some scholars believe one of the false gods they worshiped was named Molech. I’m going to warn you, this is a little graphic, but I think it can tell us what type of people the Moabites were. One way people worshiped Molech was through child sacrifices. That’s gross all by itself. But what they used to do was superheat a giant statue of Molech that had its hands out. And they would place the babies on the hands. That’s the type of people Ruth belonged to...

Bathsheba: Finally, we have Bathsheba. We find her scandalous story in . She has an affair with King David. And while I believe this was primarily David’s fault, Bathsheba was no angel! Look what we read here...

2 Samuel 11:2 ESV

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.

2 Sam 11:

Now, other translations use the phrase “evening” instead of “late afternoon,” which I believe is more accurate. Have you ever been to a place that didn’t have electricity at night? When I went to South Sudan, they didn’t have electricity - at least not like the way we do. And I remember at night, even with the moon out, it was pitch-black dark! You couldn’t see nothing at evening time.

Which is strange because it says David say Bathsheba taking a bath at night! Which means she had a light on while she was doing it. Now, whether its today or 3000 years ago, ladies don’t take baths with lights shining on them for all the world to see. That’s shady. They wash themselves in private.

Furthermore, notice how David could see her from his rooftop. Couple things: (1) How close you lived to the palace meant something. It was like living in some of the exclusive neighborhood here in Glastonbury. I mention this because Bathsheba was fully aware of where she lived. (2) Because of that, she knew very well who could see her when she was taking her night-time bath!

David wasn’t where he supposed to be (he should’ve been leading his people in battle as king). And he ends up making a terrible choice by having an affair with Bathsheba. The scandal increases when Bathsheba ends up pregnant and David tries to cover it up, which results in Bathsheba’s husband dying. David did some terrible things, but Bathsheba wasn’t blameless! She likely instigated the entire thing!

The whole story is filled with shame. King David felt it. It was one of the reasons David tried to cover it up. Because initially, he didn’t want Bathsheba as his wife. He just wanted to use her… it’s a scandalous story.

So, you can see why them being included in Jesus’ family tree is a surprise!

Why are they included:

Because check this out: When it came to family trees or genealogies, you didn’t have to every person you were related to. In fact, the genealogy in Matthew skips a few generations in places. That was perfectly acceptable! The phrase, “father of” can mean father or even grandfather. It primary means that you came from the “line of.”

Additionally, Matthew didn’t have to list the moms. Actually, it is kinda rare that he did! And you’d think, if he was going to list moms, why not list the matriarchs like Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel? Why list these shady ladies, especially if you’re trying to prove Jesus is the Messiah. Common sense would tell you to make that list as clean as possible - like don’t include any of the crazy relatives!

Yet, here they are… SURPRISE! Jesus - you’re great grandmothers were a person who pretended to be a prostitute, one who did things prostitutes did, one was actually a prostitute, and one came from a religion that used prostitution to worship their false gods (Ruth). This is definitely the type family tree you’d read and say, “I’m related to you?”

So, why are they included? Here’s the simple answer: Because God wanted them included. So, what does this tell us about God?

What does this tell us about God:

What does this tell us about God:

Here’s the surprise we find in the beginning of Matthew’s Christmas story: God wants the ones who no one wants.

Nobody wanted these ladies. Judah didn’t Tamar in his family. Rahab likely becomes a prostitute because she grew up thinking no man would ever want her. David didn’t want Bathsheba - he just wanted to use her. And no good Jew would want Ruth - a Moabite! But even when no one wanted them, God wanted them! He loved them so much, despite their sketchy past, that He took them in and redeemed them. So much so that He not only accepted them, but included them into the greatest lineage in human history. These ladies are forever recorded in Scripture as woman related to Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

What does this teach us?

Isn’t that the gospel? That God takes our ashes and makes something beautiful? That He takes our brokenness and makes a masterpiece? As Christians, we truly have a great message to share with the world! It’s a message that will surprise people when spoken in truth and love. And it’s a message that people are especially open to during Christmas.

Furthermore, think about this: How will people surprise us? Let’s just consider Rahab the prostitute. At first glance, no one would’ve guessed she’d be the one God wanted. She’d probably be last on the list. But not only did Rahab help the Israelite spies and decide to follow the God of Israel, her faith was exceptional. So much so that you will find her name in .

Hebrews 11:31 ESV

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

Heb 11:

If you are unfamiliar with , you probably don’t know this is like the Hall of Fame of God’s people. The people listed in this chapter are the heroes of our faith. Their faith went above and beyond! Their faith was inspirational! And Rahab’s name is included on that list! Think about that… Rahab! Isn’t that a surprise!

And the one person who isn’t surprise by that was God. He saw something wonderful in Rahab, despite her history. And even if no one else wanted her, God wanted her in his family.

Response:

As we close, I’m going to ask the worship team to come back up. And I’ll end our time this way...

Going back to the story I started with. What if that shady, newly discovered family member is actually a gift from God? What if they have the faith potential of Rahab? What if God’s call on their life plays a major role in the Kingdom?

I’d like to challenge us this morning: Who are you praying for? What person has God put in your life that you’d NEVER think would come to faith in Christ! I want to challenge you to begin truly praying for that person. And then start looking for an opportunity to invite them to church or share Jesus with them. Because it is my firm belief that God wants them. It may be a surprise to everyone else, but not to God - think about Kanye West!

And here’s the cool thing. Christmas is the perfect season to do it. Our culture gives us two season that people are naturally open to the gospel: Easter and Christmas. Start praying about who you want to invite to our Christmas service!

But maybe you’re here this morning and you feel like that unwanted person. Maybe you have a past. Maybe you’ve made some bad decisions that if people truly knew about - they’d never want you in their life, let alone their family!

Let me tell you: God already knows about it. And He loves you and wants you. And that’s proven by what happened on that first Christmas. He sent His Only Son, Jesus, to come to Earth as a baby. With the sole purpose of living a perfect life and dying on a cross in your place, so you could be forgiven. Yes, your sin does separate you from God. God is holy. But if you put your faith in Jesus (God’s surprise gift to us!), He will forgive you and bring you into His family!

If you need to receive God’s forgiveness, if you want to be brought into God’s family this morning, call out to Jesus the Savior. He will accept! Tell Him you’re sorry for your sins and that you believe Jesus died on the cross for you and was raised from the dead three days later. God’s word says if you will do that, if you will put your faith in Jesus and follow Him, you will pass from death to life, and be brought into God’s family.

Finally, let me tell you. There’s no accident you’re hearing this message. And if this is the church you call home, it’s not by accident either. God wants you here for a reason. It may surprise you but you are a gift to us. You have a purpose in what God is trying to accomplish here in Glastonbury and beyond. Additionally, our church family may be a gift to you! And family that will walk with you through thick and thin. A family that will love you, no matter what you’ve done or where you’ve come from. If this is your church-home, get involved. Come to Life Group. Start serving. Because we want you, even if you feel unwanted! Just like God wants you! You’re part of our family and we love being related to you!

What if they’re a gift in your life? What if, by them, they help you love more like Jesus - who would’ve ran over to that sinner and embraced them.

Let’s tie this back into Christmas. God wasnts you in his family because you are a gift to us. And in the same way, this church family is gift to you, even if it’s a surprise.

Maybe you’ve wanted to belong to God’s family. Your sin separated you but Jesus makes a way for you to belong. Because God wants you in his family. He loves you. And he proved that by sending his Son on that first Christmas as a gift. Jesus ends up dying so you can be forgiven and brought into His family.