There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We've spent this week looking at the family tree of Jesus. We've seen murderers and compromisers. We've seen prostitutes and deceivers. We've seen people doing their best in broken situations and living for God in godless places. All of it has led us here.Here's what I need you to know: no situation is too small and no probl...  Read More

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph. Nazareth was not a place you wanted to be from. It was a small town on the way to somewhere else. Roman soldiers were stationed there, and with them came all the false gods of the Roman Empire. The culture was pagan. The environment was spiritually hosti...  Read More

And Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. Joseph knew his family history. He knew about David's adultery. He knew about Abraham's compromises. He knew about the scandals and the failures and all the brokenness that ran through his bloodline. And yet Joseph was doing his best to break the pattern. He was a just man. A righteous man. A man who l...  Read More

And Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth. Matthew does something incredible in his genealogy. He lists four women by name. In that culture, women were rarely mentioned in family records. The family line was traced through the fathers. So why break the pattern? And more importantly, why these four women?Tamar pretended to be a prostitute and seduced her father-in-...  Read More

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. We call him the father of faith. Abraham is held up as the gold standard for believing God. Hebrews 11 celebrates his trust in the Lord. He left his homeland without knowing where he was going. He believed God for a son when it seemed biologically impossible. He was willing to sacrifice ...  Read More

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. Matthew doesn't hide it. Right there in the family tree of Jesus, he writes that Solomon was born to David "by the wife of Uriah." That phrase is loaded with weight. It points directly to one of the darkest chapters in the Bible.So here's the story. David was king. He had power, influence, and authority. One evening he saw Bathsheba bathing...  Read More

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Every Christmas we pull out the nativity sets. We place Mary and Joseph just so. The wise men stand at attention. The shepherds kneel in reverence. And there in the center lies baby Jesus, peaceful and perfect. Everything in its place. Everything clean and quiet and still.But can I just say that Matthew's version of t...  Read More

"And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes." We've spent this week walking through four tests Jesus gave us at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Four tests that reveal whether your faith is real or just religious performance. And all of these tests have one thing in common. They r...  Read More

 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain f...  Read More

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" You've ch...  Read More

"You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." So you walke...  Read More

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." You ever buy something that looked great from the outside but turned out to be a disaster underneath? Maybe a used car that ran fine on the test drive but broke down a week l...  Read More