November 26, 2021 – December 24, 2021

Christmas Hope and the Women in Jesus' Family Tree

Advent is the liturgical season of waiting and preparing our hearts for Jesus Christ’s coming into the world. We read the stories of his birth in the gospels, but the gospel of Matthew doesn’t begin with the birth narrative; it starts with history. The gospel of Matthew opens with Jesus’ family tree and affirms for its Jewish audience that Jesus is the promised Messiah in the line of David. But the gospel writer does something out of the ordinary—he includes five women in Jesus’ genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba), and Mary. In this Groundwork series, we’ll study the stories of these women as an Advent reflection. Through their stories, we’ll be reminded of the meaning of Christmas: Jesus came to deal with the reality of human sin. Further, we’ll recognize the great hope and promise of belonging for the broken, the traumatized, the outsider, and the imperfect as we witness the fullness of God’s love and faithfulness through the women in Jesus’ family tree. 

Episodes in this Series