Living Stones Christian Church

     Chrsitmas Eve we had the oppurtunity to go to Ryan and Amy Stover's farm for a Christmas Eve Service in the barn.  This was the first one we had been to in several years and was not disappointed.  The music w as great and the style right up my alley.  From the acoustic guitar to the electric bass and guitar, throw in the  bongo/congo and 12 string guitar and then finish it off with a violin.  It was fantastic.  This year I was given the honor of presenting the devotion and have included it below.

     Tonight I want to begin by asking you a question. What’s under your tree? In my house, my girls and I have a saying when someone asks a question we don’t have an answer for. Google it. When God first led me to this idea, I was thinking consumerism. When I typed these 4 words into Google’s search bar I was redirected into an entirely different direction. The first several hits had to do with family trees and genealogies. Just like real trees, your family tree has roots and branches. My middle daughter has been intrigued with tracing our family history lately. She is fascinated with the fact we are related to Randall McCoy of the Hatfield and McCoy fame and the outlaw Jesse James. When drawing out your family tree, you go in two directions. Your offspring are the branches on your tree and your ancestors are the roots. Isaiah 11:1 says, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” This is important to us because it is a Messianic Prophecy that is later fulfilled with the birth of Christ. Matthew starts out the New Testament in Matthew chapter 1 with the genealogy of Jesus to show this fulfillment.

The family tree of Jesus Christ, David’s son, Abraham’s son:

Abraham had Isaac,

Isaac had Jacob,

Jacob had Judah and his brothers,

Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar),

Perez had Hezron,

Hezron had Aram,

Aram had Amminadab,

Amminadab had Nashon,

Nashon had Salmon,

Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab),

Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother),

Obed had Jesse,

Jesse had David,

And David became king.

Matthew 1:1-6

     Now, you could read over this and say “So what”. Kind of like reading Chronicles. However, there are some notable things to point out here. Of the 18 names mentioned in the first 6 verses 3 are women (Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth). This is a big deal because it was not socially acceptable among the Israelites to mention them. The list also includes murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, liars, and gentiles. Jacob was a liar by tricking his father and brother to gain his brothers birthright, Judah withheld his third son from Tamar, Tamar tricked Judah into sleeping with her, Rahab was a prostitute, Ruth was a Moabite making her a gentile as well as a product of incest being a descendent of Lot, and David was a murderer and an adulterer. Sounds a lot like reality TV or daytime soaps. We all, if we look hard enough, have family members that we are embarrassed of, that we would rather leave off the tree and not tell anyone about. God doesn’t do that. He writes it down, right here in black and white. He says, “My son comes from a long line of sinners”. Why is this important to us, because the very people he comes from, are the very people he came to save. It is the same people Jesus ministers to while he is on earth. It is the same people he calls us to minister to as the church. It is us. We are those people. Matthew is telling us there is room for all of us in God’s family, by grace. There is room for men and women, rich and poor, young and old, moral and immoral, Jew and gentile, perverted and virgin, religious and irreligious, liars and truth tellers, murderers and their victims, by grace if you believe in Him. There is room for you no matter what you have done or what your family history may be.

     Spend some extra time this holiday season worshipping God and thanking him for sending us His Son Jesus.  And as you look to the New Year ahead, don't let your past, your current circumstances, your social status, your phyisical stature, your age keep you from drawing near and serving Him.

      Merry Christmas to all, Jesus is the Light.