Matthew 1:1-17
The God of History
New Year’s Day sermon will be from a text that is rarely preached. The genealogy from Abraham to David to Joseph. There are many fascinating parts of this genealogy, but the big picture is the working of God in the lives of historical men and women.
Of the four Gospels, Matthew is seen as the continuation of the Old Testament. This Gospel is showing the Jews that Jesus is the promised Messiah. And this genealogy shows the two most important people for the covenant or promises of God, Abraham and David.
Matthew is the Gospel for 2023. Matthew wants us to see that the plan of God is working in time and history. Matthew shows us that the Messiah is not some fanciful legend, the Messiah is a real person, and he deals with the real situations of our lives.
The sermons will take Matthew in the order they are presented, and not the retelling of the story of the Church Year as other lectionaries do. We will look at this One that is the fulfillment of the promises God has made with Abraham and David.