Christmas is for Real People

Christmas is for real people, just like each of us!  Have you ever considered just how much like each of us Jesus really was?  Well, break out your Bible and let us read Matthew 1:1-17.

There are broken people on Jesus' family tree!  As you read through this list of 42 generational names, perhaps more than a few rung a bell with you.  Some of those in Jesus ancestry NEVER sought God at all!  All of them were sinners.  Some did a few things right, some of the time.  An awful lot like people I know!

Shocking Grandmothers point to God's grace!  When checking out that list of names did you notice that there are only four women mentioned in Jesus' genealogy?  Jerry Springer has not much on these women:
Tamar: Genesis 38, a Canaanite whom seduced her father-in-law to get pregnant
Rahab: Joshua 2 and 6, was a Canaanite prostitute.
Ruth: was a Moabite, descended from Lot's indiscretion.
Bathsheba: David's adulteress, whose husband he killed.

But, before condemning any of them, let us remember that according to I Corinthians 6:9-11, we are all adulterers - that God reaches out to.

The Church is full of sinners, some saved by grace, some still needing to find that grace.  We are all broken, to be transformed by Jesus into something useful to God.

Rejoice!