Big Idea: Jesus welcomes us into his family tree and wants to be included in ours.

1.     When we talk about Spiritual Legacy we are talking about discipleship (Matthew 28:16-20)

2.     We hear about generational trauma, what about generational blessing? (Deuteronomy 7:9) What if this is true?

3.     Jesus chose anything but an admirable group of folks to be in his family tree, and he is still choosing us. (Matthew 1:1)

Jesus belonged to a family of murderers, cheats, cowards, adulterers, and liars – he belonged to us and came to help us, no wonder he came to a bad end, and gave us some hope.

–       Herbert McCabe, 1987 (Catholic Philosopher)

When Jesus was questioned by some religious people, an expert of the law tested him with a question: which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus answered:

 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”   Matthew 22:35-40

You can spend the rest of your life focused on doing these two things well and I am willing to bet you will get it pretty close.

Lean into Jesus to guide you, don’t do this alone, do this in a community of people who are doing this together. 

 When you lack wisdom, you don’t know what to do, ask God, he is faithful to keep his covenant of love, to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

For Further Study:

·      These genealogies are lists consisting of only males.

·      Tamar – Genesis 38

·      Rahab – Joshua 2

·      Ruth – The book of Ruth

·      Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah – 2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Kings 1

·       David’s repentance and consequences – 2 Samuel 12