It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” A Take of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
All children, except one, grow up.” Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
In a whole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
There’s just something powerful about a good opening line—one that catches you and pulls you right in—to a story. Of all the sentences an author writes, it is, perhaps, the most important.
And that takes us to the opening line of the Gospel of Matthew:
An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:” Matthew 1:1 CSB
Curious, isn’t it? If God is the master storyteller—which He is—this seems like an odd way to begin the most important story of all history—the true story of Jesus Christ. With a genealogy for 17 verses. Really?
A Perfect Line
Yes, really. While this opening line may seem quite unspectacular, it is the perfect line to open the New Testament because it reminds us that this is not the beginning of the story, but rather a continuation of the story that began with this line:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 CSB
The Holy Spirit, through Matthew, is careful to connect what follows with what precedes. All of the Bible is one big story of God’s plan to redeem people through Jesus Christ.
A Common Thread
It’s the same reason why Mark and Luke open on John rather than Jesus. John is an important link between Malachi’s prophecy from 400 years before to the advent of Jesus. He is, so to speak, a bridge connecting the Old and New Testaments.
And it is the same reason why John began with his prologue centering on the Word. John is careful to connect His Gospel with the Book of Genesis. Read Genesis 1 and John 1 side-by-side and it is easy to see how they are connected.
All four Gospels start the same way, not with a beginning but a continuation. Beautiful storytelling, isn’t it?
*Devo from Pastor Brian, from The Gospel Project.
#JesusJams for today!
---> And here's this week's story!!
Christ Connection: Jesus came to earth as a human. Jesus had earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, but His true Father is God. Through Jesus, God kept His promises to Abraham and David. Jesus saves people from their sins and adopts them into God's family.
If you have a bible at your house, you'll be turning to a few different passages today! Matthew 1, Luke 1, and John 1. Read it with your family this week! If you don't have one, that's okay! CLICK HERE for Matthew 1. CLICK HERE for Luke 1. CLICK HERE for John 1.
OPTION 2: Family Tree Collect supplies to create a family tree including: Thick white paper, brown paint, and green paint (or a finger print pad if you have it)! Have kids use the brown paint to create the brown part of a tree. Next, instruct kids to dip thumbs into the green paint to create thumbprints all over the tops of the trees to create leaves. Use a sharpie to label each leaf with a name of their family members. SAY • Jesus had a human family just like we do.
OPTION 2: Never ending game invite the kids to sit in a circle. Teach them a simple song that repeats over and over again. Time yourselves to see how long you can keep it going! Consider using "The song that never ends". If you're not familiar sing these words to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
"This song never ends;
It goes on and on.
If you start to sing it now,
We'll sing from dusk till dawn..." SAY • Eventually the song had to end, even thought we said it wouldn't. And that song had a beginning too. Jesus isn't like this song. Jesus, the Son of God, has no beginning or end because He is fully God. But Jesus' life as a human did have a beginning and a family history too! We'll learn more about that today.
OPTION 3: Domino Effect Help the kids work in groups of three or four to set up various patterns of dominoes. Instruct the kids to take turns pushing over the first domino to observe what happens. Challenge them to make many different patterns and see if there are any patterns that won't all fall down when the first domino is pushed. SAY • Each domino that fell led right into the next. In a way, that's kind of like our families. Each set of parents had kids, leading to the next generation. Jesus had a human family just like we do. His family can be traced back very far.
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