Gather
Take a few moments to light a candle, quiet yourself and open with prayer. You can use the same simple prayer each day, or pray how the Spirit leads you.
Holy Spirit come and work within me to strengthen and confirm my faith so that God’s grace might work in and through me.
The Word
Response
Imagine a movie scene that’s purpose is to demonstrate the passage of a considerable amount of time and also recap events that the audience is already intimately familiar with: they director might use newspaper clippings or scroll through a photo album. That’s what the genealogy here is meant to be. Any first or second century Jew (Matthew’s target audience) would visualize the recap of the story when reading these opening verses.
Jesus was born in a certain time and place for specific place and people: the descendants of Abraham.
Thanksgiving
Take a few moments to pray for others.
Go Forth
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. [Amen.]
Colossians 3:15-17
Journey Through Scripture 