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Celebrating Advent - Lesson 1, by Pastor Kevin

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Sing: Joy To The World


Reading: Matthew 1:1

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Summary: This verse is the very first verse in the New Testament. This means that, even though it doesn't appear to be all that important, it is. We know that Jesus isn't a made up person in a fairy tale, he is a real person who was born in this world. We are thankful that people cared enough to record his family line for us to see. Most importantly, this verse bridges the New Testament with the Old Testament so that we can see that God had not given up on his promise to bring a Savior into the world. This is still true, even if God has been silent now for 400 years!



Questions/Responses:

Do you know when the last time it was that God had spoken to his people?  400 Years! 


How old are you? How old is your dad or your mom? How old is the oldest person you know? Is anyone you know close to 400 years old? Help them to understand how long this time of waiting was.

Are you excited for Christmas? Are you excited to find out what your gifts are so you can play with them? How long do you have to wait for Christmas to get here? What if you had to wait 400 years?

Who was Abraham? Why is he important? God made a promise with him!

What was God's promise to Abraham? That he would have a huge family, as many as the stars in the sky!

Was God finished making this family? No!

Who was David? Why is he important? God used him to be a great king over God's people. God promised that someone would always be sitting on David's throne. 

Is David still sitting on his throne? No!

So we are waiting for someone to finish adding people to God's family and someone to be a great king like David was a great king! Who could this be? That's right, it is Jesus! The Bible wants us to remember that Jesus is a gift to us, the greatest gift ever. God's people waited and waited and waited to have someone come and save them, Matthew 1:1 tells us it is finally here!

This Christmas, as you wait a long time to receive your gifts let it remind you that God's people waited and are waiting a long time to receive their king! God is faithful. He always keeps his promises.

Prayer and Ending


Father in heaven, thank you for making a promise to Abraham and a promise to David and thank you for keeping your promise by sending your son, Jesus! Help us to remember that we are waiting for Jesus to return to us. Help our hearts to desire you more than we desire anything else. In Jesus' name we pray, AMEN

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