Mothers of the Majestic Messiah [Part 1]

/ New Minas Baptist Church/

Pastor Daniel Cormier preaches week 1 of our Advent series, Mothers of the Majestic Messiah.

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Sermon Notes

Reflection & Discussion

Warm-up. Share one low and high from your week.

Read Matt 1:1-16; Gen 38:1-30 Ask God to bless your study.

  1. Why do you suppose Judah “turned aside” from his brothers and married a Canaanite (Gen. 38:1-11)? What might this suggest about Judah’s regard for God’s covenant ways?

  2. What was the custom regarding a man who died without an heir? (Deuteronomy 25:5-6) Why did Tamar’s husbands Er and Onan die? What was Judah’s responsibility to Tamar?

  3. What was Tamar’s bleak situation at the end of verse 11? Why doesn’t Judah give Shelah to Tamar?

  4. What prompted Tamar to take action in v12-14? How would you describe Tamar’s behaviour? What is she risking?

  5. Why do you suppose Judah responds as he does in v 24? How is this a double standard?

  6. What do you make of Judah’s self-assessment in v 26? How could Tamar’s actions be called “righteous” by Judah?

  7. What do the lives of Tamar and Judah reveal about the genealogy of Jesus Christ? How does this narrative challenge our assumptions about the kind of person God welcomes into his plan of redemption?

  8. Share some ways in which you have clearly seen God take a sinful situation and (though not excusing the sin), work it for good. Can you think of some other biblical examples of this?