MTP Sermon Resources

Luke 2:1-20 December 24, 2023 (p.m.) • Mount Pleasant UMC She never expected to be in this story. Until the angel came, her life had pretty much been planned out for her. As a good, faithful Hebrew girl, she was expected to marry a good man, settle down, raise a family and teach the children the ways of their God. That was the life her mother had had, and her mother before her, and her mother before her, and…well, you get the idea. That was the story that was written for Mary even before she was born. It was the story she had anticipated, expected, even hoped for. But that was not the story she found herself in now. The story had begun a ways away. Initially, it didn’t involve Mary. She had gotten word that her relative, Elizabeth, who was well past child-bearing years, had become pregnant. There were rumors of angels and promises, and her husband Zechariah had been mute since Elizabeth became pregnant, which probably was just as well anyway. The whole thing was strange, but someti

2 Samuel 11:1-5 December 24, 2023 (a.m.) • Mount Pleasant UMC Four women. Each unique, each different, each a daughter of their time, each a daughter of promise because they are forever linked in a chain that leads to the savior of the world, and to a stable in Bethlehem. But I’m getting ahead of myself; we’ll get to the stable tonight. This morning, as we wrap up the Advent season, we’re still working through the genealogy of Jesus, and specifically looking at these four women who shouldn’t be listed there but are. Tamar, who tricked her father-in-law into sleeping with her. Rahab, the prostitute who protected the spies in Jericho. Ruth, the outsider who uncovered a man’s feet and became the grandmother of King David. And speaking of King David, his story brings us to our fourth daughter of promise, a woman who does not appear in the genealogy by name, but rather by description. She is the mother of King Solomon, or, as Matthew puts it, she “had been Uriah’s wife” (Matthew 1:6). H

  “Even This” Sermon Study Guide for December 24, 2023 Downloadable Version Scripture: 2 Samuel 11:1-5 1. “Uriah’s Wife” “when kings go off to war” David’s multiple sins… trauma upon trauma 2. David, the Greatest King “the chain of sin’s consequences” 11:27 - “displeased the Lord” 3. How We Can Respond Isaiah 42:1-4a - the servant a. ___________________ Matter James 1:5 b. Don’t _____________________ c. Be there __________________________ Questions to Discuss or Ponder: Why do you think David stays home from the battle? What happens when we take our eyes off our main purpose? When have you experienced the need to over one sin with another sin? What happened? How does David take advantage of his role and authority? Why do you think this story is told about Israel’s “greatest king”? In what way does Nathan’s story (2 Samuel 12) get past David’s defenses and explanations? In what way is Bathsheba a “background player” in her own story? Which of the responses do you n

Ruth 1:6-18 December 17, 2023 • Mount Pleasant UMC Our youth sometimes play a game called “Bigger and Better;” maybe some of you have been involved in that. It works like this: each group are given a paperclip and they are supposed to go out into the community and trade it for something, well, bigger and better. The group that comes back with the biggest and best thing is the winner, I think. They’ve ended up with some interesting trades over the years. This past year one group came back with a dining room table that featured in Youth Sunday worship this last time, but by far the best winner overall, in the years I have been here, was when they came back with a puppy. That is how Jess became the owner of Cooper, and why he is called the paperclip puppy sometimes. Bigger and better, indeed. This morning, as we continue our journey through the women of Jesus’ genealogy, these “Daughters of Promise,” we come to a story that takes place just a short time after the story of Rahab that w