Sermon: The Unexpected Worshipers
Date: December 14
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
Speaker: George Veith

We often picture the Magi as three Kings or three wise men who arrive alongside the shepherds in an epic Nativity evening of worship on an O Holy Night. The story that Scripture tells us is far more complicated. For starters, the Magi arrive on the scene after the birth of Jesus— likely years after the shepherds. (Mt 2:1) Secondly, the Magi were not kings, they were Persian astronomers, astrologers, magicians who discerned an auspicious sign in the stars and made a thousand mile journey to worship the Christ child in Bethlehem. In other words, the Magi are the last people you’d expect to show up in a story about the Jewish Messiah. And yet, the appearance of the Magi tells us that those on the outside and the fringes can find themselves at the centre of what God is doing. We learn in the story of the Magi that Jesus is calling all people to himself to worship and be transformed. And when we dare do this— we discover the journey home is by “another way”(2:12).

Desired Outcome: To discover the Good News that Jesus is calling all sorts of unexpected people to come follow Him and thus journey by “another way”(2:12)”.

Sermon: A Life Interrupted
Date: December 7
Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25
Speaker: Paul Walker

Joseph was pledged to be married to Mary. As was the Jewish custom during the betrothal period, Joseph was probably away building a home and preparing for his marriage to Mary. Joseph surely had plans and dreams about what his future would look like. However, God had other plans for Joseph. Joseph’s life turned upside-down. Mary became pregnant. The child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, but Joseph did not believe this story. His future wife was pregnant and the child was not his. This was considered very scandalous, and his reputation within the community was probably at stake. Joseph first thought about divorcing Mary quietly, but then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him what to do. He could have not believed this, ignored the dream and said “no”. However, he listened and obeyed God, and the birth of the saviour of the world, Jesus, took place. In the same way that God spoke to Joseph, God is speaking to us. Jesus is looking for those who will listen to His voice and follow Him, even if that means giving up our own plans and dreams.

Desired Outcome: To encourage our people to listen to the voice of God— even when it is costly and inconvenient.

Sermon: Bad Blood
Date: November 30
Scripture: Matthew 1:1-17
Speaker: Paul Walker

The Gospel of Matthew opens with a genealogy— or a family tree— of Jesus the Messiah. In our modern day, we tend not to care too much about genealogies and long family trees. We might even view genealogies as incidental information, but this list of Jesus’ family tree tells a story about Israel, a story about us, and even a story about God. In mentioning Jesus as “the son David, the son Abraham”(1:1) Matthew’s audience would be clued in about a story of royal lineage and covenant promises. They might expect that the Messiah and Saviour of the world would come from a long line of faultless heroes and notable dignitaries. The opposite is true of Jesus’ family record. You have the scandalous stories of Judah treating his daughter-in-law Tamar as a prostitute (1:3), Boaz being the son of the Jericho prostitute Rahab (1:5), David committing adultery with Bathsheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite (1:6), and even the recounting of exile (1:11,17). Matthew does not try to hide away the faults or sins of the past—and that is the point! Jesus willingly chose to unite himself to a broken family story in order to heal all our family stories.

Desired Outcome: To announce the good news that Jesus has joined us in our broken stories and family histories — to heal them from the inside out.