Week 15

Sermon Series:LivingWisdomin a FoolishWorld

SermonTitle: What Child is This?

SermonText: Matthew 1-2

StudyHandoutDate: Week of 12-3-17

GroupDate: Week of 12-10-17

SermonDate: 12-17-17

BEFOREWEBEGIN:Whatwasyourtakeawayfromthis pastSunday’ssermon?

ATTRIBUTE: Incarnation

That act of grace whereby Christ took our human nature into union with his Divine Person, became man. Christ is both God and man. Human attributes and actions are predicated of him, and he of whom they are predicated is God. A Divine Person was united to a human nature (Acts 20:28; Rom. 8:32; 1 Cor. 2:8; Heb. 2:11–14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Gal. 4:4, etc.). (Easton’s Bible Dictionary)

DOCTRINE: Virgin Birth

The tradition of Mary’s conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit apart from sexual intercourse, explicitly mentioned in the NT only in the birth stories of Matthew and Luke. In Matt. 1:18-25 it appears as the fulfillment of Isa. 7:14 that a virgin (Gk. parthenos, used in the lxx to translate the Heb. almah, a young woman of marriageable age) would conceive and bear a son. In Luke 1:26-38 miraculous conception (vv. 34, 37) is linked with the title Son of God applied to Jesus, a title formerly used of Davidic kings (cf. vv. 32, 35 with 2 Sam. 7:12-14, Ps. 2:6-7). (Harper’s Bible Dictionary)

DAY1 Read:Matthew 1-2

  1. Slow down and read this passage; what have you not seen before?
  1. Read it again in a different translation. What jumps out to you in the different wording of the same story? (Consider using for a different translation if you don’t have one.)

DAY2 Read: Matt 1:1-17; Luke 3:21-37

  1. What happened in each of the three time periods mentioned in Matthew 1:1-17? What

part did these people play in that period of history?

  1. What is significant about Abraham being the first name? How did God mention Jesus to

Abraham?

3. Who are you most surprised to see on this list? Explain.

DAY3 Read: Matthew 1:18-25; Isaiah 7:14; Hebrews 1:14

1. How did the angel of the Lord fulfill its purpose in this passage? What does this tell us about Joseph?

2. What caused Joseph to respond the way he did in this passage? What would cause you to change your mind about a big decision like this?

3. For what do you need God’s wisdom for in your life at this point? Pray and ask God for it now.

DAY4 Read:Matthew 2: 1-12

1. Who are the Magi? (Consider looking up: “What does the Bible say about the three wise men (Magi)?” at

2. Compare the response of the Magi with the response of Herod and the Jewish people to the proclamation of the Messiah’s birth? What is odd to you about these responses?

3. In this Christmas season, how is your response to the celebration of Jesus birth more like Herod’s than it should be? How can it be more like the Magi?

DAY5 Read: Matthew 2:13-23

  1. What has prophecy added to the two chapters we studied this week? Why is this significant?
  1. How will these passages reshape our view of adversity in our lives?
  1. Joseph obeyed God immediately. What causes you to delay in obedience? What do you need today to improve your obedience response time?