• Date: December 25, 2022, and January 1, 2023
• Bible Reading: Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 1:1-17
• Free Resource: Devotional Resources (12/25 and 1/1) (Sharing God’s Story @ Home, NL)
• Unit Theme (December 25—January 15): God’s Promise of Jesus
• The Point (Dec 25): The promise of Jesus is good news for all people.
• The Point (Jan 1): God blesses all people through Jesus, a descendant of Abraham.

Advent is over and Christmas has begun! The end of waiting leads to the beginning of celebration: for Mary and Joseph, the angels and the shepherds.

End of Advent, Beginning of Christmas

We have been spending a lot of time waiting in recent weeks. Advent, the first season of the church year, is one of waiting: waiting with the people of Israel for the birth of the Messiah and waiting for this same Messiah to usher in the final age of God’s shalom. The first part of our Advent waiting has come to an end. Advent is over, and the season of Christmas has begun!

In most things that we experience, whatever marks the end of one thing is the beginning of something else. The end of elementary school is the beginning of middle school. The beginning of marriage/couplehood is the end of singlehood. The beginning of retirement is the end of working (full-time, in your career field, probably). We confess in our faith that the end of our lives is the beginning of something so much greater.

End of Pregnancy, Beginning of Jesus

The traditional nativity story (Luke 2:1-7) records the ending of Mary’s pregnancy and the beginning of Jesus (as named by his parents at the order of an angel. I’m not going to touch the preexistence of the Word, or anything related to pregnancy). Mary and Joseph have become parents—of the Son of God, no less!

End of Waiting, Beginning of Promised Life

The second half of our Christmas reading (Luke 2:8-20) signals a different kind of ending and beginning. A group of Jewish shepherds were just chilling in the fields doing their work or maybe goofing off. Even if they were “only” shepherds, they had probably heard something about God’s promise of a messiah, something many Jews had been waiting for a long, long time. The angels’ announcement marks the end of that waiting for the promise to be fulfilled, and the beginning of a new chapter as this Messiah has been born, will grow up, and start his ministry.

End of 2022, Beginning of 2023

For us in the western world, this time also marks the end of the (calendar) year. The year of our Lord 2022 is days away from ending, bringing to us a new year. Although time keeps moving forward and January 1, 2023, is only one day in that ever-flowing stream, we have imbued the day with meaning. For many, the new year is an opportunity to review their past, start fresh, and try to improve themselves. And what are our lives if not things and events that we have imbued meaning to?

Notes on Matthew’s Genealogy

In many ways, the assigned reading for Sunday, January 1, 2023, is a lost cause. Not only are pastors and church staff tired from Christmas, but many worshippers enjoy something different (like a service of reading and Christmas hymns). And this year, New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday, so attendance on this Sunday will be lower even than normal. And, well, the reading is a genealogy.

But, if you do address Matthew 1:1-17 with faith formation participants, here are a few things to muse upon:

• What do our own genealogies tell us about our past, present, and future?
• We have our genetic inheritance, and we also have a learned inheritance: the information, habits, thought patterns, etc. that have been passed to us from many sources, biological relatives and not.
• Jesus’ genealogy, as recorded here, is definitely not about genetics. The Gospel writer traces the line from Abraham to Joseph, Jesus’ adoptive father. No, this genealogy is about promises God made in the past and Jesus’ connection to those promises.
• Please note: it is important and natural to make connections between Jesus’ genealogy here and our family trees. But not everyone has a happy—or even known—family tree. This doesn’t mean you should ignore this connection but approach the topic with sensitivity and the assumption that one of your participants is adopted, has family trauma, or has any of the other things that could make drawing a family tree difficult, practically or emotionally.

May you feel God’s love and peace this Christmas season!

Blessings,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

Free Resource

During the main Narrative Lectionary year (this year: September 11 to May 28), we provide a free resource download from one of our products to help you in your faith formation ministry. This week, download free weekly devotional resources (“bulletin inserts”) for the weeks beginning 12/25 and 1/1 from our Living the Word: Sharing God’s Story @ Home product. This activity can be used at home or in any other place where people are gathered for devotional time.

2022-2023 Faith Formation Resources

Advent is over, but you can still order Winter and Spring lessons of our Narrative Lectionary and Revised Common Lectionary resources, or one of our Learning Together units! You can download the lessons as soon as your payment is processed.

At Spirit & Truth Publishing, we might just have exactly what you are looking for:

• Resource for the Revised Common Lectionary (intergenerational classroom)
• Resources for the Narrative Lectionary (products for all ages)
• Learning Together: Five-lesson topical units for VBS, Sunday school, children, and intergenerational classes.
• Cross+Generational Confirmation
• Worship and Liturgy Education

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