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Frank Teat: Christmas Words (Matthew 1:1, 16-25; Isaiah 7:14, 8:9; Lamentations 3:17-26)
Frank Teat, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Holland, drew attention to Jesus’ genealogy, a portion of the Christmas story rarely given attention. One reason to pay attention to the genealogy in Matthew is “it tells us that Jesus was a real person,” he said.
Matthew’s genealogy explains why the angel appeared to Mary and the shepherds in person but appeared to Joseph in a dream, Teat contended. The angel addressed Joseph as “son of David,” which refers back to the genealogy.
The name “Jesus” comes before his title, “Christ,” Teat explained, basing his view on Matthew’s genealogy. This is confirmed, he added, through the angel’s direction to Joseph to name Mary’s son Jesus.
Teat concluded his sermon with thoughts about including Jesus on our list at Christmas and throughout the year, God being with us no matter what we are going through, and hoping and waiting on God.
This sermon was delivered Dec. 4, 2022, for the morning worship service of First Baptist Church in Holland. It is part of a series on Christmas words.
A sermon script is available here.
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