Emmanuel: The God of the Margins
Sermon Notes
Matt. 1:23 – Emmanuel/Immanuel means: “God ___________ us.”
Matt. 1:5 – ____________ is included in the genealogy of Jesus.
Joshua 2:1 – Why her house? Rahab is portrayed as living on the _________________ of her own society.
Notes:

Who is she?
Joshua 2:2-7 – Why Rahab?
Notes:

She is a _____________ character, yet she is mentioned _______ times in the N.T.
Rahab is a testimony of God’s ________________.
God is a paying attention to the __________________.

12-9-18 Connect Group Discussion Guide

Prayer
1. Start with a prayer: remember the prayer challenge to pray over our 7 commitments and to pray about where God will lead us in the new year.

Discussion of Genealogy
2. Has anyone done a genealogy for your family? If so, how many generations did you go back? What did you learn about yourself from your family history?

3. Read Matthew 1:1-17 (or scan over it)

4. Why does Matthew begin his Gospel with a genealogy?

5. How many women are mentioned in the genealogy? (Most commentators point out that women were not normally mentioned in genealogies back then).

6. What do we know about the women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus?

Discussion of Rahab
7. Read Joshua 2:1-7 (and more if you need a reminder of the whole story); James 2:24-26; Heb. 11:31

8. What do we know about Rahab? What title goes along with her name? Where is she from? Etc.

9. Why is she considered an example of faith?

10. Ethical Question: Is it okay that she lied in this situation? Is it always wrong to lie?

10. Why do you think Matthew includes her in the genealogy?

God of the Margins Discussion
11. How would you describe what a “marginalized” person is?

12. How does God work in the margins? How can we pay more attention to the margins?