Matthew

Matthew begins the New Testament but is simply a continuation of the work God had been doing for centuries. With the arrival of Jesus, we encounter the culmination of God’s rescue mission begun back in Genesis.  Jesus is the fulfillment of all that had gone on before and is the completion of what God purposed before the foundation of the world itself.

Each of the 4 Gospels tells the story of Jesus, though each narrates that story in its own way. Watch in Matthew for the word, “fulfilled” or the phrase, “this took place to fulfill”.  Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience to show them that Messiah, the Savior, had come in the person of Jesus and in accordance with Scripture and as the fulfillment of the promises God made to his covenant people.

The Psalms

The Psalms are songs and prayers to and about God by people like you and me.  They are filled with hope and angst. Praise, sadness, anger, joy, fear, gratitude, trust — the stuff of real life. They aren’t for “religious” types but for regular people who experience the ups and downs of living.

Everyone prays.  Prayer is an impulse deep within us.  The psalms show us how to be “real” when we pray.  Not flowery. Not manicured. Not pretend. Not all cleaned up and shiny. Rather, vulnerable and honest – often broken and repentant – speaking to God from whatever condition and in whatever circumstance we find ourselves.

Genesis

Genesis is about beginnings.  Not the beginning of God. God has always been and always will be. God is outside and God is other. Yet God is the center-most. All else finds its design and purpose in relation to God for God is Creator not created.

Genesis sets in motion the story that will follow; not answering every question, but pointing to God as the one who desires relationship with the people he created.  Throughout Genesis God shows himself to be relational; connected to people in the midst of their messy, sinful lives. He calls, he intervenes, he judges, he rescues.  He is not aloof and far away, but rather he enters in and meets us where he finds us.