December 15, 2025
HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
Here at the Communion table, we gather as wanderers who have come home and are part of God’s forever family: his church.
Articles for tag: Matthew 1
November 5, 2025
When a Plan Comes Together
A sermon should be long enough to adequately exegete and apply the main point of the passage, but short enough to leave mature Christians willing to listen a few minutes longer.
January 13, 2025
Debt Free
God’s new covenant includes this welcome promise: “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12).
December 9, 2024
That View Is Tremendous!
At Communion, we are given another tremendous view: to look at and remember Jesus’ body and blood, represented by the symbols of the bread and the juice.
December 2, 2024
God’s “A” Material
The message of Christmas is that God has indeed used his “A” material with the arrival of Jesus to rescue our broken world.
Something Extraordinary
Jesus already knew our dilemma; that is why he came to our world. . . .
July 17, 2023
July 23 | Hope in God’s Promise
God promised to bring his people back from Babylon to the Promised Land, and he did. Against all odds, Jeremiah was calling on his people to believe.
March 13, 2023
March 19 | Application (‘The Lowest Point on Earth’)
When you find yourself in low places—morally, physically, relationally, or circumstantially—the God of grace is able to repair your “broken walls” and restore what seems ruined (Amos 9:11). . . .
March 6, 2023
Jesus’ Bucket List
Jesus had one main item on his "bucket list."
December 12, 2022
Have You Seen Me?
On December 24, 1961, a cartoonist at the Louisville Courier-Journal, Hugh Haynie, published a cartoon that has been repeated in that newspaper on Christmas Eve ever since. . . .
December 5, 2022
December 11 | Lord of Creation
There are five miracles in this lesson text—the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus walking on water, Peter walking on water, the calming of the storm, and the healings at Gennesaret. Only the Lord of Creation could demonstrate his power over that creation.
November 28, 2022
Showing Up
Communion reminds us of a beautiful part of the Christmas story. . . .
December 13, 2021
Dec. 19 | Unexpected Response
While they were keeping watch over their flocks at night, an angel of the Lord appeared to them . . .
March 29, 2021
Apr 4 | A New Purpose for Life
The women became the first evangelists. The conflicting emotions of fear and joy propelled them to hurry and run to the disciples to tell them of the angel’s message.
December 21, 2020
Lesson for Dec. 27, 2020: Fulfilled through Hope (Matthew 12:1-23)
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the December 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ COMPANION RESOURCES “He’s Got Your Back” by David Faust (Lesson Application) Discovery Questions for Dec. 27, 2020 ________ Lesson Aim: Let Jesus change your life as you pursue hope in the Son of David. ________ By Mark Scott One day in class at Denver Seminary, Haddon Robinson said, “Hope is the music of the
December 17, 2020
His Biography Is Not Complete
Edwin V. Hayden wrote this Christmas editorial 50 years ago. _ _ _ God Sent His Son An editorialDec. 20, 1970; p. 10 How remarkable is the biography of God’s Son! . . . God’s messengers of old spoke of a maiden conceiving, of a son being born, and of Bethlehem as the place from which a timeless ruler would come. The heart of a man named Joseph provided Matthew with the key to the mystery. . . . The explanation in Matthew 1 combines Joseph’s experience with Isaiah’s prophecy. In chapter 2, it brings Micah’s prophecy to bear on
December 14, 2020
Week 4: The Angels
By Stuart Powell Note: This is the final installment of a four-week series of Communion meditations in which we consider essential features to the story of the birth of God’s Son. This week we focus on the angels. Angels appeared six separate times in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth and early childhood (Matthew 1:20-21; 2:13, 19-20; Luke 1:11-20, 26-38; 2:9-15). Luke tells us the angel Gabriel spoke to Zechariah and Mary. No names were mentioned in the other four visits. Most times a single angel appeared, which is how the encounter with the shepherds began. Yet after the message
December 7, 2020
Lesson for Dec. 13, 2020: Fulfilled through Love (Matthew 1:18-25; 22:34-40)
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the December 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ “The Second Choice” by David Faust (Lesson Application) Discovery Questions for Dec. 13, 2020 ________ Lesson Aim: Let the birth of Jesus lead you to live by love. ________ By Mark Scott How does Christmas affect your love life? The question is not about how Christmas affects the present you buy for the love
November 30, 2020
Lesson for Dec. 6, 2020: Fulfilled through Generations (Matthew 1:1-17)
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the December 2020 issue of Christian Standard + The Lookout. (Subscribe to our print edition.) ________ COMPANION RESOURCES “Why Begin with Begats?” by David Faust (Lesson Application) Discovery Questions for Dec. 6, 2020 ________ Lesson Aim: Let Jesus bring you into his family. ________ By Mark Scott The New Testament begins with a genealogy. Is that an odd place or perfect place to start? The tax collector from Capernaum (Matthew,
November 30, 2020
Why Begin with Begats? (Dec. 6 Lesson Application)
This “Application” column goes with the Bible Lesson for Dec. 6, 2020: Fulfilled through Generations (Matthew 1:1-17) _ _ _ By David Faust Imagine you’re reading the Bible through for the first time. The Old Testament comes to a close, and you sense silent centuries passing by while God prepares to turn the page to a new day and a new covenant. Eager to read the groundbreaking good news, you turn to Matthew 1, only to find the New Testament begins with “begats”—branches on a Hebrew family tree. If you and I wrote the Bible, we probably wouldn’t have done
