WELCOME ICEBREAKER

When you were a child what did you like best about your grandparents?

WORSHIP

The Christmas season is a great time of worship. I encourage you to sing Christmas carols that have rich meaning. It may be beneficial to take time to read through the song before singing.

WORD

Read Matthew 1:1-6 and point out to your group the four women that are mentioned in the lineage of Joseph. These four women were all gentiles with mistakes and messy situations in their past, yet God had a special place for them. Of all the women that Matthew could have mentioned he chose these four before he mentions the next woman, Mary, in verse 16.

Introductory questions:

• What do you know about your genealogy?
• What would you like to discover about it?

This lesson will focus on one of the women mentioned, Rahab. We read in Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 that she was a woman of faith and her faith took actions. As a group read her story in Joshua 2:1-24.

• Are you surprised that she is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus and in the “hall of faith”?
• How do you think Mary felt about marrying into a family with this type of company?
• Why did Rahab risk her own safety to provide safety for the spies?
• What was the most important intelligence information the spies gained?
1. A first-hand look at Jericho’s walls
2. Discovering the best hiding places in the hills outside Jericho
3. That the Canaanites were “melting in fear”
4. Rahab’s conviction that “the Lord has given this land to you”
• Given her disreputable occupation and her obvious lie, what in this story builds Rahab’s reputation as a woman of faith?
• Rahab’s actions would later spare her family as well as herself. What can you do to insure your family’s salvation?

WORK

Please remember those in your group that may not have family at Christmas and help them celebrate Christmas with others. Pray for the needs of others and the upcoming Christmas Eve services at 6:00pm – 7:00pm and 7:30pm – 8:30pm.