What do the women Tamar, Bathsheba, Ruth and Rahab have in common? Let’s look at their common traits. Rahab and Tamar both at one time worked as prostitutes. Ruth and Rahab were gentile outsiders, citizens of enemy nations of Israel. Bathsheba and Ruth were both married more than once. Bathsheba and Tamar had children with men that were not their husbands. So what connects them all? In the first chapter of Matthew they are all listed in the genealogy of Jesus. This is unusual because ordinarily women were not mentioned in Jewish genealogies. But these were not ordinary women. They each had a unique, and at times an unsavory history. It goes to show us how God can use anyone to do his will. Even when we have not been perfect and might be rejected by others, God still find ways to use us.
In Acts 20, there is the tragicomic event surrounding a young man by the name of Eutychus. He did what a lot of folks before and after him did, he fell asleep during a sermon. Unfortunately, he was setting in in the third story window at the time. So instead of nodding off and hitting the pew in front of him, he fell to his death. The good news was the apostle Paul was delivering the sermon and had the ability to bring him back. I don’t know, however, if we can judge Eutychus too harshly. The sermon had gone on till midnight. Paul wouldn’t finish it up till daybreak. That’s a long lesson. I know some folks that might want to jump out of a window if I had a lesson that long, yet these Christians wanted to be there to hear Paul. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pushing for all night sermons but I think we might need to adopt these folks' dedication. They knew that Paul was only in town for a limited time only and they were determined to ...
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