Christmas films can be decoded from the opening scene: the man will get the woman after a great misunderstanding, and the bitter old man only needs a fresh perspective. Scripture has its patterns too, and one of them is the opposition to the birth of a faithful son, from Cain and Abel through to Joseph. At the start of the exodus story (Exodus 1-2) Pharaoh fears a growing people and reaches first for the midwives, then for the Nile, while God hands the enemy kings, armies and chariots, and chooses women in their ninth month and their babies. Listen if you want to see a deliverer grow out of a basket in the reeds, and ask which scene of your life you write off as lost too quickly.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Exodus 1:8-14 a new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph fears Israel's growth. What fears of Pharaoh do you see in the text, and why did oppression fail to stop the people from multiplying?
- The midwives feared God and ignored Pharaoh's command, and Moses' mother built a basket and placed it on the Nile. What do these women show us about whom God chooses to carry out His plan?
- The speaker traces a repeated pattern: Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Jesus with Herod's killing of the boys. Why do you think the enemy so persistently opposes the birth of a faithful son?
- The sermon points back to the promise in Genesis 3:15 of a son of woman who will crush the serpent. How does that promise shape the way you see the Christmas story?
- The image of light shining through a diamond shows that Old Testament patterns lead us to Christ as their source. How does reading Moses' story help you understand Jesus as the only Savior?
- God's plan has always been opposed, yet His word has never failed. Where this week do you need to trust this truth, and what might that look like in practice?
