We all come from someone, somewhere, and something-a people, a place, and a story. So does Jesus.

The heart and mission of Emmanuel, God with us, is more profoundly understood by exploring the well-watered roots that flowered into Jesus's life as the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14). The roots of Jesus are his family tree and its characters, the land of Israel and its towns and terrain, and the incredible faith-story of God's covenant people, the Jews.

In Roots: Advent and the Family Story of Jesus, we rediscover that Jesus-born naturally of a mother from a family line herself, and nurtured by a father who knew the names of his own kin many generations into the past (Matthew 1:1-17)-comes from the family vine of the great King David, the son of Jesse, and from a long line of faithful men and women.

The idea known as a "Jesse Tree" will be our map. A Jesse Tree is an approach to the preparation season of Advent, leading us toward Christmas, that encourages us to revisit stories from the Hebrew Bible to help us gain insights into the family line of Jesus and the spiritual mandate of the child born to save the world.

We will draw from both Jesus' genealogical ancestry and his faith heritage, as we walk together on a journey through the stories of saints and sinners woven into the family line of the Son of God.