For weekly videos, handouts, and podcast links, scroll down and click on “Weekly Content.”
We invite you to gather an intergenerational group of women to study What’s SHE Doing Here? The Messy Women in Jesus’s Genealogy, written by Susan Tyner and produced by CDM. The study is 8 weeks. By visiting the website, you have access to weekly encouragement emails, the weekly teaching video lesson, and discussion questions for free. We hosted several live-streamed relational events that were recorded and you can watch them. The book is available at PCA Bookstore.
Seductress. Prostitute. Outcast. Adulterer. Pregnant Unwed Teen. Who would highlight that kind of ancestry?
Jesus would.
The only person who ever got to choose His family doesn’t hide the messes. He highlights them for all to see. He unashamedly says they’re His.
The Gospel of Matthew begins with Jesus’s family tree, an unusual one not only because it includes women, but messy women: Tamar, who tricked her father-in-law to impregnate her; Rahab, the Jericho prostitute who betrayed her countrymen; Ruth, the widowed Moabitess turned beggar; and Bathsheba, listed only by her murdered husband’s name. Then there was Mary. Although we know of her innocence and submission to God, those around her questioned her purity and the legitimacy of the Child she bore.
Join Susan Tyner in examining how God wove the messy stories of these five women together into His Big Story of salvation. And learn how He continues to redeem His children—one messy story at a time.
Each book comes with a Big Picture of the Bible timeline for reference in the study.
Order your book and timeline for the study from
The PCA Bookstore
Quantity discounts available for group purchases.
Prefer to order a downloadable copy of the book?
Click to purchase a PDF downloadable copy.
For weekly videos, handouts, and podcast links, scroll down and click on “Weekly Content.”
We invite you to gather an intergenerational group of women to study What’s SHE Doing Here? The Messy Women in Jesus’s Genealogy, written by Susan Tyner and produced by CDM. The study is 8 weeks. By visiting the website, you have access to weekly encouragement emails, the weekly teaching video lesson, and discussion questions for free. We hosted several live-streamed relational events that were recorded and you can watch them. The book is available at PCA Bookstore.
Seductress. Prostitute. Outcast. Adulterer. Pregnant Unwed Teen. Who would highlight that kind of ancestry?
Jesus would.
The only person who ever got to choose His family doesn’t hide the messes. He highlights them for all to see. He unashamedly says they’re His.
The Gospel of Matthew begins with Jesus’s family tree, an unusual one not only because it includes women, but messy women: Tamar, who tricked her father-in-law to impregnate her; Rahab, the Jericho prostitute who betrayed her countrymen; Ruth, the widowed Moabitess turned beggar; and Bathsheba, listed only by her murdered husband’s name. Then there was Mary. Although we know of her innocence and submission to God, those around her questioned her purity and the legitimacy of the Child she bore.
Join Susan Tyner in examining how God wove the messy stories of these five women together into His Big Story of salvation. And learn how He continues to redeem His children—one messy story at a time.
Each book comes with a Big Picture of the Bible timeline for reference in the study.
Order your book and timeline for the study from
The PCA Bookstore
Quantity discounts available for group purchases.
Prefer to order a downloadable copy of the book?
Click to purchase a PDF downloadable copy.
Weekly Content
Weekly Content
If you want to listen to the teaching you can subscribe to the enCourage Podcast iTunes here or the podcast platform of your choice.
Discussion Questions:
Chapter One (Click for PDF of Chapter One Questions)
The Not So Fabulous Five
- What is the worst mess you have ever had to clean up?
- How do you react to the catechism definition of sin?
- Let’s discuss ways women’s lives can be messy due to sin (ours, others’, the brokenness of our world).
- Were you surprised by the women Matthew includes in his introduction of Jesus in Matthew 1. Why?
- Why did Jesus have to be a human living in our messy world to save us?
- What is comforting to you in your story about how God treated these ladies in their stories?
Chapter Two (Click for PDF of Chapter Two Questions)
God’s Story
- What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
- Let’s review the covenants discussed in this chapter. Do you have any questions about how the concept of covenantimpacts your relationship with God?
- How do you think God felt about Adam and Eve’s first sin?
- Describe how salvation is a gift from God. How does this grace (“free gift”) make you feel?
- Name some ways you have seen God impact others by working in your individual story.
- If God is using your story as He weaves His Big Story, how do you feel about
- The purpose of your life?
- How others’ lives intersect with yours?
- How to pray?
Handout:
The Not So Fabulous Five Handout
God’s Big Story handout
Link to weekly email
Memory Verses:
Weekly Content
If you want to listen to the teaching you can subscribe to the enCourage Podcast iTunes here or the podcast platform of your choice.
Discussion Questions:
Chapter Three (Click for PDF of Chapter Three Questions)
The Desperate Daughter-in-Law
- What is the most vulnerable you have ever felt (this can be funny or serious)?
- What are ways women today find themselves vulnerable like Tamar was?
- Do you think Tamar imagined how special her (oldest) baby would be? What are examples of God doing more than you imagine in your difficult circumstances?
- Judah neglected to obey the law God put into place to protect the needy like Tamar. How do Christians today not obey God’s laws when it comes to protecting the vulnerable in our society?
- Why did Judah not want to give his third son to Tamar? Name reasons we tend to ignore needs around us.
- How do we know Judah repented?
- If someone repents of neglecting you, how do you find the strength to forgive?
Handout:
The Desperate Daughter Handout
Link to weekly email
Memory Verse:
Weekly Content
If you want to listen to the teaching you can subscribe to the enCourage Podcast iTunes here or the podcast platform of your choice.
Discussion Questions:
Chapter Four (Click for PDF of Chapter Four Questions)
The Career Prostitute
- Share a story of your sweating out a risky decision.
- Rahab risked her life to hide the spies. Why? How?
- Name things women have to risk to follow God today.
- Were you disturbed about the fall of Jericho?
- What does the total destruction teach us about God?
- What does the saving of Rahab and her family teach us about God?
- How can you make your church and community make women with a sinful past feel welcome?
Handout:
The Career Prostitute Handout
Link to weekly email
Memory Verse:
Weekly Content
If you want to listen to the teaching you can subscribe to the enCourage Podcast iTunes here or the podcast platform of your choice.
Discussion Questions:
Chapter Five (Click for PDF of Chapter Five Questions)
The Ultimate Outsider
- Name a moment when you walked into the room and felt like a total outsider.
- Where do women go for financial and emotional stability? Where do you tend to go?
- Why did Naomi go towards God and His people when God let all those bad things happen to her family? Do you ever feel tempted to run from, rather than towards, God and His people?
- Name circumstances when you felt overwhelmed or bitter like Naomi.
- What can God’s people do to help women who are bitter, overwhelmed, or “outsiders”?
- How can you practice going toward God instead of other people or possessions for security?
Handout:
The Ultimate Outsider Handout
Link to weekly email
Memory Verse:
Weekly Content
If you want to listen to the teaching you can subscribe to the enCourage Podcast iTunes here or the podcast platform of your choice.
Discussion Questions:
Chapter Six (Click for PDF of Chapter Six Questions)
From Ultimate Outsider to Ultimate Insider
- Name a person you would call a hero or heroine in your life.
- Who is the hero of Ruth and Naomi’s story? How does he provide a pattern of Jesus, our Redeemer?
- God is obviously in charge of Ruth’s story. How do you feel about His being in charge of yours? Is that comforting or irritating?
- Name some ways God provides for you through others’ keeping His commands.
- Discuss ways you as an individual and as a community of believers can provide for others’ needs.
- What are some ways you feel needy today? Recount times God gave you protection “under His wings.”
Handout:
The Outsider Becomes the Ultimate Insider Handout
Link to weekly email
Memory Verse:
Weekly Content
If you want to listen to the teaching you can subscribe to the enCourage Podcast iTunes here or the podcast platform of your choice.
Discussion Questions:
Chapter Seven (Click for PDF of Chapter Seven Questions)
The Queen of Messy
- Have you ever experienced a good ending to an unhappy story?
- How would you have felt in Bathsheba’s shoes?
- How does God define sin? How does our society define sin? How do you define sin?
- Whether sinner or sinned against, how do sexual sins impact a woman’s identity today?
- How should we learn from David’s repentance and God’s forgiveness and restoration of this family?
- What does it mean that Matthew included Bathsheba as “the wife of Uriah the Hittite” in his genealogy? Name ways our community can be intentional to include women with a complicated past.
Handout:
The Queen of Messy Handout
Link to weekly email
Memory Verse:
Weekly Content
If you want to listen to the teaching you can subscribe to the enCourage Podcast iTunes here or the podcast platform of your choice.
Discussion Questions:
Chapter Eight (Click for PDF of Chapter Eight Questions)
The Unwed Teen Mother
- Name a time you felt like you were misunderstood because of your age.
- Contrast the reactions to Gabriel by Zechariah and Mary. Describe times in your life when God’s Word did not make sense.
- Name some impossible things God is asking you to believe today.
- Why do you think the gospel writers connected all the prophecies to Mary’s child? How does that impact how you view God’s power over His Big Story of redemption?
- When your plans get changed, big or little ones, how do you respond? How can knowing God’s character help you respond well?
- Some people believe that good things happen to good people. How does Mary’s story―and Jesus’s life and death―contradict that idea?
Handout:
The Unwed Teenage Mother Handout
Link to weekly email
Memory Verse:
Weekly Content
If you want to listen to the teaching you can subscribe to the enCourage Podcast iTunes here or the podcast platform of your choice.
Discussion Questions:
Chapter Nine (Click for PDF of Chapter Nine Questions)
MAGNIFICAT!
- What is your favorite song? When are you most likely to sing out loud?
- Recount some things Mary sang about God. Do any resonate with your view of God today?
- How does the fact that God rejoices over you with singing make you feel?
- Can you name big ways God moved using small or messy things in your life?
- Why do you think Mary went to see Elizabeth? Describe a time when God used another woman to encourage your faith in God.
- What is one thing you learned from this study? How will you incorporate that into your life?
Handout:
Magnificat! Handout
Link to weekly email
Memory Verse:
Recordings of our Live-Streamed Events
| Dates Held | Topics and Link for recordings of the live-streamed events |
|---|---|
| #1 – Recorded June 8, 2021 | A Messy Kick-off Party with Ronjanett Taylor and Abby Hutto |
| #2 – Recorded June 22, 2021 | Beauty in the Midst of a Mess with Susan Kelly and Eden Flora |
| The Blessing of Belonging | |
| #4 – Recorded July 20, 2021 | From Messy to Magnificent! with Chris Gordon and Carol Anne Miconi |
What should I watch first?
See FAQs below to find answers to your questions
Endorsements
The opening pages of Matthew’s gospel loudly proclaim that Jesus came to save the lost, the messy, and the broken. If that news is as good for you as it is for me, then this Bible study is for you. Susan Tyner shows us how God not only wove His story of salvation together with a prostitute, a foreigner, a teen mom, and other “messy women,” she shows us how He is also weaving your story and mine into His today. What a glorious Savior we have!
Courtney Doctor, Coordinator of Women’s Initiatives, The Gospel Coalition and author of From Garden to Glory: A Bible Study on the Bible’s Story and Steadfast; A Devotional Bible Study on the Book of James and co-author of Remember Your Joy: A Bible Study of Salvation Stories in the Old Testament