Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 23 - Luke 1:1-45

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December 23 - Luke 1:1-45 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here and it is Monday.
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  It is the 23rd Music. of December and yes, it is
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  decidedly Christmassy around here.
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  How exciting. This is the eve of Christmas Eve
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  and for the next three days in the lead up to and on Christmas
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  Day, we are going to read about that incredible Christmas story.
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  That story where the God of the universe says I need humanity to
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  know how much I love them. So I'm not going to tell them.
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  I'm not going to send a message. I myself am going to go in the
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  form of this Christmas babe. And this is the story that we
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  celebrate. This is not just the story.
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  This is the incredible reality that we are celebrating over the
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  next few days here each day as we are going to read the story
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  together. So you're ready.
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  Put down all the busyness of the day.
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  Open up your heart to the incredible wonder of this time,
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  and let's read together the first half of Luke.
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  Luke 1, verses 1 to 45. Many people have set out to
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  write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among
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  us. They use the eyewitness report
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  circulating among us from the early disciples.
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  Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I
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  also have decided to write an accurate account for you, Most
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  Honourable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of
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  everything you were taught. When Herod was King of Judea,
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  there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah.
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  He was a member of the Priestly Order of Abuja and his wife
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  Elizabeth was Auster from the priestly line of Aaron.
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  Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God's eyes, careful
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  to obey all of the Lord's commandments and regulations.
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  They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to
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  conceive, and they were both very old.
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  One day Zechariah was serving God in the temple, for his order
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  was on duty that week. As was the custom of the
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  priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord
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  and burn incense. While the incense was being
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  burned, a great crowd stood outside praying.
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  While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an Angel of the Lord
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  appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense.
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  Older Zachariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he
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  saw him, but the Angel said, Don't be afraid Zachariah, God
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  has heard your prayer. Your wife Elizabeth will give
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  you a son, and you are to name him John.
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  You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice
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  at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord.
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  He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks.
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  He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth,
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  and he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God.
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  He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah.
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  He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord.
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  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and
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  he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom
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  of the godly. Zechariah said to the Angel, How
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  can I be sure this will happen? I'm an old man now, and my wife
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  is also well along in years. Then the Angel said, I am
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  Gabriel. I stand in the very presence of
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  God. It was he who sent me to bring
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  you this good news. But now, since you don't believe
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  what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the
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  child is born, for my words will certainly be fulfilled at the
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  proper time. Meanwhile, the people were
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  waiting for Zachariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering
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  why he was taking so long. When he finally did come out, he
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  couldn't speak to them. Then they realised from his
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  gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the
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  sanctuary. When Zachariah's week of service
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  and the temple was over, he returned home.
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  Soon afterward, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and
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  went into seclusion for five months.
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  How kind the Lord is, she exclaimed.
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  He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.
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  In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent
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  the Angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin
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  named Mary. She was engaged to be married to
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  a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
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  Gabriel appeared to her and said greetings.
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  Favoured woman, the Lord is with you.
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  Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the Angel
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  could mean. Don't be afraid Mary, the Angel
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  told her. For you have found favour with
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  God. You will conceive and give birth
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  to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
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  He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most
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  High. The Lord God will give him the
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  throne of his ancestor David, and he will reign over Israel
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  forever. His Kingdom will never end.
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  Mary asked the Angel. But how can this happen?
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  I am a virgin, The Angel replied.
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  The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most
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  High will over shadow you. So the baby to be born will be
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  holy and he will be called the Son of God.
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  What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in
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  her old age. People used to say she was
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  barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her 6th month.
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  For the word of God will never fail, Mary responded.
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  I and the Lord's servant, may everything you have said about
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  me come true. And then the Angel left her.
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  A few days later, Mary hurried to the Hill Country of Judea to
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  the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and
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  greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary's greeting,
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  Elizabeth's child leapt within her and Elizabeth was filled
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  with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and
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  exclaimed to Mary. God has blessed you above all
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  women, and your child is blessed.
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  Why am I so honoured that the mother of my Lord should visit
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  me? When I heard your greeting, the
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  baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you
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  believe that the Lord would do what He said.
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  Ah, Jesus, as we prepare to
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  celebrate your birth in just a couple of days, we rejoice in
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  what you have done, Your long laid plans carefully mapped out
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  for this moment in history when You would come to be born to us,
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  to save us from our sins, to live a life amongst us.
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  What an incredible thing. And we see your Spirit so active
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  in these women, so profoundly ready to take their part in your
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  great plan and to serve you in this way.
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  Lord, give us to that faith and that readiness.
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  But most of all, Lord, I pray that you would open our hearts
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  to the wonder and amazement of this story, that you, the living
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  God of the universe, mighty and greatly to be revered, would
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  come into our story because you first loved us.
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  Our Lord, prepare our hearts in the coming days to receive this
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  gift, and we pray all of this in your redeeming name, Jesus,
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  Amen.