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 can you feel it?
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  It is so close to Christmas and it is just an absolute delight
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  to be able to put on our Christmas music.
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  I was just telling Yvonne before I started recording how excited
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  I am that it is time to put on the Christmas music.
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  And today and tomorrow we are going to be setting the stage
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  for Christmas Day. We are going to be beginning
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  reading through the book of Luke and Luke chapter 1 is about as
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  long as they come. It's like 80 verses long.
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  So we are going to have that and read the first half today and
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  the second half tomorrow ready for the Christmas story on
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  Christmas Day. Our friends, I am so, so
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  delighted that you have chosen during this busy time to come
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  and sit or stand or run or sleep or whatever you're doing with my
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  company so that we can get our hearts ready to welcome the
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  Saviour of the world born that Christmas Day.
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  Are you ready? I am too.
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  We are going to open up God's Word to this beautiful gospel
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  written by our mate Luke the doctor, written to convince his
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  friend Theophilus that yes, indeed, Jesus is his Lord and
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  your Lord and my Lord. So with nothing left to do, let
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  us read this together. We're going to read Luke chapter
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  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 Abujar, and his wife
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  Elizabeth was also 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 the Lord's commands 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 altar.
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  Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he
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  saw him, but the Angel said, don't be afraid Zechariah, 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 didn't
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  believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until
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  the child is born. For my words will certainly be
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  fulfilled at the proper time. Meanwhile, the people were
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  waiting for Zechariah 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 Zechariah's week of service
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  in 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, favoured woman,
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  the Lord is with you. Confused and disturbed, Mary
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  tried to think what the Angel could mean.
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  Don't be afraid, Mary, the Angel told her, For you have found
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  favour with 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.
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  Mary responded. I am the Lord's servant.
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  May everything you have said about me come true.
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  And then the Angel left her. A few days later, Mary hurried
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  to the Hill Country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived.
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  She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth.
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  At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leapt within
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  her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
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  Elizabeth gave a glad cry and welcomed Mary.
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  God has blessed you above all 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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  believed that the Lord would do what he said
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  by Jesus. As we prepare ourselves for your
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  coming, your coming into this world, that we will celebrate
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  this Christmas. And I pray that you would just
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  give us some moments of peace and quiet and reflection.
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  That we would still this busy time and that we would sit and
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  your presence at your feet and that we would bask in the
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  glorious, glorious truth that you have come.
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  Come not only to rescue us, but also to show us your nature, the
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  nature of the God of the universe.
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  And that, spoiler alert, is the nature of love and kindness and
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  sacrifice. Thank you, Jesus, for all you
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  have done for us. And we wait with bated breath
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  for the celebration of Christmas to celebrate your coming here
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  amongst us in our little old world.
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  Ah, we love you, and we pray this in your wonderful name,
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  Jesus, Amen.