Birth of Jesus Foretold 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for y

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold 1:18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And t

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the chi

Zechariah and the Angel 1:8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

Zechariah and Elizabeth 1:5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Comments The story of the foretelling of the birth of John the Baptist is p

Dedication to Theophilus and Introduction 1:1   Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative   of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2   just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word   have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account   for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4   that you may have certainty   concerning the things yo

An atheist was walking in the woods one day thinking about what made him happy when he encountered a huge grizzly bear. As it charged him, he started running but tripped and fell. Rolling over he found the bear on top of him, holding him down with one paw and raising the other to strike him. He cried out, “Sweet Jesus!” Suddenly, time stopped and a bright light shone upon the man. A voice asked, “Are you now a believer?  Have you turned to me as your Lord and Savior?” The ath

Today I return to the Gospel of Luke and so that we can know Jesus in God’s Word.   “The Word” is Jesus himself. Our aim is to know Jesus better by reading “The Word” of God. By knowing Jesus better, we can make him known to others as we live out our daily lives. The discipline of daily Bible reading and prayer is part of being a follower of Jesus. It keeps us anchored in him in intimate relationship through the Holy Spirit as his word speaks to us and we speak back to him in

7  For a brief moment I deserted you,     but with great compassion I will gather you. 8  In overflowing anger for a moment     I hid my...

4  “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;     be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your...