READ: Genesis 1:27 NLT 'So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.' People fascinate me. I can happily sit watching people because they are so incredibly different from one ...
READ: Genesis 1:3-4 NLT 'Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.' It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of light. Without light th...
READ: Genesis 1:1-2 NLT 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.' It is important not to ru...
READ: Luke 2:29-32 NLT Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!...
READ: Luke 2:19 NLT Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. This sentence in Luke is what I would call a piece of considerable understatement. Mary, who was probably a teenager and who almost certainly knew very little...
READ: Luke 2:16-18 NLT The shepherds “hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child....
READ: Luke 2:8-9 NLT That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. Of all the many surprises in...
READ: Luke 2:5-7 NLT 'Mary gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.' In a few brief verses Luke summarizes the birth of Jesus. Brief as they...
READ: Luke 2:1-3 NLT 'At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to re...
READ: Luke 1:76-77 NLT 'And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.' Have you ever lost your voi...
READ: Luke 1:51-53 NLT His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away wit...
READ: Luke 1:46-49 NLT Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he...
READ: Luke 1:38 NLT Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” We know the story of Jesus’ miraculous birth so well that no part of it is a surprise to us. So we’ve really got to work hard to imagine...
READ: Luke 1:13-15 NLT The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he...
READ: Psalm 40:9-10 NLT 'I have told all your people about your justice. I have not been afraid to speak out, as you, O Lord, well know. I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and savi...
