by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. … Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Christ, fourteen generations.”
“… John answered them … ‘I am baptizing you with water, but one Mightier than I is Coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of His Sandals. He will Baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire. His Winnowing Fan is in His Hand to clear His Threshing Floor and to gather the wheat into His Barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.’ Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached Good News to the people.”
“Jesus … said … ‘Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you … Elijah has already come … they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.’ …the Disciples understood that He was speaking to them of John the Baptist.”
“Jesus said to the crowds: ‘Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. …”
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, ‘Most Blessed are you among women, and Blessed is the Fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ … Mary said: ‘My Soul proclaims the Greatness of the Lord; my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior.'”
“‘… If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the [other] ninety-nine …. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.'”
‘… some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed … not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘As for you, your sins are forgiven.’ … ‘… that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’ – He said to the one who was paralyzed, ‘I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.’ He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. …”
“… the Word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as … in the book of … Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. … winding roads shall be made straight … rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the Salvation of God.'”
“The Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph … and the virgin’s name was Mary. … he said, ‘Hail, full of Grace! The Lord is with you. … Do not be afraid, Mary … you have found favor with God. … you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus. … of His Kingdom there will be no end. … ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the Power of the Most High will overshadow you. … the Child … will be called Holy, the Son of God. …’ Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.’ …”
“As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, ‘Son of David, have pity on us!’ … He touched their eyes and said, ‘Let it be done for you according to your faith.’ …”