Luke 2:22-40New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Jesus Is Presented in the Temple 22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to…

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Luke 1:26-38New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) The Birth of Jesus Foretold 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said,…

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1 Thessalonians 5:16-24New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil. 23 May the God of peace…

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Mark 1:1-8(NRSV) The Proclamation of John the Baptist 1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,     who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:     ‘Prepare the way of…

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Mark 13:24-37 24 “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great…

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“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” – Romans 12:15 Dr. Richard C. Halverson (1916-1995), chaplain to the U.S. Senate, was credited in 1984 for a speech before the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church: “In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ.…

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