Hi, friends. I am Annie F. Downs. Let's read the Gospels. The Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the stories of Jesus Christ's life on earth, the friendships, the parables, the sacrifices, the meals, the miracles. Each month we get to read all four books. So go ahead, subscribe today. Join us as we read the Gospels together. Now, normally, y'all know we read three chapters a to get through the whole four books in 30 days. But this month is a little different. We are mixing it up and reading the Gospels chronologically from the New International Version, or the NIV. So we read stories in the order in which they took place, usually getting something from all four books. So I'll share the references with you here at the beginning, and you can find them in the show notes as well. You can listen or read along in your own Bible, and then I'll pray, and that's it. Mark 1, 1. Luke 1, 1 through 4. John 1, 1-18, Matthew 1, 1-17, Luke 3, 23-38, and Luke 1, 5-38 in the NIV. John the Baptist prepares the way from Mark. The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. Introduction from Luke. Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. The word became flesh from John. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son who came from the father full of grace and truth John testified concerning him He cried out saying this is the one I spoke about when I said he who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. The genealogy of Jesus the Messiah from Matthew. This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nashon, Nashon, the father of Salmon, Salmon, the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz, the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed, the father of Jesse, and Jesse, the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife. Solomon, the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam, the father of Abijah, Abijah, the father of Asa, Asa, the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat, the father of Jehoram, Jehoram, the father of Uzziah Uzziah, the father of Jotham Jotham, the father of Ahaz Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah Hezekiah, the father of Manasseh Manasseh, the father of Ammon Ammon, the father of Josiah And Josiah, the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon After the exile to Babylon Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel Shealtiel, the father of Zerubbabel Zerubbabel, the father of Abihu Abihu, the father of Eliakim Eliakim, the father of Azor Azor, the father of Zadok Zadok, the father of Akam Akam, the father of Eliud Eliud, the father of Eleazar Eleazar, the father ofні altype Cisen thief or the father of Jacob and Jacob, the father of Joseph the husband of Mary and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Thus, there were 14 generations in all from Abraham to David, 14 from David to the exile to Babylon, and 14 from the exile to the Messiah from Luke. Now, Jesus himself was about 30 years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, hearts the son of Mattathias the son of Simeon the son of Josec the son of Jodah the son of Jonan the son of Risa the son of Zerubbabel the son of Sheltiel the son of Nerai the son of Melchi, the son of Adai, the son of Kosam, the son of Elmadim, the son of Ur, the son of Joshua, the son of Eleazar, the son of Joram, the son of Mathat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Malia, the son of Minna, the son of Mathatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nashon, the son of Aminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Zerug, the son of Ryu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Canaan, the son of Arphaxed, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalel, the son of Canaan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. The birth of John the Baptist foretold from Luke. In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they were both very old. Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, He was chosen by lot according to the custom of the priesthood to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord He is never to take wine or other fermented drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah To turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people prepared for the Lord Zechariah asked the angel How can I be sure of this I am an old man and my wife is well along in years The angel said to him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens because you did not believe my words which will come true at their appointed time. Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them, but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. The Lord has done this for me, she said. And these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people. the birth of Jesus foretold from Luke. In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end. How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin? The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most high will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month, for no word from God will ever fail. I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May your word to me be fulfilled. Then the angel left her. Let's pray together. Oh God, I just love this order. I love when we get to hear all four writers telling us the start of this story. And so God, I just thank you for that. I thank you that you often in scripture gave a little hint or a little inkling or a direct conversation about what was coming next. And so for a lot of us who have wonders about what's coming next and what might be going on in our lives and what we want that we don't have yet, God, would you send a messenger? Would you send a messenger to tell us what's going on? Whether it's the Holy Spirit or a friend or a scripture or something we read today, would there be a messenger to each of us of what we need to know and what we need to hear? So we love you and we trust you. In Jesus' name, amen.
