Deeply Rooted (When I Read Your Word)

R EAD THIS:  Luke 1:8-25 8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.  11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 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. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 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. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lor...

R EAD THIS:  Luke 1:5-7 5 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. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Luke decided to start off the story of Jesus with a story about an old couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zechariah and Elizabeth were both descendants of Aaron, which means that they were both part of the family tree that was in charge of priestly duties. These duties were split up among 24 different divisions of Aaron's family tree so that each division took turns doing their duty throughout the year where one person would do their priestly duty for a week straight once every six months or so. This fact is important for tomorrow!  Another import...

R EAD THIS:  Luke 1:1-4 1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 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, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? HIYA! Welcome to the first day of Luke! On the first day of a new book, we do introductory things and prep you for what the rest of the book will look like. For this book, we will not be italicizing the Scripture above because we will be having longer chunks sometimes, and it can be hard to read the italics (at least so we have heard). So, be prepared for some days to only have a few verses while other days you will have a couple of short paragraphs. It's going to look like that because ...

R EAD THIS:  1 Thessalonians 5:19-28 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil. 23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. 25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 26 Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? These last words of 1 Thessalonians are Paul’s final charge to the people there. His big request to them is to avoid quenching the Spirit! The Holy Spirit is sometimes described as a fire, and that description makes sense since it literally appeared that way in Acts 2. But, like any fire, we can do things that can quench the Sp...

R EAD THIS:  1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Yesterday, we learned about how important it is to remind ourselves to act the way Jesus calls us to, but the thing is, that is actually so hard. Looking at these verses, we are told that we should encourage hard workers and people who call us out, we should be at peace with everyone, we...

R EAD THIS:  1 Thessalonians 5:5-11 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Is this 1 Thessalonians or Ephesians?! These verses reference several passages that Paul writes in his letter to the believers in Ephesus (which is super cool for those of us who go to Grace Sunday services, because we just finishe...

R EAD THIS:  1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:4 13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. 5:1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to wri...