Lessons for December 24, 2006 – Fourth Sunday of Advent

The first lesson

Micah 5:2-5
 
    But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village in Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past. [3] The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies until the time when the woman in labor gives birth to her son. Then at last his fellow countrymen will return from exile to their own land. [4] And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord's strength, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored all around the world. [5] And he will be the source of our peace.  (NLT)
   
Luke 1:46-55
 
L.  Mary responded, "Oh, how I praise the Lord. 
C.  How I rejoice in God my Savior! 
L.  For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
C.  and now generation after generation will call me blessed. 
L.  For he, the Mighty One, is holy, and he has done great things for me. 
C.  His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who fear him. 
L.  His mighty arm does tremendous things!
C.  How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! 
L.  He has taken princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 
C.  He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. 
L.  And how he has helped his servant Israel! He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful. 
C.  For he promised our ancestors—Abraham and his children—to be merciful to them forever."  (NLT)

The second lesson
 
Hebrews 10:5-10
 
That is why Christ, when he came into the world, said, "You did not want animal sacrifices and grain offerings.
        But you have given me a body so that I may obey you. 
    [6] No, you were not pleased with animals burned on the altar
        or with other offerings for sin. 
    [7] Then I said, 'Look, I have come to do your will, O God—
        just as it is written about me in the Scriptures.' "
 
[8] Christ said, "You did not want animal sacrifices or grain offerings or animals burned on the altar or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them" (though they are required by the law of Moses). [9] Then he added, "Look, I have come to do your will." He cancels the first covenant in order to establish the second. [10] And what God wants is for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.  (NLT)

The Gospel Lesson

Luke 1:39-55
 
    A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town [40] where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. [41] At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 
    [42] Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, "You are blessed by God above all other women, and your child is blessed. [43] What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! [44] When you came in and greeted me, my baby jumped for joy the instant I heard your voice! [45] You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said."
 
    [46] Mary responded,

    "Oh, how I praise the Lord. 
        [47] How I rejoice in God my Savior! 
    [48] For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
        and now generation after generation
            will call me blessed. 
    [49] For he, the Mighty One, is holy,
        and he has done great things for me. 
    [50] His mercy goes on from generation to generation,
        to all who fear him. 
    [51] His mighty arm does tremendous things!
        How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! 
    [52] He has taken princes from their thrones
        and exalted the lowly. 
    [53] He has satisfied the hungry with good things
        and sent the rich away with empty hands. 
    [54] And how he has helped his servant Israel!
        He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful. 
    [55] For he promised our ancestors—Abraham and his children—
        to be merciful to them forever."  (NLT)