Wonder

Luke 2: 16And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; 18and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 21And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Beginning

John 1: 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God; 3all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. 8He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. 9The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. 11He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. 15(John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, `He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'") 16And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.

Nazarene

13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."  14And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt,  15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."  19But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,  20"Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."  21And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.  22But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.  23And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

Simeon

Luke 2:
22And 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 male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord")  24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."  25Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.  27And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law,  28he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; 30for mine eyes have seen thy salvation 31which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel." 33And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him;  34and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against 35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."

Egypt

Matthew 2:
13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."  14And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt,  15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."  16Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.  17Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:  18"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more."

Resurrection

John 20:
1Now on the first day of the week Mary Mag'dalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.  2So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."  3Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb.  4They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first;  5and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.  6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying,  7and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.  8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;

Endure

Matthew 10:
17Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues,  18and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles.  19When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour;  20for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.  21Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;  22and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

Peace

Luke 2:
1In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2This was the first enrollment, when Quirin'i-us was governor of Syria.  3And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city.  4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,  5to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  6And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered.  7And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  10And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people;  11for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,  14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"

Light

Luke 1:
7And his father Zechari'ah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,  68"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, 69and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; 72to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, 73the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, 74to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. 76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78through the tender mercy of our God, when the day shall dawn upon us from on high 79to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

John

Luke 1:
57Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son.  58And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.  59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechari'ah after his father,  60but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John."  61And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name."  62And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called.  63And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marveled.  64And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.  65And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea;  66and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.

John

Luke1:
57Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son.  58And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.  59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechari'ah after his father,  60but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John."  61And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name."  62And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called.  63And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marveled.  64And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.  65And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea;  66and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.

Blessed

Luke 1:
39In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,  40and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth.  41And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit  42and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  44For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.  45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

Favor

Luke 1:
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,  27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.  28And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.  32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?"  35And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.  37For with God nothing will be impossible."  38And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Zecharia

Luke 1:
5In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechari'ah, of the division of Abi'jah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.  6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.  8Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,  9according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.  10And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.  11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  12And Zechari'ah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.  13But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechari'ah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.  14And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; 15for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, 17and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli'jah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." 18And Zechari'ah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."  19And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.  20And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."  21And the people were waiting for Zechari'ah, and they wondered at his delay in the temple.  22And when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them and remained dumb.  23And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. 24After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying,  25"Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men."

Betrothed

Matthew 1:
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit;  19and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit;  21she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  22All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  23"Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us).  24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife,

Genealogy

Matthew 1:
1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,  4and Ram the father of Ammin'adab, and Ammin'adab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon,  5and Salmon the father of Bo'az by Rahab, and Bo'az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,  6and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uri'ah,  7and Solomon the father of Rehobo'am, and Rehobo'am the father of Abi'jah, and Abi'jah the father of Asa,  8and Asa the father of Jehosh'aphat, and Jehosh'aphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzzi'ah,  9and Uzzi'ah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezeki'ah,  10and Hezeki'ah the father of Manas'seh, and Manas'seh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josi'ah,  11and Josi'ah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.  12And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoni'ah was the father of She-al'ti-el, and She-al'ti-el the father of Zerub'babel,  13and Zerub'babel the father of Abi'ud, and Abi'ud the father of Eli'akim, and Eli'akim the father of Azor,  14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eli'ud,  15and Eli'ud the father of Elea'zar, and Elea'zar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,  16and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.  17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Witness

John 5:
33You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  34Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this that you may be saved.  35He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.  36But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me.

None

24When the messengers of John had gone, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind?  25What then did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.  26What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  27This is he of whom it is written, `Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.' 28I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."  29(When they heard this all the people and the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John;  30but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

Good News

Luke 7:
18The disciples of John told him of all these things.  19And John, calling to him two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?"  20And when the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, `Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?'"  21In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many that were blind he bestowed sight.  22And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.  23And blessed is he who takes no offense at me."

Matthew 21:
28"What do you think? A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, `Son, go and work in the vineyard today.'  29And he answered, `I will not'; but afterward he repented and went.  30And he went to the second and said the same; and he answered, `I go, sir,' but did not go.  31Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.  32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him.

Handmaid

Luke 1:
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,  27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.  28And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.  32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?"  35And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.  37For with God nothing will be impossible."  38And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Messenger

Matthew 11:
2Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples  3and said to him, "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?"  4And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see:  5the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  6And blessed is he who takes no offense at me."  7As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind?  8Why then did you go out? To see a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those who wear soft raiment are in kings' houses.  9Why then did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  10This is he of whom it is written, `Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.' 11Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Elijah

Matthew 17: 9And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." 10And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Eli'jah must come?" 11He replied, "Eli'jah does come, and he is to restore all things; 12but I tell you that Eli'jah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands." 13Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Market place

Matthew 11: 16"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, 17`We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, `He has a demon'; 19the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds."

Impossible

Luke 1: 26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" 35And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For with God nothing will be impossible." 38And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Yoke

Matthew 11: 28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Perish

Matthew 18: 12What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Forgiven

Luke 5 17On one of those days, as he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18And behold, men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they sought to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; 19but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20And when he saw their faith he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." 21And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, "Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?" 22When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, "Why do you question in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, `Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, `Rise and walk'? 24But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he said to the man who was paralyzed -- "I say to you, rise, take up your bed and go home." 25And immediately he rose before them, and took up that on which he lay, and went home, glorifying God. 26And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen strange things today."

Unquenchable

Matthew 3: 1In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 3For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." 4Now John wore a garment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, 6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit that befits repentance, 9and do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Sins

Matthew 9: 95For which is easier, to say, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Rise and walk'? 6But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he then said to the paralytic -- "Rise, take up your bed and go home." 7And he rose and went home. 8When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. 35And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."101And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity.

2 blind men

Matthew 9: 27And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." 28When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." 29Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." 30And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, "See that no one knows it." 31But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

Sand

Matthew 7: 21"Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 24"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; 25and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; 27and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."

Follow

Matthew 4: 18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb'edee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Follow

Mark 10: 17And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: `Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" 20And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." 21And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

Centurion

Matthew 8: 5As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him 6and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress." 7And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes, and to another, `Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this,' and he does it." 10When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. 11I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

Ready

Matthew 24: 37As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. 40Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. 42Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Snare

Luke 21: 34"But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; 35for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. 36But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man."

St Catherine of Alexandria

Feastday Nov 25 Born: (around) 285 :: Died: 305 Catherine lived in early Christian times and was the daughter of a wealthy pagan couple of Alexandria, Egypt. She was a very beautiful girl whose great interest was in learning. Catherine was very good at science and public speaking. She loved to study deep questions of philosophy and religion. She began to read about Christianity. Then one day she received a vision and decided to become a Christian. St. Catherine was only eighteen when Emperor Maxentius began making the Christians suffer. Without fear, lovely young Catherine told him that he was being very cruel and would be punished by God. When he spoke of the pagan gods, she very plainly showed him that they were false. Maxentius could not answer her arguments, so he sent for fifty of his best pagan philosophers. Once again, Catherine proved the truth of her religion. All fifty philosophers were convinced that she was right and decided to become Christians. In great anger, Maxentius had every one of them killed. Then, he tried to win her by offering her a queen's crown. When Catherine refused the crown, he had her beaten and thrown into prison. While Maxentius was away at camp, his wife and an officer were very curious to hear this amazing Christian girl speak and went to her prison cell. All who heard her knew she spoke the truth and as a result they and two hundred soldiers of the guard were converted and became Christians. When Maxentius found out, they were all put to death. Then he ordered Catherine to be placed on a wheel full of spikes to be tortured to death. When the wheel began to spin, it suddenly snapped in two and broke. Finally, St. Catherine was beheaded. She has always been the patroness of Christian philosophers.

Pass

Luke 21: 29And he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees; 30as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.