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Speaker 1: Let us pray. But the Angel said unto him, fear not, Zacharias,

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Speaker 1: for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife, Elizabeth, shall

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Speaker 1: bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name

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Speaker 1: John Luke one thirteen. Lord, when I am praying for

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Speaker 1: things to come forth in my life, I will not

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Speaker 1: look at my circumstances to determine whether or not it

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Speaker 1: will come into fruition. I will not laugh in disbelief

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Speaker 1: like Zachariah. He will not have to silence my lips

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Speaker 1: because of unbelief. Instead, I will take the posture of

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Speaker 1: Mary when the Angel of the Lord appeared to her

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Speaker 1: and proclaimed that she would give birth to Jesus the Messiah,

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Speaker 1: and accept your word as truth with no questions asked.

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Speaker 1: Thank you in advance for setting people in my life,

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Speaker 1: like John the Baptist, who will help pave the way

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Speaker 1: for your calling in life. As you deposit the seed

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Speaker 1: of purpose in me, like Mary and Elizabeth, surround me

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Speaker 1: with others whose purposes will leap within them as we

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Speaker 1: join in fellowship and build each other up. I stand

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Speaker 1: in anticipation because I know that whatever dream your birthing

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Speaker 1: inside me will echo in the halls of eternity in

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Speaker 1: Jesus's name. Amen, Thank you for praying with us today.

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Speaker 1: Continue your time with God by listening to today's Bible story,

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Speaker 1: brought to you by Bible in a year dot com.

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Speaker 2: The birth of John the Baptist. Four hundred years have

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Speaker 2: passed since the Lord last spoke to his people through prophets.

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Speaker 2: For four hundred years, they filled the cynic dogs and

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Speaker 2: temples with teachings and sacrifices, longing for the presence of

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Speaker 2: God to be felt once more. Rome had taken over

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Speaker 2: and the people longed for a savior. In this story,

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Speaker 2: we will see a news story set in motion, a

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Speaker 2: story of a hero unlike any other we have seen before,

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Speaker 2: and it all starts with a baby inspired by the Gospel.

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Speaker 3: In our last episode, we heard how Nehemiah returned to

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Speaker 3: Judah and undertook the rebuilding of the walls, ushering in

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Speaker 3: a new era of peace and safety. And yet that

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Speaker 3: too was to be short lived. Sin still held in

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Speaker 3: people's hearts with an unrelenting grip. The Messiah, the Promised One,

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Speaker 3: was ultimately the only solution to sin and evil in

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Speaker 3: the world, to our brokenness and rebellion. So now let's

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Speaker 3: turn the page from the Old Testament to the New Testament,

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Speaker 3: and we'll fast forward four hundred years into the future.

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Speaker 3: Israel had turned from godd but in a different way.

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Speaker 3: It was a period of religion, but also self righteousness

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Speaker 3: and legalism. The Pharisees and priests and other religious leaders

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Speaker 3: held sway over the people, oppressing them with rules and

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Speaker 3: ritual Though there remained a form of religion, people's hearts

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Speaker 3: were very far from God. It is into this context,

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Speaker 3: into this culture and world, that God would come down

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Speaker 3: as the Messiah, the Savior, the promised deliverer of his people.

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Speaker 3: So let's begin with a New Testament now and today's reading.

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Speaker 2: Hundreds of years after the exiles returned to Israel, the

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Speaker 2: Jews had rebuilt their culture. The age of education, religion,

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Speaker 2: and government had emerged, but not without cost. The Roman

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Speaker 2: Empire had conquered almost all the known world, and Caesar's

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Speaker 2: grip on the nation of Israel was hard and cruel.

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Speaker 2: The Jewish people remained faithful to the practices of the Temple,

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Speaker 2: and the priests and pharisees grew more rigid in their

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Speaker 2: religious dogma. The nation was pining for a Messiah. Religious

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Speaker 2: oppression from within, and military oppression from without left God's

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Speaker 2: people longing for a savior. This is where the story

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Speaker 2: of God's rescue mission continues. This is where the true

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Speaker 2: hero emerges. In the time of King Herod, there was

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Speaker 2: a Jewish priest by the name of Zechariah. He and

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Speaker 2: his wife Elizabeth were loved among the people. Their righteousness

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Speaker 2: and love for God was well known. However, they lacked children,

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Speaker 2: for Elizabeth was barren. As their years increased, so did

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Speaker 2: their love for God and one another, although the pain

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Speaker 2: of being childless never left. One day, Zachariah was serving

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Speaker 2: God in the temple. It was his turn to enter

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Speaker 2: into the Sanctuary of God to burn incense. While he

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Speaker 2: stepped into the Holy of Holies, a bright light emerged

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Speaker 2: from the smoke. Zechariah fell in fear as he stared

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Speaker 2: at the angels stepping out before him. His knees trembled

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Speaker 2: as he gazed upon them. Magnificent creature. Do not be afraid, Zechariah,

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Speaker 2: The angel said, God has heard your cries for a child.

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Speaker 2: Elizabeth will give you a son, and he will be

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Speaker 2: the messenger proclaiming the new age.

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Speaker 1: Of the Lord.

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Speaker 2: He will be filled with God's spirit and a mighty

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Speaker 2: voice for liberation. Zechariah stumbled to his feet and opened

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Speaker 2: his hands. How could this be, he asked, I am

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Speaker 2: an old man, and my wife is well along in years.

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Speaker 2: This is impossible. As Zechariah was speaking, a rush of

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Speaker 2: light shot forth towards Zechariah. He fell to the floor,

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Speaker 2: covering his ears and eyes. I am Gabriel, the angel shouted.

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Speaker 2: It is I who stand in the very presence of

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Speaker 2: the Lord. He has sent me to give you good news.

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Speaker 2: But you stand here as if God is unable to

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Speaker 2: fulfill his promises. Zechariah cowered in fear at the angel's voice.

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Speaker 2: Never had he heard something so gentle yet so terrifying.

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Speaker 2: It was almost too much to bear. Since you have

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Speaker 2: not believed my words, you will be unable to speak

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Speaker 2: until the birth of your son. This will teach you

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Speaker 2: to truly meditate on just how blessed the Lord has

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Speaker 2: made you. And at that instant, Gabriel vanished. Zechariah emerged

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Speaker 2: silent and was unable to communicate what had just happened

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Speaker 2: to him. Yet God's will was revealed shortly after, as

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Speaker 2: Elizabeth became pregnant with the son. Six months had passed

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Speaker 2: and the cousin of Elizabeth, was gathering water at the

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Speaker 2: well and Nazareth. Mary was a young woman filled with

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Speaker 2: hope for the future. She was engaged to a man

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Speaker 2: named Joseph, a local carpenter, descendant of David and a

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Speaker 2: well respected man of God. Mary drew the water from

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Speaker 2: the well, humming a sweet tune in the morning sun.

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Speaker 2: She carried the water back to the goats, wiped her hands,

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Speaker 2: and entered into her home. As she entered her home,

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Speaker 2: she saw the angel Gabriel sitting near her window. Mary

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Speaker 2: gasped and fell back.

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Speaker 1: Towards the wall.

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Speaker 2: Gabriel smiled, Greetings, oh, favored woman of God, he said warmly.

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Speaker 2: Mary was speechless. The angel's presence disturbed her, and she

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Speaker 2: darted her eyes towards the door to run. Do not

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Speaker 2: be afraid, Gabriel exclaimed, you have found favor with God.

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Speaker 2: Mary's heart was beating fast. She was only a girl

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Speaker 2: and could not imagine what use God would have of her.

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Speaker 2: Gabriel bent down closely to her. You will conceive a son.

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Speaker 2: His name will be Jesus. He will be the promised

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Speaker 2: son of David, the Messiah, the son of the Living God,

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Speaker 2: the King, to bring peace upon all the nations. Mary's

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Speaker 2: eyes began to water as the Angel spoke, his kingdom

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Speaker 2: will reign forever at his name. Every knee shall bow,

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Speaker 2: and every broken heart made whole. Mary wiped her eyes

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Speaker 2: and looked up at the Angel. How could this be?

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Speaker 2: I am a virgin and I am not yet married

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Speaker 2: to Joseph. Gabriel gave a warm grin to the girl.

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Speaker 2: Same holy spirit that hovered over the waters of the

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Speaker 2: earth will come upon you. The power of the most

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Speaker 2: High God will be with you. The baby will be

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Speaker 2: born holy and will be the son of God himself.

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Speaker 2: Gabriel stood to his feet and began to exit. He

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Speaker 2: turned to Mary and said, much has been set in motion, o,

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Speaker 2: favorite one. Even your cousin Elizabeth has become pregnant in

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Speaker 2: her old age. You may go and see her for yourself.

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Speaker 2: The word of God will never fail. And with those words,

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Speaker 2: the Angel disappeared. Mary's heart felt as though it was

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Speaker 2: about to beat right out of her chest. She whispered

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Speaker 2: a prayer to the Lord. I am your servant. Then

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Speaker 2: she sang to him and went to go visit her

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Speaker 2: cousin Elizabeth. Mary traveled across the hills into the town

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Speaker 2: of Elizabeth and Zechariah. Elizabeth was tending to the garden

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Speaker 2: when she saw Mary arrive on a small carriage. The

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Speaker 2: two met one another, and all of the sudden, Elizabeth

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Speaker 2: felt a jolt at her wound, then another. Elizabeth laughed

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Speaker 2: and tears of joy streamed down her face. Mary, she said,

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Speaker 2: you are with child. Mary stepped back, amazed that Elizabeth

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Speaker 2: knew so early. How did you know, she asked, my child,

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Speaker 2: it is an honor that the mother of the Lord

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Speaker 2: himself should visit me. When you came close, the baby

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Speaker 2: and my womb leaped for joy. He is kicking now,

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Speaker 2: filled with the delight of God's spirit. The two women

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Speaker 2: praised God together. Although Mary was still nervous about what

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Speaker 2: Joseph and her family would think of her pregnancy. Would

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Speaker 2: they believe her, would they judge her? Would Joseph still

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Speaker 2: love her? All these questions filled her mind, but the

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Speaker 2: Lord was steadfast towards Mary. He gave her a quiet resolve.

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Speaker 2: Three months had passed and the night had covered the

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Speaker 2: small village outside Nazareth. Painful cries could be heard from

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Speaker 2: the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah. Mary watched as her

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Speaker 2: brave cousin endured the pain of child birth at an

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Speaker 2: old age. She wailed throughout the night. Persevering through the agony,

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Speaker 2: Mary could not help but think of her own inevitable pain.

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Speaker 2: The screaming ceased and was replaced with the quiet cries

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Speaker 2: of the new born infant. Elizabeth held her baby boy

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Speaker 2: in her arms. Tears streamed down her face as she

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Speaker 2: looked upon her miracle child. We should name him Zechariah,

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Speaker 2: after his father, she whispered. Then, after nine months of silence,

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Speaker 2: a deep voice could be heard from the corner of

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Speaker 2: the room. No, Zechariah, said. Elizabeth gasped, as did Mary

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Speaker 2: and the others with them. Zechariah smiled and held up

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Speaker 2: his boy. His name will be John, he said. Zechariah

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Speaker 2: laughed and cried, You, my little son, will be a

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Speaker 2: prophet of the most High. You will prepare the way

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Speaker 2: of the Lord. You will point people towards their salvation.

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Speaker 2: You will show them the way. The morning light of

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Speaker 2: Heaven is breaking on us this day. So John grew

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Speaker 2: strong and grew in the favor of God and attention

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Speaker 2: of man, and Mary returned home to face her family.

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Speaker 3: In today's scripture, Israel is being ruled by two different forces.

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Speaker 3: First and foremost, they were under the rule of the

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Speaker 3: Roman Empire, the new world's superpower. Though Israel has some

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Speaker 3: degree of self governance in their own land, they are

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Speaker 3: not fully free, and they are oppressed by foreign rulers.

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Speaker 3: But there is another force that is crushing the people

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Speaker 3: in a different way. The rituals and temple practices were

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Speaker 3: still being observed, but the religious leaders, the leaders of

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Speaker 3: the religious order, were oppressing the people with countless rules

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Speaker 3: and legalistic teaching. Though it appeared to be zeal for God,

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Speaker 3: it was an attempt to earn righteousness by behavior, and

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Speaker 3: it was of course feudal. The people needed a perfect sacrifice,

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Speaker 3: someone to rescue from sin, to bring them back to

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Speaker 3: the Lord. They needed God himself, as they always had,

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Speaker 3: And what we begin seeing now is God's setting in

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Speaker 3: motion his plan of redemption in Jesus Christ. But before

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Speaker 3: the Messiah would come, one who announced his arrival would

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Speaker 3: also come, a man who had been foretold by the

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Speaker 3: prophets Isaiah and Malachi, a voice who would cry out

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Speaker 3: for the people to prepare a way for the Lord.

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Speaker 3: And so in our reading we learn of a priest

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Speaker 3: named Zachariah, whose wife was named Elizabeth. Like others before them,

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Speaker 3: they had waited for years and years for a child,

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Speaker 3: but in old age they were still childless. But they

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Speaker 3: were righteous and found grace favor in the eyes of

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Speaker 3: the Lord. So God sent an angel, Gabriel, to tell

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Speaker 3: Zachariah and Elizabeth that they would have a child, and

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Speaker 3: this child would proclaim a new era of freedom and faith.

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Speaker 3: Zachariah laughed at the news, not believing they could bear

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Speaker 3: children at their age, so he was made mute until

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Speaker 3: the child came, and just as promise, Elizabeth became pregnant.

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Speaker 3: We then heard how six months after Elizabeth conceived, her

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Speaker 3: younger cousin Mary, was visited by the same angel. Mary

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Speaker 3: was engaged to be wed to a carpenter named Joseph.

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Speaker 3: She was a virgin, a righteous young woman, so the

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Speaker 3: news the angel brought her was both incredible, miraculous, and terrifying.

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Speaker 3: Gabriel was quick to tell her that he brought good

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Speaker 3: news from God, that she had found favor with the

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Speaker 3: Lord and had been chosen for this responsibility that would

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Speaker 3: change history forever. Though she had no union with a

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Speaker 3: man physically, Mary was going to conceive a child. His

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Speaker 3: name would be Jesus, the son of David, God's promised Messiah.

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Speaker 3: As you can only imagine. Mary could not comprehend how

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Speaker 3: this is possible. Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would

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Speaker 3: come upon her, and that God would be with her.

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Speaker 3: God's Spirit, the one who had been there from the

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Speaker 3: very beginning, hovering over the waters at creation, the one

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Speaker 3: who had been with Israel in the pillar of fire

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Speaker 3: and smoke, he would be with Mary. She would conceive

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Speaker 3: a child. Gabriel then spoke of the miracle of the

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Speaker 3: Virgin conception. In Luke one thirty seven, we read nothing

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Speaker 3: is impossible with God. I love the way the New

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Speaker 3: Living Translation puts it, for the word of God will

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Speaker 3: never fail. God keeps his promises. So Mary submitted herself

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Speaker 3: faithfully to the Lord and his will, saying that she

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Speaker 3: was his servant. When Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth,

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Speaker 3: the baby Elizabeth was caring leapt in her womb. Because

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Speaker 3: the baby knew alive in the womb of Elizabeth, knew

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Speaker 3: that he was in the presence of the Lord. Both

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Speaker 3: of these pregnancies were not just unlikely, they were miraculous.

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Speaker 3: But as the Angel said, with God, there is no impossible.

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Speaker 3: This is the glorious impossible. When Elizabeth finally gave birth,

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Speaker 3: everyone wanted to name the child after his father, but

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Speaker 3: Elizabeth protested and said it should be John, to everyone's confusion.

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Speaker 3: Zechariah was still speechless, but he knew that she was right,

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Speaker 3: so he called for something to write on and scribbled

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Speaker 3: down his name will be John, and immediately he was

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Speaker 3: able to speak and began praising God. John grew into

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Speaker 3: a strong and righteous man with a powerful voice, the

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Speaker 3: very voice that God had promised to proclaim the kingdom

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Speaker 3: of God and the announcement of his glorious Messiah. Dear

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Speaker 3: God of the impossible, we know that there is no

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Speaker 3: miracle that you cannot perform, and we thank you for

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Speaker 3: the miracle of Jesus, the miracle of the story of Jesus.

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Speaker 3: And we praise you that your word never fails, that

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Speaker 3: we can always trust you to fulfill what you have promised.

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Speaker 3: And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you

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Speaker 3: again for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.

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Speaker 3: I'm Jack Graham, pastor in Dallas, Texas. You could download

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Speaker 3: the pray dot Com app and make Bible study and

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Speaker 3: prayer a priority in your life. If you enjoyed this podcast,

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Speaker 3: please share it with someone else. Just go to Jack

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Speaker 3: Graham dot org or PowerPoint dot org for information. God

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Speaker 3: bless you and have a great day. This episode is

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Speaker 3: sponsored by Meta Share, an innovative healthcare solution for Christians

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Speaker 3: to save money without sacrificing quality