Hello everyone! My name is Elise Brooklyn and this is Scattering Flowers, a podcast where we scatter flowers of faith.
I’m so happy to be with you reading the daily Gospels together.
Let’s get started! Today is Thursday, December 19th and we’ll be reading Luke 1, 1 through 25.
Follow along in your Bible if you have one.
Now let’s read Luke 1, 1 through 25.
Let me recount for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah in the division of Abijah, and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth, and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
Now, while he was serving as priest before God, when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for 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, and he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 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.
And Zechariah said to the angel, How shall I know this, for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years?
And 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, and 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.
And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they wondered at his delay in the temple, and when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they preserved that he had seen a vision in the temple, and he made signs to them and remained mute.
And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.
Have you ever played the quiet game?
Sometimes my dad will challenge me and my brother to be quiet for five minutes at a time.
It’s really fun to be silly competitive with my brother.
I like to see if I can make him be loud first by making a weird face, or he will kick me under the table to make me screech.
Sometimes being quiet can be hard, because you’re having so much fun that you don’t know when to stop what you’re doing.
But when my dad makes us play this game, it’s usually when he needs a quiet moment to work on something, or wants us to listen to instructions or something important.
In today’s reading, Zechariah lost his ability to speak because an angel was giving him instructions, but he didn’t believe.
God had a plan all along.
Zechariah, and even us, need to put our trust in Him.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, help us to continue to praise our trust in You, and listen to the messages You give us.
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Thank you so much for listening.
I’ll be back tomorrow scattering more flowers.
See ya!