Merry Christmas to one and all and may the light of the bright and morning star bless and keep you and yours.
1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 It is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”
3 “a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”
4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
That man is Jesus Christ, God’s Son and yet one with God, who came to earth, was born of a virgin and whose birthday we celebrate this season.
The good news is simple. God has been telling us one thing for all history: Follow me.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.