Zechariah’s Prophecy

 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

 Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited
and provided redemption for his people.
 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
 just as he spoke by the mouth
of his holy prophets in ancient times;
 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of those who hate us.
 He has dealt mercifully with our ancestors
and remembered his holy covenant—
 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham,
to grant that we,
 having been rescued
from the hand of our enemies,
would serve him without fear
 in holiness and righteousness
in his presence all our days.
 And you, child, will be called
a prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare his ways,
 to give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins.
 Because of our God’s merciful compassion,
the dawn from on high will visit us
 to shine on those who live in darkness
and the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1:67-79

 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!  He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—  not from works, so that no one can boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do. Ephesians 2:4-10

Psalm 37:23-26

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
    He delights in every detail of their lives.
 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
    for the Lord holds them by the hand.

 Once I was young, and now I am old.
    Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
    or their children begging for bread.
 The godly always give generous loans to others,
    and their children are a blessing.