Luke 1:5-25 - In the time of King Herod, there was a priest named Zechariah who was married to a woman named Elizabeth. They were very old and were childless because Elizabeth was unable to conceive. Once when Zechariah was serving God in the temple, he was visited by the angel Gabriel who gave him the news that Elizabeth would become pregnant with a son, who was to be named John, and who would be the one to prepare the way for the Lord. Zechariah didn’t believe the angel at first, and asked how he could be sure of it since he and his wife were so old. The angel responded that Zechariah would not be able to speak until the day it happened, since he didn’t believe in his words.

Luke 7:11-17 - Once when Jesus was in a town called Nain, he approached the town gates and saw a man who had died* and was being carried out, he was the only son of his mother who was a widow. There was a large crowd surrounding her, and Jesus felt compassion for her. He said to her, “don’t cry” and went up to the man being carried out, touched him, and said, “Young man, get up!” The man got up, and Jesus returned him to his mother. Everyone who saw praised God and said, “God has come to help us.”

Passage: Luke 8:43-48 - Once there was a woman who had bn bleeding for twelve years and no doctors could heal her. She saw Jesus in a crowd and reached out to touch the hem of his cloak and she was immediately healed. Jesus asked who touched him, because although there were crowds of people pressing into him, he felt that power had gone out from him. The woman was scared but she stepped forward and admitted that it was her and explained why she had done it and that she had been healed. Jesus responded to her by saying, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Luke 17:11-19 - Once when Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he went into a village where ten men with leprosy (a skin disease causing sores to appear all over their bodies) met him. They cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them. Jesus told them to go back to their communities and show themselves to the priests. As they went along, they were healed. One man, a Samaritan, seeing that he was healed, went back to Jesus, praising God and throwing himself at Jesus’ feet in thanks. Jesus asked about where the other nine were and why only one, a foreigner, had returned. He told the man to go in peace and that his faith had healed him.

Luke 18:35-43 - Once when Jesus came to Jericho, there was a blind man sitting on the roadside begging. He heard the noise of the crowds and asked what was happening. When he was told that Jesus was passing by he started to shout at the top of his lungs, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” He was told to be quiet, but shouted all the more. Jesus took notice of him, stopped, and called him over to him. When Jesus asked what he could do for the man, he asked for his sight. Jesus healed him on the stop and said that his faith had healed him.

John 4:46-54 - Once when Jesus was visiting Cana in Galilee, there was a royal official who’s son was very sick. He heard that Jesus was in town and went to him to beg him to heal his son. Jesus simply said, “Go, your son will be healed.” The man took Jesus at his word and left. While he was still on his way, his servants met him and told him the news that his son was healed. When he asked about what time his son was healed, he learned that it was at the exact time that Jesus said, “your son will be healed.” So he and his whole household believed.

Matthew 17:24-27 - Once when Jesus and his disciples were traveling in Capernaum, the temple tax collectors came up to Peter and tried to ask him a trick question, whether Jesus paid temple taxes or not. Peter said that he does, and went to Jesus to tell him what happened. While Jesus stated that it wasn’t right to make the children of God pay taxes to the temple, he told Peter to go and catch a fish and look inside its mouth. When Peter did this, he found two coins inside, just enough to pay for his and Jesus’ temple tax.

Matthew 20:1-16 - There was a man who owned a vineyard and he went out in the town to search for workers for the day. Early in the morning he found a group of people who agreed to work for one denarius. Throughout the day he found more workers to join the first group. At the very end of the day, he gathered them together to give them their pay, beginning with the last ones hired and on to the first. He paid each one the same amount — one denarius each. The workers who had been their since early morning felt that this was unfair and they complained. The owner responded that they had been paid the amount agreed upon, and that he was simply choosing to be generous to the others too. In this way, Jesus taught that in the Kingdom of God, the last would be first and the first would be last.

Matthew 18:21-35 - When Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive someone who wrongs him seven times, Jesus answers that he should not forgive only seven times, but seventy-seven. Jesus then tells a story about a servant who owed the king a large sum of money. When the servant was unable to pay the king back and begged for extra time, the king took pity on him and completely forgave the servant’s debt. However, the servant immediately went and found a fellow servant who owed him a smaller amount of money, and demanded payment. When that servant couldn’t pay and begged for extra time, the first servant did not take pity on him but threw his fellow servant in jail until he could pay back what he owed. When the king heard of this he was indignant. He called the first servant to him, and told him that he had changed his mind and would throw the servant in jail until he could pay back everything he owed.

Luke 10:30-37 — Speaking to an expert in the Law, Jesus told the story of a man who was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers, who beat him and left him on the side of the road. One after the other, a priest and a Levite happened to walk by, and each passed by on the other side of the road, not stopping to help the man. However, a Samaritan, when he came across the injured man, took pity on him and did everything he could to help him. When Jesus asked the expert in the Law which of the three was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers, the expert answered, “The one who had mercy on him,” to which Jesus replied, “Go and do likewise.”

Mark 4:26-29 - Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is like a man scattering seeds on the ground, and every night and day, the seed sprouts all on it’s own though the man doesn’t know how. Eventually, the crops are fully grown and it’s time for the harvest.

Matthew 21:28-32 - Jesus told this story to the chief priests and elders who were questioning him on his authority. He said to them, there was a man who had two sons, each of whom he asked to go and work in the vineyard. The first son said no, but ended up changing his mind and going. The second son said yes, but he didn’t go. Jesus asked the chief priests and enders which son did what the father wanted, to which they answered, the first son. Jesus then reveals the meaning of the parable: that those considered “sinners” were actually entering the kingdom of God ahead of the religious folk, because when they heard Jesus’ message they repented and believed.

Exodus 33:12-23 - Sometime after God gives the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel from Mount Sinai, Moses has an honest discussion with God about his concerns for leading the people to the Promised Land. Moses wants to know who God will send with him to help him lead the people, and God says that God’s very own presence will go with him. Moses wants to be certain of this and so he declares that if God’s presence does not go with him, then he will not go. Moses also asks to be able to see God’s glory, and God agrees to pass by Moses and allow him to get a glimpse of God’s back, but not God’s face.

Exodus 19:1-20:21 - The Israelites came to Mount Sinai, which Moses climbed to meet with God. There, God gave Moses the Law of the Covenant to give to the Israelites, which was a reminder of how God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt and chosen them to be God’s people, as well as a guideline for how they were to live as God’s people in the Promised Land. God gave the Israelites Ten Commandments to follow, which Jesus later summarizes as “loving God and loving others.”

Exodus 16 - After the Israelites escaped from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, they wandered through the wilderness to get to the land that God promised to bring them to. Eventually, the Israelites started grumbling against Moses and Aaron, saying that they wished they had stayed in Egypt as slaves because there they had meat to eat and all the food they wanted. God heard the grumbling of the people and sent them bread from heaven, which they called manna, and quail to eat. God instructed them to collect as much manna as needed but not to save any for the next day, because God would provide for them each day. On the night before the Sabbath, they were to collect enough for two days. The people didn’t always listen to God’s instructions, but God continued to take care of them throughout their forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

Exodus 12:31-42; 13:17-14:31 - After the tenth plague that God sent on Egypt, Pharaoh finally agreed to let the people go. So the Israelites made preparations and started on their journey. However, after the Israelites had left Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind and sent an army of Egyptians to chase after the Israelites and bring them back. When the Israelites were camped next to the Red Sea, they saw the Egyptian army approaching and were terrified, but Moses told them not to be afraid and to trust God to deliver them. So God told Moses to stretch his hand out over the sea, and God sent a strong wind to blow the waters, causing it to split in two and a path of dry ground to form down the middle. The Israelites were able to cross over on dry ground to the other side, but when the Egyptians tried to follow, God caused the water to come back down, preventing them from getting across.