Readings for this coming Sunday

Get ready before you come to church this Sunday by reading the lessons ahead of time to prepare yourself to help understand what God is telling you.

For December 3, 2023

Genesis 3:1-15  

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"  ² And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,  ³ but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"  ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.  ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 

⁸ And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"  ¹⁰ And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."  ¹¹ He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"  ¹² The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."  ¹³ Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 

¹⁴ The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.  ¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

Isaiah 7:10-14   

¹⁰ Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,  ¹¹ "Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven."  ¹² But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test."  ¹³ And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?  ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Matthew 1:18-25  

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.  ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  ²³ "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).  ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,  ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.