All right then,

the Lord himself will give you the sign.

Look!

The virgin will conceive a child.

She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel

(which means ‘God is with us’).

For a child is born to us,

a son is given to us.

The government will rest on his shoulders.

And he will be called:

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

His government and its peace will never end.

He will rule with fairness and justice

from the throne of his ancestor David

for all eternity.

The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies

will make this happen!

Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7

…this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

lighten the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free,

and remove the chains that bind people.

Share your food with the hungry,

and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

Isaiah 58:6-7

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?

    Cleanse me from these hidden faults.

Keep your servant from deliberate sins!

    Don’t let them control me.

Then I will be free of guilt

    and innocent of great sin.

May the words of my mouth

    and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing to you,

    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:12-14

May the Lord bless you
    and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you
    and be gracious to you.

May the Lord show you his favor
    and give you his peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

In the last days,

the mountain of the LORD’s house will be the highest of all—

the most important place on earth.

It will be raised above the other hills,

and people from all over the world 

will stream there to worship.

“In that coming day,”

says the LORD…

“I,

the LORD,

will rule from Jerusalem as their king forever.”

Micah 4:1, 6-7

“Praise the Lord,

the God of Israel,

because he has visited and redeemed his people.

He has sent us a mighty Savior

from the royal line of his servant David,

just as he promised

through his holy prophets long ago.

Because of God’s tender mercy,

the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,

to give light to those who sit in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

and to guide us to the path of peace.”

Luke 1:68-70, 78-79

“You are blessed because you believed

that the Lord would do what he said.”

Luke 1:45

Let all that I am praise the LORD.

O LORD my God,

how great you are!

You are robed with honor and majesty.

You are dressed in a robe of light.

You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;

you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.

You make the clouds your chariot;

you ride upon the wings of the wind.

The winds are your messengers;

flames of fire are your servants.

Psalm 104:1-4

(Galveston, TX)

Praise the LORD,

you angels,

you mighty ones who carry out his plans,

listening for each of his commands.

Yes,

praise the LORD,

you armies of angels

who serve him and do his will!

Psalm 103:20-21

All praise to God,

the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is by his great mercy that we have been born again,

because God raised Jesus Christ

from the dead.

Now we live with great expectation,

and we have a priceless inheritance—

an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you,

pure and undefiled,

beyond the reach of change and decay.

And through your faith,

God is protecting you by his power…

1 Peter 1:3-5