Bible Study for December 22, 2024

Hi everyone,

In all three liturgical years, the Fourth Sunday in Advent has us read from the time preceding Jesus' birth - Matthew's account of Joseph's dream in Year A, Luke's story of the annunciation to Mary in Year B, and this year, the story of the visitation.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Mary and Elizabeth praise the action of God in the coming of  Jesus.  We encounter the Holy Trinity in their words and in the Eucharist we receive the body of Christ, the "Bread" born in Bethlehem, which means "the house of bread" in Hebrew!    https://firmisrael.org/learn/what-bethlehem-means-to-israel-in-bible-and-today/

Pastor Tim

"God has led you to the desert, and spoken to your Heart."

Mount of Olives Lutheran Church

3546 E. Thomas Rd

Phoenix, AZ 85018

602-956-1620 office

Bible Study for December 22, 2024

Opening Prayer:

Creator of all, we thank you for the opportunity to gather in study. Open our minds and hearts. By the power of the Holy Spirit, unite us in faith, hope, and love. Help us to be faithful to the gospel and to walk humbly with you. Grant us your peace as we grow in wisdom and understanding. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Luke 1:39-55 Do you ever wonder why God has chosen you for special opportunities?

This reading sets the stage for Mary’s Magnificat, which follows. After her encounter with the angel Gabriel who had announced that God had chosen her to give birth to the Messiah, Mary set out in a hurry to visit her cousin Elizabeth in an unnamed village in the Judean hills. Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist, and the baby’s response indicated a distinct recognition that this pregnancy of Mary’s was no ordinary one. These two little boys would be involved in some momentous happenings in the years to come. 

Elizabeth acknowledged the special role Mary, and her baby were to play, a sentence that would be repeated by millions of believers for ages to come: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Elizabeth began to wonder out loud why God had enabled her to recognize that the One destined to reveal God’s saving love to all humankind—and thereby to change the course of history—was present there with them in her cousin Mary’s womb. The spirit used her to pronounce a blessing on Mary for accepting the role thrust upon her of becoming a mother of the long-awaited Messiah.

Hebrews 10:5-10 What changes does God want in our way of life?

The writer of Hebrews has put these words in the mouth of Jesus, showing that what God wants of us is not ritual sacrifice but the devoted commitment and sacrificial service that Jesus offered. Heartfelt obedience is the only true sacrifice. The sacrifices and burnt offerings prescribed by the law (meeting legal and ritual obligations out of a sense of duty) could not open a way to a personal relationship with God based on heartfelt repentance and divine forgiveness. This was only possible through Christ because it was Christ who freely and fully did God’s will. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because He willingly chose to manifest God’s redemptive love by resisting evil through giving Himself to death. He thereby did away with the regime of ritual sacrifice and replaced it with self-giving love as a model for God’s relationship with us and ours with one another. Through Christ’s offering of Himself, the way is opened for us to be purified and dedicated to this same cruciform (cross-shaped) way of life