Joyful Moments in Christ

• Aaron — A priest from the Old Testament; the brother of Moses.
• Able — Having the power or skill to do something.
• Afraid — Feeling scared or worried.
• Always — At all times; every time.
• Angel — A messenger from God.
• Beer — A drink that can make people drunk.
• Before — Earlier than a certain time or event.
• Believe — To think something is true.
• Born — To come into the world as a baby.
• Cause — To make something happen.
• Change — To become different.
• Children — Sons and daughters.
• Chosen — Picked or selected.
• Coming — Arriving or happening soon.
• Command — A rule or order someone must follow.
• Completely — All the way, with nothing left out.
• Crowd — A large group of people in one place.
• Decide — To choose what to do after thinking about it.
• Drink — To take a liquid into your mouth and swallow it.
• Elijah — A prophet from the Old Testament.
• Elizabeth — The wife of Zechariah in the Bible.
• Father — A male parent.
• Filled — Full of something.
• Finish — To be done with something.
• Follow — To go after someone or do what they do.
• Gabriel — The name of an angel who brings messages from God.
• Give Birth — To have a baby.
• Go Ahead — To go before or in front of someone else.
• Good News — The message about God’s love and how he saves people through Jesus.
• Great — Very big, good, or important.
• Group — A number of people or things together in one place.
• Happen — When something takes place.
• Happy — Feeling good, glad, or pleased.
• Have a Baby — To give birth to a child.
• Heard — Listened to a sound or words.
• Help — To do something for someone to make things easier.
• Herod — The ruler of Galilee during the time of Jesus.
• Holy Spirit — God’s Spirit who helps and teaches people.
• House — A building where people live.
• Incense — A substance burned for its nice smell during worship.
• Instructions — Directions that tell what to do.
• John — The son God promised to Zechariah and Elizabeth.
• Joy — A very happy feeling.
• Judea — A place in the Bible where many Jewish people lived.
• Listen — To pay attention to sounds or words.
• Lord — A name showing respect for God.
• Lose — To no longer have something.
• Make — To build or create something.
• Make Signs — To use hand movements to show what you mean.
• Month — About four weeks of time.
• Obey — To do what you are told.
• Offer — To give something to someone.
• Old — Having lived or been used for a long time.
• Outside — Not inside; in the open air or outdoors.
• Peace — A time without fighting, when people feel calm and safe.
• Please — To make someone happy.
• Powerful — Very strong.
• Pray — To talk to God.
• Prayer — Talking to God.
• Pregnant — When a woman is going to have a baby.
• Priest — A person who leads people in worship to God.
• Ready — Prepared for what will happen next.
• Return to the Lord — To turn back to God and obey him again.
• Sent — Told someone to go somewhere to do something.
• Share — To give part of what you have to someone else.
• Should — The right thing to do.
• So Long — A long time.
• Speak — To use your voice to say words.
• Speech — The ability to talk.
• Spirit — A being that you cannot see, like an angel or demon.
• Stand Ready — To be prepared to act.
• Stay — Not leave a place.
• Surprise — Something that happens that you did not expect.
• Table — A piece of furniture with a flat top and legs.
• Tell — To give information with words.
• Temple — A special building where people worship God.
• Think — To have an idea or belief in your mind.
• Time of Service — The time when work is being done.
• Told — Said something to someone.
• Upset — Feeling unhappy, sad, or angry about something.
• Wait — To stay in one place until something happens.
• Way — A plan or path to do something.
• Went Home — Returned to his house.
• Wife — A woman who is married.
• Wine — A drink made from grapes that can make people drunk.
• Zechariah — The father of John the Baptist in the Bible.

• Afraid — Feeling scared or worried.
• Alarmed — Suddenly feeling fear or surprise.
• Altar — A special table in a church or Temple where people pray or give gifts to God.
• Angel — A messenger from God.
• Appear — To suddenly be seen.
• Bear — To give birth to a baby.
• Believe — To think something is true.
• Birth — The time when a baby is born.
• Chosen — Picked or selected.
• Command — A rule or order someone must follow.
• Crowd — A large group of people in one place.
• Custom — Something people usually do in a certain way.
• Daily Service — Regular work done each day in the Temple.
• Disgrace — Shame; when people feel bad because of what others think.
• Disobedient — Not doing what you are told to do.
• Drink — To take a liquid into your mouth and swallow it.
• During — At the same time something happens.
• Family — A group of people related by birth or marriage.
• Felt — Past tense of feel; to have a feeling.
• Filled — Full of something.
• Fully — Completely or totally.
• Get Ready — To prepare for something.
• Glad — Feeling happy or pleased.
• Go Ahead — To go before or in front of someone else.
• Great — Very big, good, or important.
• Hands — The part of your body at the end of your arms.
• Happy — Feeling good, glad, or pleased.
• Heart — The part inside where feelings and thoughts live.
• Help — To do something for someone to make things easier.
• Holy Spirit — God’s Spirit who helps and teaches people.
• House — A building where people live.
• Incense — A substance burned for its nice smell during worship.
• Law — A rule made by God or people that tells us what we should or should not do.
• Leave — To go away from a place.
• Lives — The way people spend their time and days.
• Lived — Past tense of live; to stay or be in a place.
• Lord — A name showing respect for God.
• Lot — A way to choose someone by chance.
• Mighty — Very strong and powerful.
• Message — Words sent from one person to another.
• Old — Having lived or been used for a long time.
• Period — A length of time.
• Pray — To talk to God.
• Presence — Being in the same place as someone.
• Priest — A person who leads people in worship to God.
• Prophet — A person chosen by God to speak for him.
• Public — In front of other people.
• Remain — To stay in a place.
• Say — To speak with words.
• Service — Work done to help God or people.
• Sight — What someone can see.
• Silent — Without speaking; very quiet.
• Signs — Movements or pictures that give information.
• Son — A male child in a family.
• Speak — To use your voice to say words.
• Spending — Using time doing something.
• Standing — Being on your feet.
• Strong — Having power in your body or mind.
• Strong Drink — A drink like alcohol that can make people drunk.
• Temple — A special building where people worship God.
• Tell — To give information with words.
• True — Real and not false.
• Unable — Not able to do something.
• Vision — A special dream or picture from God.
• Wait — To stay in one place until something happens.
• Way of Thinking — How a person understands and believes things.
• Wife — A woman who is married.
• Wine — A drink made from grapes that can make people drunk.
• Wonder — To feel curious or surprised.
• Work — A job or task someone does.

Zechariah and Elizabeth
5 During the time when Herod ruled Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah.
He belonged to Abijah’s group.
His wife came from the family of Aaron.
Her name was Elizabeth.
6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were both good people who pleased God.
They did everything the Lord commanded, always following his instructions completely.
7 But they had no children.
Elizabeth could not have a baby, and both of them were very old.
8 Zechariah was serving as a priest before God for his group.
It was his group’s time to serve.
9 The priests always chose one priest to offer the incense, and Zechariah was the one chosen this time.
So he went into the Temple of the Lord to offer the incense.
10 There was a large crowd outside praying at the time the incense was offered.
11 Then, on the right side of the incense table, an angel of the Lord came and stood before Zechariah.
12 When he saw the angel, Zechariah was upset and very afraid.
13 But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid.
Your prayer has been heard by God.
Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy, and you will name him John.
14 You will be very happy, and many others will share your joy over his birth.
15 He will be a great man for the Lord.
He will never drink wine or beer.
Even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
16 “John will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God.
17 John himself will go ahead of the Lord and make people ready for his coming.
He will be powerful like Elijah and will have the same spirit.
He will make peace between fathers and their children.
He will cause people who are not obeying God to change and start thinking the way they should.”
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true?
I am an old man, and my wife is also old.”
19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, the one who always stands ready before God.
He sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news.
20 Now, listen! You will not be able to talk until the day when these things happen.
You will lose your speech because you did not believe what I told you.
But everything I said will really happen.”
21 Outside, the people were still waiting for Zechariah.
They were surprised that he was staying so long in the Temple.
22 Then Zechariah came outside, but he could not speak to them.
So the people knew that he had seen a vision inside the Temple.
He was not able to speak, so he could only make signs to the people.
23 When his time of service was finished, he went home.
24 Later, Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth became pregnant.
So she did not go out of her house for five months.
She said, 25 “Look what the Lord has done for me!
He decided to help me.
Now people will stop thinking there is something wrong with me.”

Luke 1:5-25 (ERV)

The Birth of John the Baptist Is Announced
5 During the time when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife’s name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family.
6 They both lived good lives in God’s sight and obeyed fully all the Lord’s laws and commands.
7 They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old.
8 One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service.
9 According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord,
10 while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned.
11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned.
12 When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid.
13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John.
14 How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born!
15 John will be great in the Lord’s sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
16 and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord’s people ready for him.”
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also.”
19 “I am Gabriel,” the angel answered. “I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news.
20 But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true.”
21 In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple.
22 When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands.
23 When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home.
24 Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months.
25 “Now at last the Lord has helped me,” she said. “He has taken away my public disgrace!”

Luke 1:5-25 (GNT)