Joyful Moments in Christ

1. Able — Having the power or skill to do something.
2. Abraham — A man in the Bible whom God chose to be the father of the Jewish people.
3. Answer — Something you say when someone asks you a question.
4. Area — A part of a place or region.
5. Around — In a circle or on every side of something.
6. Ax — A tool with a sharp blade used to cut trees.
7. Bad — Not good; wrong or harmful.
8. Baptize — To put someone in water to show they belong to God.
9. Barn — A building on a farm for storing food and animals.
10. Book of Isaiah — A part of the Bible that holds the words of the prophet Isaiah.
11. Burn — To set something on fire.
12. Change Their Lives — To stop doing bad things and start doing good things.
13. Change Your Hearts — To truly change your mind and the way you think inside.
14. Children — Sons and daughters.
15. Clean — Not dirty; neat and in order.
16. Collect — To gather or take something from people.
17. Come — To arrive at a place.
18. Coming — Arriving or happening soon.
19. Criticized — Said what was wrong with someone or something.
20. Crooked — Not straight; having curves and bends.
21. Crowd — A large group of people in one place.
22. Cut Down — To remove or take away a tree by chopping it.
23. Desert — A hot, dry place with very little water.
24. During — At the same time something happens.
25. Encourage — To give someone hope or confidence to do something.
26. Enough — The right amount or as much as needed.
27. Every — All of the items or people in a group.
28. Father — A male parent.
29. Fill — To put something into a space until it is full.
30. Fire — Flames that give heat and can burn things.
31. Flat — Level and smooth; having no bumps.
32. Food — Something you eat to live and grow.
33. Force — Using power to make someone do what you want.
34. Forgiven — When someone says you do not have to be punished for a wrong thing you did.
35. Fruit — The good things that come from a tree or a person’s life.
36. Give — To let someone have something that was yours.
37. Good — Kind, nice, or helpful.
38. Good News — The message about God’s love and how he saves people through Jesus.
39. Governor — A leader of a small part of a country.
40. Grain — Small seeds people eat, like wheat or rice.
41. Had Done — Things that someone did in the past.
42. Happy — Feeling good, glad, or pleased.
43. Herod — The ruler of Galilee during the time of Jesus.
44. High Priests — The most important religious leaders in the Temple.
45. Hill — A small mountain or high place on the land.
46. Holy Spirit — God’s Spirit who helps and teaches people.
47. Hope — A good feeling that something nice will happen.
48. Jail — A place where people are kept when they break the law.
49. John — The son God promised to Zechariah and Elizabeth.
50. Judgement — The final decision or punishment from God.
51. Later — After this time; at a future time.
52. Lie — Something you say that is not true.
53. Lives — The way people spend their time and days.
54. Living — Being alive.
55. Made — Created or built something.
56. Make — To build or create something.
57. Maybe — Possibly; perhaps.
58. Means — What something shows or explains.
59. Men — Plural of man; adult male human beings.
60. Message — Words sent from one person to another.
61. Messiah — The special person God promised to send to save people.
62. Money — Coins or paper used to buy things.
63. Mountain — A very big, tall hill.
64. Nothing — Not anything at all; zero.
65. Order — A command or rule given by someone in charge.
66. Other — A different person or thing; not the same.
67. Part — A piece or section of something.
68. Pay — Money you get for working.
69. People — A group of men, women, or children.
70. Pontius Pilate — The name of the man who ruled Judea.
71. Prepare — To get something ready.
72. Produce — To create or make something (like fruit).
73. Prophet — A person chosen by God to speak for him.
74. Put — To place something in a certain spot.
75. Ready — Prepared for what will happen next.
76. Receive — To take or accept something that is given.
77. Road — A place made for people and cars to travel.
78. Rock — A large, hard piece of earth or stone.
79. Rough — Not smooth or flat; bumpy and hard.
80. Rule — To be in charge of people and make decisions.
81. Ruler — A person in charge of a place or people.
82. Run From — To move away quickly to escape danger.
83. Sandal — A shoe held onto the foot with straps.
84. Save — To help someone and keep them safe from danger.
85. Say — To speak with words.
86. Separate — To divide things or people.
87. Share — To give part of what you have to someone else.
88. Shirt — A piece of clothing worn on the top part of the body.
89. Shouting — Speaking or calling out in a very loud voice.
90. Show — To let someone see something.
91. Sin — Doing something God says is wrong.
92. Slave — A person owned by someone and forced to work.
93. Smooth — Flat and easy to walk on.
94. Snake — A long, thin animal with no legs.
95. Soldier — A person who works in the army.
96. Someone — A person, but it is not said who.
97. Stop — To make something end or not continue.
98. Straight — Not curved or bent; a direct line.
99. Straw — The dry, useless stalks of grain plants.
100. Tax Collector — A person who gathers money for the government.
101. Taxes — Money people must pay to the government.
102. Teacher — A person who helps others learn.
103. Tell — To give information with words.
104. Thing — An object or an idea.
105. Thoughts — Ideas or things you think in your mind.
106. Thrown — To be pushed or sent through the air.
107. Tiberius Caesar — The name of the Emperor (ruler) of Rome at that time.
108. Time — A point in the past or future; how we measure things like hours or days.
109. Told — Said something to someone.
110. Tree — A tall plant with a trunk, branches, and leaves.
111. Under — Below, beneath, or controlled by something else.
112. Unties — To undo a knot or string that holds something together.
113. Useless — Not able to be used; having no purpose or value.
114. Valley — A low place between two hills or mountains.
115. Want — To feel a need or desire for something.
116. Warn — To tell someone about danger so they can be safe.
117. Water — The clear liquid people drink and fish live in.
118. Way — A plan or path to do something.
119. Went Through — Traveled across an area or region.
120. Whole — All of something; complete.
121. Wonder — To feel curious or surprised.
122. Word — A group of letters that has meaning when spoken or written.
123. Written — Words put on paper or another surface.
124. Wrongs — Bad things or sins that someone has done.
125. Zechariah — The father of John the Baptist in the Bible.

1. Abraham — A man in the Bible whom God chose to be the father of the Jewish people.
2. Accuse — To say someone did something wrong.
3. Ancestor — A person in your family who lived long ago.
4. Ax — A tool with a sharp blade used to cut trees.
5. Barn — A building on a farm for storing food and animals.
6. Baptize — To put someone in water to show they belong to God.
7. Burn — To set something on fire.
8. Chaff — The dry, useless part of grain that is thrown away.
9. Change ways — To stop doing wrong and start doing good.
10. Collect — To gather or take something from people.
11. Content — To feel happy with what you have.
12. Crowd — A large group of people in one place.
13. Descendant — A family member who comes after you, like a grandchild.
14. Desert — A hot, dry place with very little water.
15. Emperor — A very powerful king who rules over many lands.
16. Escape — To get away from danger.
17. Evil — Very bad and wrong things.
18. Filled — To be made full of something, like a feeling or food.
19. Fire — Flames that give heat and can burn things.
20. Food — Something you eat to live and grow.
21. Forgive — To stop being angry with someone who has done something wrong.
22. Fruit — The good things that come from a tree or a person’s life.
23. Give — To let someone have something that was yours.
24. Governor — A leader of a part of a country.
25. Grain — Small seeds people eat, like wheat or rice.
26. Hill — A small mountain or high place on the land.
27. Holy Spirit — God’s Spirit who helps and teaches people.
28. Hope — A good feeling that something nice will happen.
29. Human race — All the people in the world.
30. Isaiah — A prophet in the Bible who spoke God’s words.
31. John the Baptist — A man in the Bible who preached and baptized people.
32. Legal — Allowed by law.
33. Leveled off — Made flat and even.
34. Lord — A name showing respect for God.
35. Married — When a man and a woman are husband and wife.
36. Messiah — The special person God promised to send to save people.
37. Money — Coins or paper used to buy things.
38. Mountain — A very big, tall hill.
39. Path — A small road to walk on.
40. Pay — Money you get for working.
41. Preaching — Telling people about God and how to live.
42. Prophet — A person chosen by God to speak for him.
43. Punishment — What happens when someone does something wrong.
44. Reprimanded — To tell someone they did something bad.
45. Road — A place made for people and cars to travel.
46. Rock — A large, hard piece of earth or stone.
47. Roots — The part of a tree under the ground.
48. Rule — To be in charge of people and make decisions.
49. Salvation — Being saved from sin or danger.
50. Sandals — Simple shoes that cover the bottom of the foot.
51. Send — To make something or someone go somewhere.
52. Shirt — A piece of clothing worn on the top part of the body.
53. Show — To let someone see something.
54. Sin — Doing something God says is wrong.
55. Snake — A long, thin animal with no legs.
56. Soldier — A person who works in the army.
57. Smooth — Flat and easy to walk on.
58. Tax collector — A person who gathers money for the government, often disliked by people.
59. Thresh — To separate grain from the useless parts.
60. Travel — To go from one place to another.
61. Turn — To move in a new direction.
62. Turn away — To stop doing something.
63. Valley — A low place between two hills or mountains.
64. Whole — All of something; complete.
65. Winnowing shovel — A tool to throw grain in the air so the good parts fall down and the bad parts blow away.
66. Wonder — To feel curious or surprised.
67. Word of God — The message and truth from God, written in the Bible.
68. Zechariah — The father of John the Baptist in the Bible.

John Prepares the Way for Jesus
3 It was the 15th year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar.
These men were under Caesar:
Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea;
Herod, the ruler of Galilee;
Philip, Herod’s brother, the ruler of Iturea and Trachonitis;
Lysanias, the ruler of Abilene.
2 Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests.
During this time, John, the son of Zechariah, was living in the desert, and he received a message from God.
3 So he went through the whole area around the Jordan River and told the people God’s message.
He told them to be baptized to show that they wanted to change their lives, and then their sins would be forgiven.
4 This is like the words written in the book of Isaiah the prophet:
“There is someone shouting in the desert:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make the road straight for him.
5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made flat.
Crooked roads will be made straight, and rough roads will be made smooth.
6 Then everyone will see how God will save his people!’”
7 Crowds of people came to be baptized by John.
But he said to them,
“You are all snakes!
Who warned you to run from God’s judgment that is coming?
8 Change your hearts!
And show by your lives that you have changed.
I know what you are about to say—‘but Abraham is our father!’
That means nothing.
I tell you that God can make children for Abraham from these rocks!
9 The ax is now ready to cut down the trees.
Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 The people asked John,
“What should we do?”
11 He answered,
“If you have two shirts, share with someone who does not have one.
If you have food, share that too.”
12 Even the tax collectors came to John.
They wanted to be baptized.
They said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He told them,
“Don’t take more taxes from people than you have been ordered to collect.”
14 The soldiers asked him,
“What about us?
What should we do?”
He said to them,
“Don’t use force or lies to make people give you money.
Be happy with the pay you get.”
16 John’s answer to this was,
“I baptize you in water, but there is someone coming later who is able to do more than I can.
I am not good enough to be the slave who unties his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
17 He will come ready to clean the grain.
He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he will put the good part into his barn.
Then he will burn the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped.”
18 John said many other things like this to encourage the people to change, and he told them the Good News.
How John’s Work Later Ended
19 John criticized Herod the ruler for what he had done with Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother, as well as for all the other bad things he had done.
20 So Herod added another bad thing to all his other wrongs: He put John in jail.

Luke 3:1-20 (ERV)

The Preaching of John the Baptist
1 It was the fifteenth year of the rule of Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip was ruler of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias was ruler of Abilene,
2 and Annas and Caiaphas were High Priests. At that time the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.
3 So John went throughout the whole territory of the Jordan River, preaching, “Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins.”
4 As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah:
“Someone is shouting in the desert:
‘Get the road ready for the Lord;
make a straight path for him to travel!
5 Every valley must be filled up,
every hill and mountain leveled off.
The winding roads must be made straight,
and the rough paths made smooth.
6 The whole human race will see God’s salvation!’”
7 Crowds of people came out to John to be baptized by him. “You snakes!” he said to them. “Who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send?
8 Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. And don’t start saying among yourselves that Abraham is your ancestor. I tell you that God can take these rocks and make descendants for Abraham!
9 The ax is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire.”
10 The people asked him, “What are we to do, then?”
11 He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it.”
12 Some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what are we to do?”
13 “Don’t collect more than is legal,” he told them.
14 Some soldiers also asked him, “What about us? What are we to do?”
He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely. Be content with your pay.”
15 People’s hopes began to rise, and they began to wonder whether John perhaps might be the Messiah.
16 So John said to all of them, “I baptize you with water, but someone is coming who is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
17 He has his winnowing shovel with him, to thresh out all the grain and gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn the chaff in a fire that never goes out.”
18 In many different ways John preached the Good News to the people and urged them to change their ways.
19 But John reprimanded Governor Herod, because he had married Herodias, his brother’s wife, and had done many other evil things.
20 Then Herod did an even worse thing by putting John in prison.

Luke 3:1-20 (GNT)