THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT IS NEAR

The Lord Almighty answers, “I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to His Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant.”

But who will be able to endure the day when He comes? Who will be able to survive when He appears? He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver. As a metal worker refines silver and gold, so the Lord’s messenger will purify the priests, so that they will bring to the Lord the right kind of offerings. Then the offerings which the people of Judah and Jerusalem bring to the Lord will be pleasing to Him, as they used to be in the past. (Malachi 3:1-4)

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THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard how wonderfully good the Lord had been to her, and they all rejoiced with her.

When the baby was a week old, they came to circumcise him, and they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. But his mother said, “No! His name is to be John.”

They said to her, “But you have no relatives with that name!” then they made signs to his father, asking him what name he would like the boy to have.

Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” How surprised they all were! At that moment Zechariah was able to speak again, and he started praising God. The neighbors were all filled with fear, and the news about these things spread through all the  hill-country of Judaea. Everyone who heard of it thought about it and asked, “What is this child going to be?” For it was plain that the Lord’s power was upon him. (Luke 1:57-66)

This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God