Many weeks ago, a lady from the church invited me to read the words on the 23rd of December. Of course I accepted. It is an honour for me. It was supposed to be Isaiah 7:10-16 and Mathew 1:18 to the end. Brilliant! But for some reason she changed the date from the 23rd to 16th. It was fine as well, and to be sure the words were corrected, I contacted the lady, which were confirmed.
So, today, the 16th of December, I took my old Bible to the church, but it is Today's New International Version, and very confident I was looking forward to reading, when the minister announced:
"Today the reading will be done by Suzel, who is such and such, which is a long passage, from Luke 1: ..... " I couldn't hear him properly, it was not the chapter that was told.
"No panic, I thought, you will be fine."
I looked for the words and toward to the pulpit I made my reading.
Luke 1:26-38
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail."
38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me according to your word." Then the angel left her.
Amem.