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Gospel Reading – Luke 1:39-45

³⁹ In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, ⁴⁰ where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit ⁴² and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. ⁴³ And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? ⁴⁴ For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be^[a] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Gospel Reading – Mark 4:35-41

Jesus Stills a Storm

^35 “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. ³⁷ A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. ³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,

“Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Affirmation of Faith                                                           

We believe that God has come to us; that God brought us into being, that this God gave us breath and purpose, that we have been blessed to be a blessing to others, that we have fallen short of this commandment, but that God has nevertheless loved us despite our brokenness. Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading – Mark 13:24-37

The Coming of the Son of Man

24  “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
25  and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26  “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.  27  Then he will send out the angels and gather the [a]  elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree 28  “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender
and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.  29  So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he [b]  is near, at the very gates.  30  Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.  31  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words
will not pass away.

The Necessity for Watchfulness

32  “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.  33  Beware, keep alert, [c]  for you do not know when the time will come.  34  It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and
commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.  35  Therefore, keep awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or at dawn,  36  or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.  37  And what I say to you I say to all: Keep
awake.”

Gospel Reading – Luke 10:25-37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵ An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.^[a] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” ²⁷ He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”