Matthew 2:13-15 - When the wise men had gone home after visiting Jesus, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, warning him that King Herod was going to try to kill Jesus, and that they should escape to Egypt. So Joseph, Mary, and Jesus stayed in Egypt until King Herod died. This happened in fulfillment of the prophesy from Hosea, “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”

Matthew 2:1-12 - After Jesus was born, the wise men, also known as Magi, came searching for “the one who has been born king of the Jews.” They had seen a star in the sky which alerted them to his birth, and wanting to find him to worship him. But when King Herod of Judea heard about it, he was disturbed by the news. He found out from the chief priests and religious teachers that the Messiah (anointed one) was to be born in Bethlehem. So Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem to search for the child, and asked them to bring him news as well. When the Magi found Jesus, they were overjoyed, bowed down and worshipped him, and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. However, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, but to go by a different route.

Matthew 1:18-25 - In this passage, Matthew recounts the story of how Jesus’ birth came about. A woman named Mary was pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, but before they got married, she was found to be pregnant. Joseph didn’t want Mary to be publicly shamed, so he decided to divorce her quietly. However, an angel appeared to him in a dream telling him not to be afraid and that Mary was pregnant through the Holy Spirit. The angel announced that the child would be named Jesus and that he would be the savior of all people. Jesus would also be called Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”

John 9:1-12 - In this story, Jesus saw a man who was born blind. His disciples assumed that the blindness was caused by sin, and asked Jesus who it was that sinned, the man or his parents. Jesus told them that their assumption was wrong, but that this particular man’s blindness happened so that God could show God’s power and goodness through him. Then Jesus healed him by putting mud on his eyes and telling him to wash it off in a certain pool. When his neighbors saw that he was healed, they were surprised, and he proclaimed to them that it was Jesus who had healed him.

Matthew 8:5-13 - In this story, a Roman soldier comes to Jesus and asks him to heal his servant who is paralyzed. Jesus asks if he should go to his home to heal the servant, but the soldier says that he knows Jesus can just say the word and his servant will be healed. Jesus is impressed by the soldier’s faith and says that he hasn’t found this kind of faith in all Israel, and that the kingdom of God will be full of people from all cultures and nations in the world. Then Jesus tells the soldier to go home, and the servant is healed instantly.

Mark 6:45-52 - After miraculously feeding 5000, Jesus tells his disciples to get on the boat and go ahead of him to another town. After they left, he dismissed the crowds that were following him, and went up to a mountainside to pray, before walking on the water and catching up to them. When they saw Jesus, they thought he was a ghost and were terrified. Jesus announced that it was him, and the disciples were amazed. They still didn’t understand who Jesus was.

Luke 9:10-17 - In this story, Jesus is teaching a large crowd of about 5000 men, plus women and children. After they had been there a long time, his disciples wanted to send them away to find food and lodgings, but Jesus told them that they should be the ones to feed them. They only had five loaves of bread and two fish, but as they distributed them, they found they had more than enough for everyone.

Matthew 8:23-27 - In the passage, Jesus is on a boat with his disciples when a violent storm begins to rage. The disciples are terrified, but Jesus is just sleeping. They cry out to him to save them, he wakes up and tells the storm to be still, and the wind and the waves die down. The disciples are amazed by this display of power and wonder, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and waves obey him!”

John 2:1-11 - Jesus’ very first miracle, as recorded by the Gospel of John, was changing water into wine at a wedding he attended in Cana. Jesus was reluctant to perform this miracle at first, as he did not want to draw the wrong kind of attention to himself this early into his public ministry. However, upon his mother’s request, he did perform this miracle, though he did so in a secretive way so that only his disciples knew what had happened, and as a result, put their faith in him. This miracle reveals that Jesus has power over the created world, and hints at his divine sonship.

Matthew 18:12-14 - Jesus tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep, in which a shepherd has 100 sheep and loses one of them. The shepherd then leaves behind the 99 sheep to look for the one, and when he finds it, he rejoices about it more than the 99 that did not go missing. God is like this shepherd who cares about each one of us and does not want anyone to be lost.

Luke 18:9-14 - Jesus tells a parable about a Pharisee and a Tax Collector. The Pharisee prays to God thanking God that he is a good person, while the tax collector prays for forgiveness for the wrong things he’s done. Jesus says that it’s the tax collector who is justified before God, and that everyone who exalts themselves will be humbled while those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Matthew 13:31-33 - Jesus tells the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast. Both represent the way that the kingdom of heaven (on earth) has small and humble beginnings, but grows and brings about blessing to all, spreads and permeates its influence wherever it goes. It goes to show that even our smallest actions can have a big impact.

Luke 18:1-8 - Jesus tells a story about a widow who pleads for justice from an unjust judge; he listens to her only because she keeps bothering him. Unlike this judge, God is just and listens to us, but God also wants us to pray persistently for what we need. This helps us build trust and dependence on God.

Luke 15:8-10 - Jesus tells a story of a woman who lost one of her 10 silver coins and searches everywhere for it, rejoicing when she finally finds it. Likewise, there is rejoicing in heaven when one lost person comes back to God, because each of us is special and precious to God.