WEBVTT 00:00:01.810 --> 00:00:05.669 Hello Oak Ridge friends and family. This is David 00:00:05.669 --> 00:00:08.890 here with Bev and Laura today and they're gonna 00:00:08.890 --> 00:00:11.349 read us some scriptures to help point us towards 00:00:11.349 --> 00:00:13.849 Jesus. But what's something that you look forward 00:00:13.849 --> 00:00:18.309 to in the holiday season? I look forward to being 00:00:18.309 --> 00:00:21.429 with family and we always sing Christmas carols 00:00:21.429 --> 00:00:25.230 since I was very young and my grandparents and 00:00:25.230 --> 00:00:28.109 now when we all get together and my sisters or 00:00:28.250 --> 00:00:31.070 one of my nieces and we always sing Christmas 00:00:31.070 --> 00:00:34.429 carols and that's something that I really enjoy 00:00:34.429 --> 00:00:38.810 and probably my favorite is Silent Night. I'm 00:00:38.810 --> 00:00:41.649 Bev and I look forward to seeing my brother. 00:00:41.750 --> 00:00:45.490 My parents are gone now and we don't get together 00:00:45.490 --> 00:00:49.310 a lot but we do on holidays. So I'll look forward 00:00:49.310 --> 00:00:52.390 to fixing a little lunch for him and having a 00:00:52.390 --> 00:00:55.689 good time with him and sending him on his way 00:00:55.689 --> 00:01:01.829 after that. I'll be reading Isaiah 41, 14 -20. 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:05.930 People of Israel, descendants of Jacob, you may 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:08.750 be weak and worthless, but do not be afraid. 00:01:09.069 --> 00:01:12.489 I myself will help you. This is what the Lord 00:01:12.489 --> 00:01:16.230 Himself says, I am the Holy One of Israel, the 00:01:16.230 --> 00:01:19.530 One who saves you. Look, I have made you like 00:01:19.530 --> 00:01:22.870 a new threshing board with many short teeth. 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:26.450 You will trample mountains and crush them. You 00:01:26.450 --> 00:01:29.569 will make the hills like chaff. You will throw 00:01:29.569 --> 00:01:31.769 them into the air, and the wind will blow them 00:01:31.769 --> 00:01:34.670 away and scatter them. Then you will be happy 00:01:34.670 --> 00:01:37.989 in the Lord. You will be proud of the Holy One 00:01:37.989 --> 00:01:41.290 of Israel. The poor and needy look for water, 00:01:41.409 --> 00:01:44.969 but they cannot find any. Their tongues are dry 00:01:44.969 --> 00:01:48.709 with thirst. I, the Lord, will answer their prayers. 00:01:49.030 --> 00:01:52.090 I, the God of Israel, will not leave them to 00:01:52.090 --> 00:01:56.599 die. I will make rivers flow on dry hills. I 00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:59.739 will make springs of water flow through the valleys. 00:02:00.459 --> 00:02:03.659 I will change the desert into a lake filled with 00:02:03.659 --> 00:02:06.900 water. There will be springs of water in that 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:10.659 dry land. I will make trees grow in the desert. 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:14.199 There will be cedar, olive trees, cypress, fir 00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:18.180 trees, and pines. I will do this so that people 00:02:18.180 --> 00:02:21.969 will see it and know who did it. They will notice 00:02:21.969 --> 00:02:25.169 what happened. Then they will understand that 00:02:25.169 --> 00:02:28.270 the Lord's hand made it happen, that the Holy 00:02:28.270 --> 00:02:33.669 One of Israel created it all. I will be reading 00:02:33.669 --> 00:02:38.650 Romans 15, 14 through 21. I'm fully convinced, 00:02:38.810 --> 00:02:41.189 my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full 00:02:41.189 --> 00:02:44.229 of goodness. You know these things so well, you 00:02:44.229 --> 00:02:47.219 can teach each other all about them. Even so, 00:02:47.219 --> 00:02:49.180 I've been bold enough to write about some of 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:52.020 these points, knowing that all you need is this 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:55.800 reminder. For by God's grace, I am a special 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.400 messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:01.539 I bring you the good news, so that I might present 00:03:01.539 --> 00:03:04.620 you as an acceptable offering to God made holy 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:08.139 by the Holy Spirit. So I have reason to be enthusiastic 00:03:08.139 --> 00:03:10.699 about all Christ has done through me and my service 00:03:10.699 --> 00:03:14.360 to God, yet I dare not boast about anything except 00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:17.520 what Christ has done through me, bringing the 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:20.419 Gentiles to God by my message and by the way 00:03:20.419 --> 00:03:23.300 I worked among them. They were convinced by the 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:26.060 power of miraculous signs and wonders and by 00:03:26.060 --> 00:03:28.900 the power of God's Spirit. In this way, I've 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:31.259 fully presented the Good News of Christ from 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:35.800 Jerusalem all the way to Illyrica. My ambition 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:38.199 has always been to preach the Good News where 00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:40.639 the name of Christ has never been heard rather 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:42.539 than where a church has already been started 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:45.620 by someone else. I've been following the plan 00:03:45.620 --> 00:03:48.740 spoken of in the scriptures where it says those 00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:52.020 who have never been told about him will see and 00:03:52.020 --> 00:03:54.520 those who have never heard of him will understand.