WEBVTT

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Hello, Oak Ridge friends and family. This is

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David here with Doug and Rachel Lawrence. Today

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they're going to share a little bit of scripture

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with us to help bring in Advent season with Christ.

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And so what I want to do today is I want to have

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them share an element that points them to Christ

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to get started. One of our Christmas memories

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that we have had since we married was when the

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boys were older, we started going to tree farms

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and digging up our Christmas tree and then decorating

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it in our home and then planting it in our yard.

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So we have several Christmas trees that are huge

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now from when our boys were younger. And I really

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enjoyed this time. I would sit on the back of

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the pickup truck drinking hot chocolate while

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the boys did all the work. And did you notice

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she said, we dug up the trees. It was just me

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and the boys digging up, doing all the hard work.

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But that's OK. It was a great memory. All right.

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And now we're going to share a couple of scriptures.

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May the reading of God's word bless you richly.

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I'll be reading from Ruth 4, 13 through 17. So

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Boaz married Ruth. Then he slept with her, and

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the Lord blessed her so that she became pregnant.

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And she had a son. The women said to Naomi, we

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praise the Lord. Today he has provided a family

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protector for you. May this child become famous

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all over Israel. He will make your life new again.

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He will take care of you when you are old. He's

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the son of your own daughter -in -law. She loves

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you, and she is better than seven sons. Then

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Naomi took the child in her arms and took care

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of him. The women living there said, Naomi has

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a son. And they named him Obed and he was the

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father of Jesse and Jesse was the father of David.

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Psalms 146 verses five through 10. Blessed are

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those who depend on God of Jacob for help. Blessed

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are those who put their hope in the Lord their

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God. He is the maker of heaven and earth and

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the ocean. He made everything in them and he

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remains faithful forever. He stands up for those

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who are treated badly. He gives food to the hungry

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people. The Lord sets prisoners free. The Lord

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gives sight to those who are blind. The Lord

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lifts up those who feel helpless. The Lord loves

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those who do what is right. The Lord watches

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over outsiders who live in our land. He takes

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good care of children whose fathers have died.

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He also takes good care of widows. But he causes

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evil people to fail in everything they do. The

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Lord rules forever. The God of Zion will rule

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for all time to come. Praise the Lord. I'm going

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to read from 2 Peter chapter 3, 11 through 18.

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Since everything around us is going to be destroyed

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like this, what holy and godly lives you should

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live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying

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it along. On that day, He will set the heavens

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on fire and the elements will melt away in the

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flames. But we are looking forward to the new

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heaven and the new earth. He has promised a world

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filled with God's righteousness. And so, dear

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friends, while you are waiting for these things

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to happen, make every effort to find living peaceful

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lives that are pure and blameless in His sight.

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And remember, our Lord's patience gives people

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time to be saved. This is What our beloved brother

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Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave

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him, speaking of these things in all of his letters,

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some of his comments are hard to understand,

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and those who are ignorant and unstable have

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twisted his letters to mean something quite different.

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just as they do with other scriptures, and this

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will result in their destruction.