WEBVTT 00:00:03.659 --> 00:00:06.660 Hello Oak Ridge family and friends. This is David 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:10.019 here with Carol Powell and Jerry Brooks today. 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:13.980 Hello, this is Jerry Brooks and thinking about 00:00:13.980 --> 00:00:17.600 Christmas the time of the season I'm taking back 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.179 to when I was a kid and when all of the family 00:00:20.179 --> 00:00:23.179 used to get together and we had a lot of family 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:25.859 usually on my dad's side that would come together 00:00:25.859 --> 00:00:28.780 here in Texas. My mom's part of the family of 00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:31.660 course was out of state so they rarely made it. 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:34.060 for Christmas, but we always had all the cousins 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:37.140 and uncles and aunts and my grandparents. We'd 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:39.280 all get together usually on the family farm. 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:42.740 And Christmas Eve usually was for the immediate 00:00:42.740 --> 00:00:45.979 family only, just my parents and my siblings 00:00:45.979 --> 00:00:48.859 and myself. And then Christmas Day would be all 00:00:48.859 --> 00:00:51.899 of the family and had some really good cooks 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:55.539 in my family. My aunts, my grandma and my mom 00:00:55.539 --> 00:00:57.500 were all really good cooks. So we always had 00:00:57.500 --> 00:01:00.979 good food to eat. But the main thing about it 00:01:00.979 --> 00:01:03.729 was that I appreciate was the fact that that 00:01:03.729 --> 00:01:07.030 was always a time of being together and we always 00:01:07.030 --> 00:01:09.790 remembered the love that Christ had for us and 00:01:09.790 --> 00:01:12.090 we always tried to remember the birth of Christ. 00:01:12.730 --> 00:01:15.230 On Christmas Eve a lot of times my dad would 00:01:15.230 --> 00:01:17.629 read the Christmas story or one of us would read 00:01:17.629 --> 00:01:21.670 it but we always stopped to think about the change 00:01:21.670 --> 00:01:25.129 in our world that came from Christ and his birth. 00:01:26.450 --> 00:01:30.230 I will be reading Ezekiel 47 verses 1 through 00:01:30.230 --> 00:01:33.780 12 and this will come from the NIV, and this 00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:36.859 is part of Ezekiel's prophecy that deals with 00:01:36.859 --> 00:01:39.480 the river coming from the temple. Starting in 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:43.079 verse 1, the man brought me back to the entrance 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:45.400 to the temple and I saw the water coming out 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:47.579 from under the threshold of the temple toward 00:01:47.579 --> 00:01:50.599 the east, for the temple faced east. The water 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:52.719 was coming down from under the south side of 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.000 the temple south of the altar. He then brought 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:58.120 me out through the north gate and led me around 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:01.260 the outside to the outer gate facing east. The 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:04.819 water was trickling from the south side. As the 00:02:04.819 --> 00:02:07.120 man went eastward with a measuring line in his 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.060 hand, he measured off a thousand cubits, then 00:02:10.060 --> 00:02:13.659 led me through the water that was ankle deep. 00:02:13.979 --> 00:02:16.759 He measured off another thousand cubits and led 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:19.639 me through water that was knee deep. He measured 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:21.800 off another thousand and led me through water 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:25.400 that was up to the waist. He measured off another 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:28.060 thousand, but now it was a river I could not 00:02:28.060 --> 00:02:31.159 cross because the water had risen. and was deep 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:34.120 enough to swim in, a river that no one could 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:38.080 cross. He asked me, son of man, do you see this? 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.039 Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:43.780 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of 00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:46.740 trees on each side of the river. He said to me, 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:50.500 this water flows towards Eastern region and goes 00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:53.719 down into the Arapah, where it enters the Dead 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:57.039 Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.370 water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures 00:03:00.370 --> 00:03:03.210 will live wherever the river flows. There will 00:03:03.210 --> 00:03:05.789 be large numbers of fish because this water flows 00:03:05.789 --> 00:03:08.849 there and makes the salt water fresh. So where 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:11.969 the river flows, everything will live. Fishermen 00:03:11.969 --> 00:03:15.169 will stand along the shore from Engedi to Egline 00:03:15.169 --> 00:03:17.909 and there will be places for spreading nets. 00:03:18.469 --> 00:03:20.770 The fish will be of many kinds like the fish 00:03:20.770 --> 00:03:23.710 of the Mediterranean Sea. But the swamps and 00:03:23.710 --> 00:03:26.509 the marshes will not become fresh. They will 00:03:26.509 --> 00:03:29.740 be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:32.460 grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves 00:03:32.460 --> 00:03:35.699 will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every 00:03:35.699 --> 00:03:37.580 month they will bear fruit because the water 00:03:37.580 --> 00:03:40.800 from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:43.039 will serve for food and their leaves for healing. 00:03:44.819 --> 00:03:47.960 I'm reading from Jude, first chapter, 17 through 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:52.599 25. But, dear friends, remember what the apostles 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:55.979 of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold? They said 00:03:55.979 --> 00:03:59.219 to you, In the last times, there will be scoffers 00:03:59.219 --> 00:04:02.939 who will follow their own ungodly desires. These 00:04:02.939 --> 00:04:05.840 are the people who divide you, who follow mere 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:08.780 natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:12.159 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:15.439 up in your most holy faith and praying in the 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:19.279 Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love as 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:21.819 you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ 00:04:21.819 --> 00:04:25.319 to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:29.060 those who doubt. Save others by snatching them 00:04:29.060 --> 00:04:33.100 from the fire. To others, show mercy, mixed with 00:04:33.100 --> 00:04:36.899 fear, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted 00:04:36.899 --> 00:04:41.100 flesh. To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling 00:04:41.100 --> 00:04:44.079 and to present you before His glorious presence 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:48.480 without fault and with great joy. To the only 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:53.000 God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, power and 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.980 authority through Jesus Christ our Lord, before 00:04:56.980 --> 00:05:01.300 all ages, now and forevermore. Amen.