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Hello, Oak Ridge family and friends. David here

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with the Advent Your podcast today. And I have

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Tim and Darla Johnson with me today. They're

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going to share a couple of scriptures with us.

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But before we do that, did y 'all have some elements

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that point you to Christ during this season?

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When I think of the Advent theme of love, it

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reminds me of this one Christmas years and years

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ago. We were traveling on Christmas evening.

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from Lubbock to Alito, from Tim's parents to

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my family's home. And Iran broke down. So here

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we were with four little girls on the side of

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the road outside of Snyder, pretty much in the

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middle of nowhere. And I had the typical adult

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feelings of irritation and, oh, great, what now?

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And as I looked back and I saw my girls, they

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had this like terror and fear on their face of,

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what are we going to do? What are we going to

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do? Who's going to help us? And a man who owned

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a wrecking service in a shop there in Snyder

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came across us and he offered to tow us to his

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garage and work on our car on Christmas night

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and then he walked me and the girls over to a

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little cafe where he knew the woman who ran it

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and she's like well we're closed now but you

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know I have some food left over on the buffet

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you and the girls you can just have it I'm not

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gonna charge you you know just absolutely took

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care of us and my girls were running around having

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a good time and the happiness and the stuff in

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their face showed love and I thought about the

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passage of, you know, even the pagans love their

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brothers. But here were a couple of individuals

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on Christmas night who took us in, took care

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of us, showed us love. And it was a real blessing.

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And that weekend, we had really been messing

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with our kids and aggravating them with the Oak

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Ridge boys. They didn't like them much. And we

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got back in the car and we pushed play on the

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stereo and it was the Oak Ridge boys singing

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the most inconvenient Christmas. And so we all,

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of course, looked at each other with this knowing

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look in our eyes. But we definitely felt love

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that night. So I was trying to think of stories

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and traditions and everything that went along

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with that. And I couldn't help but remember growing

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up around my dad's house, my mom and dad's house,

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at our Christmas that we had. And one of the

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traditions that I never really understood, but

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we did it every year, was before we got to tear

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into all the presents, everybody had to sit down.

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and listen to Dad read the poem, The Night Before

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Christmas. And I can remember hating that because

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it took him so long to read it before we could

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open our presents. And then, after a few years

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of growing up, I was wondering, why did we read

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that on Christmas? You know, it really doesn't

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seem to point to Jesus. And, well, in our family,

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we don't read that. Now, we do read out of...

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out of the Christmas story, out of the Bible,

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and I have the grandkids read it, which I think

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is a really nice tradition. But one of the things

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about the poem, "'Twas a Night Before Christmas,"

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and it talks about Santa Claus and his adventures.

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You get to wondering about Santa Claus, the myth,

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as well as the man. He was a man, St. Nicolay

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Episcopal's old mural, which is St. Nicholas

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of Myra. And the interesting thing about him,

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he lived around the fourth century. His native

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tongue was Koine Greek, which was the same language

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that most of our ancient texts from the New Testament

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are written in. And one of the things about St.

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Nicholas was that the story goes that there was

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a man in his town that had three daughters and

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he was very poor. I'm not sure if that is he

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was very poor because he had three daughters

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or he was very poor and had three daughters.

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Nevertheless, he was very poor and he had these

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three daughters. And he did not have enough money

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to provide for a dowry. And at that time and

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that place, If you did not have enough money

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for a dowry, the only option was to sell your

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daughters into slavery or into prostitution or

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something like that. And so the night before

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the oldest girl was to marry, Nicholas came by

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and threw a bag of gold through the window to

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redeem the oldest daughter. And he did that for

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the second daughter and he did that for the third

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daughter. And he always, he never would let anyone

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know that he did that. And the legend says that

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for the third daughter, The dad stayed up all

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night waiting for St. Nicholas to come by, and

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he caught him. And St. Nicholas told him not

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to tell anyone. But, of course, the story got

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out. And the three bags of gold that St. Nicholas

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gave, an act of pure generosity. And, you know,

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I think about the spirit of Christmas and generosity

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and giving, and about how this godly man, Nicholas,

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the way that Jesus lived in him and came out

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was through his generosity. A lot of people did

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not realize also that the story really did begin

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there. It began with Nicholas' mother and father.

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They were wealthy business people, and when they

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passed away, they left Nicholas an inheritance.

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And he chose to use that inheritance for the

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glory of God, and to help people, and to be generous

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towards them. And so I think, you know, I think

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about this, about how that God was generous towards

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us, He sent His Son, and how that Spirit... that

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lives in us, wants us to be generous, to help

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people, to show them the love that he has for

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them, and to do good, like Darla's story about

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the people that stopped and helped us. They were

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the spirit of St. Nicholas, I think, as well.

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I'll be reading Isaiah 33, verses 17 through

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22. Your eyes will see the King and his beauty,

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and view a land that stretches afar. In your

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thoughts, you will ponder the former terror.

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Where is that chief officer? Where is the one

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who took the revenue? Where is the officer in

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charge of the towers? You will see those arrogant

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people no more. People whose speech is obscure,

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whose language is strange and incomprehensible.

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Look on Zion, the city of our festivals. Your

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eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a

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tent that will not be moved. Its stakes will

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never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.

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There the Lord will be our mighty one. It will

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be like a place of broad rivers and streams No

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galley with oars will ride them. No mighty ship

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will sail them for the Lord is our judge The

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Lord is our lawgiver The Lord is our King It

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is he who will save us And I'll be reading from

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Luke 11 verses 46 through 55 and I'll be reading

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from the First Nations version of the New Testament.

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And it may sound a little different because it

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is from various tribal traditions and it's from

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Bible scholars that made the translation for

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the various indigenous tribes here in the United

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States. And so it will give the names of people

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as well as the meanings of their names. So from

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the First Nations version of the New Testament,

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Luke 11, 46 through 55, the Song of Bitter Tears.

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When Bitter Tears, also known as Mary, heard

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this, she was filled with gladness and her words

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flowed out like a song. From deep in my heart,

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I danced with joy to honor the Great Spirit.

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Even though I am small and weak, He noticed me.

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Now I will be looked up to by all. The Mighty

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One has lifted me up. His name is sacred. He

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is the Great and Holy One. Her face seemed to

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shine as she continued. He shows kindness and

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pity to both children and elders who respect

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Him. His strong arm has brought low the ones

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who think they are better than others. He counts

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coup with the arrogant warrior's chiefs, but

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puts a headdress of honor on the ones with humble

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hearts. She smiled, looked up to the sky and

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shouted for joy. He prepares a great feast for

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the ones who are hungry, but sends the fat ones

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home with empty bellies. He has been kind to

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the tribes of wrestles with creator of Israel,

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who walks in his ways. for he has remembered

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the ancient promises he made to our ancestors,

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the father of many nations, Abraham, and his

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descendants. When she finished, they both laughed

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with joy, with hearts full of gladness. They

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told each other their stories.