<TITLE>03. Par 22-29</TITLE>L-22 Lord, Thou has been our Refuge and Strength in all generations. Our forefathers before us trusted in Thee and were not confounded. They believed in Thy holy Name, and they were brought forth as shining lights; and we, looking upon them, as the poet has said, "Footprints upon the sands of time; our partings leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time." Then we see that those who trusted in Thee, always, without one time failing, come out right. Though they went through many deep waters and--and great trials and persecutions, but yet in the end Thou did always bring them out more than conquerors, because it is Thy promised Word that You would do this.
And we would pray today, that You would bless this little church. Bless its pastor, our good brother, Brother Neville, and his family. We ask that You'll just be with him in this coming year, and will anoint him greater, and--and bless him in every way. Strengthen the health of his family, the little ones that are coming up. Keep Brother Neville strong and healthy.

L-24 And bless this church and every member that's in it. The trustee board, how we love them as real gallant men of God; and the deacon board, they also are Thy gallant servants. And all the people that come here, we are grateful for them, Lord. Just does my heart good to know that this little old pond and weed patch standing on the corner, many years ago, has been made a lighthouse to the Kingdom of God. And I pray, God, that it'll stand until Jesus comes. And may many great souls that's been in here, Lord, come forth at that day, washed in the Blood of the Lamb. Grant it.
And as we open this blessed Word of Thine this morning, Lord, by turning back the pages to read from It a text, and we know that You alone can give the context. And we pray, God, that You will anoint Your Word, and may It go right to the hearts of the people that would do them good. Make believers out of unbelievers, and strengthen Christians, and heal the sick; and give courage to the discouraged, and get glory unto Thyself. In order to do this, Lord, circumcise the lips that shall speak and the ears that shall hear. For we ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.

L-26 Announcing a little text that I--fell on my heart since last Sunday... As I was speaking upon the wise men coming to--to see Jesus, the Star they followed from the east to the west. While studying that, I hit a Scripture, and then did not get to be here Christmas Eve because of some jail service, and so forth, I had to be at. I thought I would speak today upon the subject of "Why Little Bethlehem?"
And I want to read out of the Book of Micah the prophet, one of the minor prophets, the 5th chapter and the 2nd verse. It reads like this:
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, but out... yet out of thee shall... come forth unto me that he the ruler--be the ruler in Israel; whose goings forth has been from... old, from everlasting.
I had a spot on the Scripture there, is the reason I couldn't make out what the word was at the time.

L-29 Of all of the places that is in Palestine... And in... There is so many great cities, and its localities, cities that are seemingly much more known in the lore of history, and better fortified, bigger cities, why should God choose little Bethlehem to be the birthplace of His Son? There is many that are greater. And for instance, the historical lore of Jerusalem, the proud Jerusalem, the capital of all of it, and it's one of the largest cities of Palestine. And then we wonder why God would pick on that little bitty town of Bethlehem for the birthplace of His Son.
But as the Scriptures have said, "What God determines to do, it will be done." And there is... God foreordained it to be that way or it never would've been that way. And there the Scripture says in the 15th chapter of Acts, that there is nothing by chance. God knowed everything. And it just didn't happen to happen that way. It just was that God made it that way.


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