Hello, my friends. Welcome back. I am glad you're joining me for the morning mindset once again.

We are in the middle of our advent celebration as we're looking forward to Christmas

and celebrating the birth of Jesus. Today we're going to be looking at Isaiah chapter 40.

It's one of the classic Christmas prophecies that you perhaps have even heard in

Handles Messiah. If you're familiar with that classical piece of music, it's an amazing

just composition that uses scripture to tell the Christmas story. So if you get a chance this season

go and see Handles Messiah. But anyway, this passage comes from there and I'm excited to dig into it

today and tomorrow. We're going to be beginning with verses one through five. But before we get there,

let me remind you Friday is our pray together episode. It's coming up in just a few days.

I would encourage you if you have a prayer request, you would like the entire morning mindset

audience to have the opportunity to pray for. This is a powerful way we can join together as believers

in Christ and express our common faith to see God's hand move in the lives of listeners.

Please go to carrygreen.com slash prayer if you have a request you would like to submit.

And I invite you to join me on Friday as I pray for these requests you can join me in praying for

all right. Today Isaiah 40 verses one through five. Now let's set a little bit of a context here.

This passage comes in the history of Israel when God had disciplined Israel for their unbelief

and disobedience. They had been idolatrous. They had been forsaking God in his ways and the

covenant that he had made with him through the law of Moses. And therefore he had punished him by

having oppressors and captives, captors come in among them. And some of them were even taken away

into places like Assyria and Babylon and were slaves in those lands. And so God gives this prophecy

to Isaiah giving a comforting word to them about their future. And that's what we're going to be

reading. Now listen for the overtones about the Messiah and about the things that God is going to

...