A way made ready
Mark 1:1-8 (NIV)
1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"--
3 "a voice of one calling in the desert, ’Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’"
4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
How are you preparing for Christmas?
Its Christmas time…Its advent... It when we prepare for Christmas… It’s the time we prepare to celebrate the fact that we have a savior and redeemer who has come and is coming again.
This time is celebrated in different ways
1. We put our decorations
2. We go shopping
3. We buy presents
4. We have many traditions
a. My family we watch Christmas Vacation
b. We eat cheese and crackers
5. It takes a lot of preparations
Slide: Question: How are you preparing for Christmas?
6. Remember Christmas is about celebrating the time God came to us as a baby but we must not forget why he came to us.
a. To fix a problem we have.
b. Sin and rebellion.
Question: With that in mind how are you preparing for Christmas?
This scripture tells us that we should be preparing
7. Make straight the way of the Lord
3 "a voice of one calling in the desert, ’Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’"
1. John the Baptist
a. He is a big part of Christmas
i. But he is often left out of Christmas
ii. He is not in the nativity scene
b. He was the one telling the world how to be ready for Jesus.
c. How to receive Him
4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
We prepare through repentance
2. Without repentance we receive no forgiveness
a. It is of utmost importance to repent
i. Jesus doesn’t count for us without repentance
1. You can believe in who He is
a. Expound: You can know the doctrine
2. You can agree with His teachings
a. Expound: you can believe what he says morally: Love your neighbor
3. But none of that counts unless you repent.
Luke 13:3 (NIV) 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
b. Its important to understand what repentance is
Greek Word: Transliteration: metanoe? Met-a-na-e oh
Definition: to change one’s mind or purpose—NASB Greek-Hebrew Dictionary
Repentance is one of those exalted religious words that has a simple meaning. Repentance means we do an “about-face.” We turn away and turn toward. We make a 180-degree change in direction.
There are two parts to repenting
3. Turning away from
a. Turn away from what?
b. Our sin and wickedness
c. Our rebellion from God
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) 14if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
d. Repentance is more then just saying your sorry
i. This is an emotion
1. Although the emotion is important.
a. Can be influenced by what you eat or how much sleep you have had
2. It must produce results
Matthew 3:8 (NIV) 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Illustration: walking towards a cliff
It’s an acknowledgement that there is a problem with our behavior. It an acknowledgement and a mind set that says I need God. But one that produces response.
Just knowing walking in a direction might kill you doesn’t do any good unless you turn.
4. Turning towards
a. It also results in a turning towards God
Acts 26:20 (NIV)
20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
i. Turning towards God
ii. Prove it by how we respond
iii. It is only then that we truly begin to live
Story: There were 3 preachers in a Bernie’s Coffee shop were discussing the time when life began. They each gave their opinion of when life begins. One preacher said
"Life begins when the child takes his/her first breath."
The other said "NO," then he finished, "It begins when the child is conceived."
But the last preacher said "You both have the wrong answer! Life begins when the last child leaves home and the dog dies!"
WHEN DOES LIFE REALLY BEGIN?
I am glad to say that life begins when you give your sins to Jesus. And when you come to an altar of repentance and you say... I NEED THEE O LORD! I NEED THEE!
Gods’ design (He should be in control)
1. Gods design was that we don’t just change our mind about sin
a. But that we change our mind about who is in control of our lives.
b. His intentions aren’t that we live our life and He becomes part of it.
c. His intentions are that He becomes our life…
d. He sits on the throne…
Demonstrate: Use a chair
Brother and sister, if there has ever been a generation that needs to hear and respond to John the Baptist’s call to the wilderness it is ours, isn’t it?
If we have any doubts about the diagnosis, all we have to do is observe the way we celebrate Christmas these days, with plenty of distractions, misplaced priorities, meaningless pursuits, and very little Christ.
1. John the Baptist calls us into the wilderness to hear a message.
a. It is a message particularly suited to the wilderness.
b. It is a message of repentance.
Talk to the teens: I know that we face temptation. I know peer pressure is hard. Turn toward God. Don’t stay in the midst of the sin you might be in. Don’t fall for the lies that all you have to do is be sorry. You must turn towards God. Our you will indeed die in your sins.
Talk to adults: Understand there were two people with John the Baptist in the wilderness.
1. Those who were repentant and turning towards God.
2. And the Pharisees
a. He called them a brood of vipers
i. Because they thought they had it all together
ii. They were the religious leaders
iii. But they forgot they needed repentance
iv. Don’t forget you need God.
v. It doesn’t matter how long you have been in church.
Scripture is clear here:
1. We will never receive Christ in the fullness of His coming when we entertain sin,
a. Remaining entangled in its web.
b. We must turn away from envy, selfishness,
c. Un-forgiveness, disobedience, promiscuity, and every other act that violates the Creator’s intent that we love Him and love others with all we are.
d. All the wondrous things the Scriptures promise to us, we will never receive until we have made this “about face.”
e. Until we do, the highway of holiness is too cluttered with roadblocks.
f. There is a dam cutting off the flow of the Spirit.
g. The Lord desires to come to us, but there is no access ramp, until we repent.
h. So John the Baptist calls us to repentance.
We need to hear his message well.
1. You see, we can preach all the wonderful messages we want to about Christmas,
a. Jesus, and what He’s done for us;
b. but if we aren’t ready to receive—
c. if we aren’t prepared through repentance to receive—
d. Then we will go through this holiday season and miss His coming.
e. We will enjoy the lights and the greenery, we’ll have a lot of fun with gifts,
f. But we’ll miss Christ, who’s coming to us.
Brothers and sisters, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss Him.
Proverbs 28:13 (NASB)
13 He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
John the Baptist has been provided for us.
1. He calls us out into the wilderness to get away from all the clamor and distraction,
a. So we might focus on Christ.
b. He asks us to respond to a message of repentance,
c. To pray about hindrances and sin and cry out,
“Lord, deliver me from this! Forgive me of that! Help me to overcome! I am putting these hindrances, those sins aside. I am not going there anymore. Give me strength Lord!”
2. He invites us to follow him on Jesus’ way, the way of the cross;
a. The way of giving our lives away.
3. John the Baptist enters the Christmas story to get us ready for the coming Christ.
Are we ready? Are we ready? Or do we need to answer the call of John the Baptist, join him in the wilderness, and get ready?
Jesus is coming. Are we ready?
Ezekiel 33:11 (NIV)
11 Say to them, ’As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’
