Are you prepared for Christmas?
Like I said before, today marks the beginning of the Advent season.
Advent is the 4 weeks before Christmas.
It is for us marked by lighting of the 4 Advent candles and the Christ candle that is lit on Christmas Eve.
Advent is observed in the Western Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Christ child.
Latin word “Admentus” means “coming.”
Translating to Greek, the word is parousia which means second coming of Christ.
So as modern day believers-
We celebrate the ancient coming of the Christ child and also anticipate the second coming of the messiah.
Christmas is a great time for the church and exciting time for the lives of believers.
So as I ask you this morning, are you prepared for Christmas?
It has more meaning than are all your presents bought and wrapped and ready to be given Christmas morning.
Illustration-
A elderly women decided it was too much trouble to get all of her kids and grandkids Christmas presents, so she decided to send them a card with a check in it. A few days later, she discovered that she had forgotten to include the checks in the card. Imagine all those kids opening a card from Grandma with a note that says “Buy your own presents”
It pays to be prepared for Christmas- last minute shoppers and “rigging up the lights” kind of people miss the joy of Christmas because they are overwhelmed by their lack of preparation.
Every year they say that Christmas snuck up on them.
If it keeps sneaking up on you, prepare a little earlier.
In the next several weeks, we will look at all the familiar verses of Christmas Scriptures.
Are you going to be prepared for Christmas?
Will you be able to enjoy Christmas?
Will Christ make an impact on you this Christmas?
Will it be all about getting and giving gifts.
Will you remember it is Christ birthday and can you acknowledge and be grateful that God came to this earth for us.
Our text this morning is one verse Isaiah 40:3
Isaiah 40:3
“A voice of one calling in the desert prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”
Prayer-
In Isaiah 40, there are 3 voices being heard:
(v3)- voice calling us
(v6)- voice crying out to us
(v9)- voice bringing good news
All voice messages telling God’s people to prepare the way, make straight a highway for our God.
Picture of us preparing for Christ coming
Ancient Eastern culture was to send a representative ahead to prepare for a visit of a monarch.
So if you are to be ready and prepared for Christmas-
(1) You have to prepare yourself-
The way that you do that is make sure all obstacles are out of the way that would hinder you or prevent you from being ready.
Remember as a kid how much Christmas meant to you?
Gifts are good, but it was more than that. It was the cookies, the food, the decorations, and the anticipation of Christmas!
We have lost the anticipation and have replaced it with worry and stuff!
They say that Christmas is for kids. Really! Only for them?
(1) Do they mean that adults have become too old to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus?
(2) Or are they saying that we must anticipate and enjoy the excitement of Christmas like a child?
Luke 18:16-
“But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a child, will never enter it.”
I did not say that- red lined in my Bible-Jesus said that!
Like a little child-
Total dependence
Full trust
Frank openness
Complete sincerity
Total dependence- we know how well we do with that one.
Children total depend on their parents to do for them what they cannot do for themselves.
They do the things they can, and trust the parents to do the rest.
You don’t ask your kids to hunt for supper, or cut a tree down for heat. They trust us to do the things they cannot.
Children model the trust that all adults should have in Jesus Christ.
Our oldest granddaughter will be sweet 16 in January. She loved stories of David and Goliah, Daniel in the lion’s den, Jesus walking on the water.
Why? Because she did not lose the wonders of the story- tell it again Grandma, That was funny Grandpa!
Frank openness, with a believing spirit.
We do not need to go back to childish ways, we need to return to the faith of a child.
Mature and become adults, but have the faith of a little child that puts their trust in the Lord.
The second way of preparing yourself for Christmas is rediscovering the blessing of Christmas.
The blessing of Christmas is that Christ gave Himself for each one of us.
The gift of God is the giving of Christ.
Rediscover the gift of giving!
Christ gave for us-discover the blessing of giving to someone else.
Our culture is into getting not receiving.
We spend 1000’s on ourselves and family and throw the change into the Salvation Army bucket. (SermonCentral)
I’ll buy you a present, but you better buy me one too. If I spend 20 dollars, you better not give one for 5.00.
We don’t give gifts, we exchange gifts.
It is not wrong to receive gifts. Discover the blessing of giving a gift.
Luke 6:38-
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap, for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
We don’t give to get.
I don’t believe in the guaranteed 10 fold ministry. You give a 1.00 and God has to give you 10.00.
I do believe that when you give with a right attitude that you cannot out give God.
God has a bigger shovel! He will bless you for it!
Rediscover giving!
The gift of time.
The gift of love.
The gift of wisdom.
The gift of yourself!
Christ gave Himself- discover the blessing of giving yourself to others.
Illustration-
A Christian was living in the Middle East, it was Christmas day and he didn’t know how to celebrate Christmas. What could he do? He decided to buy candy and give it to the children.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…..
Christmas is about Jesus and Jesus is about giving!
Alright, let’s recap this.
Isaiah the prophet records these words
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”
2 ways we prepare is
(1) Make sure all obstacles are out of the way that would prevent you from being ready.
(2) Rediscover the blessing of giving
Make sure it is not all about you, not all about gift getting.
That there is a blessing for giving of our time, talents, money, and most important ourselves.
Lastly
Back to the text- “Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”
4 weeks till Christmas
Some have not even begun to shop, some are finished.
Some have the money, and some do not know where the money will come from.
Make straight in the wilderness
Wilderness is a desert place- Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
Jesus was tempted in the desert.
Nobody like the desert experience!
Maybe you are here this morning, dry and thirsty.
I cannot prepare for Christmas because Christmas seems frightening and desolate.
Yet the voice from the desert cries to you and to me-
When we are tired…………………….There is Jesus
When we feel abandoned………….There is Jesus
When we feel distant.
When we are discouraged.
When we feel weak…………………..There is Jesus
Jesus says:
I see where you are at , I want you to know how much you are loved.
I want to take up residency in your life again.
I want to give you the gift of myself.
The blessing that comes with the Christ child.
Christmas season is upon us. It is here.
A reminder that we are fast approaching Christmas day and the birth and celebration of Christ. What are you going to do with that?
We spend enormous amounts of time decorating the house, buying gifts, holiday food shopping, wrapping gifts, making cookies, so everything is perfect!
We spend very little time making our hearts right, making sure Jesus is the focus of this time of year.
Closing
The prophet that cried out in the desert is crying out to us this morning. Make way for the Lord. Prepare your heart.
Perhaps no other time of the year, do Christians get a chance to show the love of God to a dark world.
This week Wednesday Zig Ziglar went home to be with the Lord, a Christian first, husband, father, motivational speaker, was a voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare a way of the Lord and to include him in every aspect of his life.
Success to him was not measured by how much money you have or made, but what impact did you make in someone’s life.
Get the obstacles out.
Rediscover the blessing of giving
We don’t like desert places, but God does His best work in the desert.
Prepare yourself for Christmas before it comes and goes and you miss it.
Amen.
