Preparing the Way with Peace

Advent 2020  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  24:17
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Trouble in the Text: The people were not prepared to receive Jesus.

This is the Good News of Jesus Christ.

John was sent to prepare the way for the Son of God.

Why did he need to prepare them?
The people had strayed from the Law of God and needed to be cleansed, renewed.
They were not prepared for the Son of God, to receive Divine Royalty.

The Son of God was coming with His kingdom.

John had humility in preparing for and receiving the Son of God.

The people were desperate to know how to prepare; they went into the wilderness to find out.

Transition: Would you be ready to receive a Royal or National renowned guest? Would you need to rush out right now and clean like crazy if I told you that would happen?
Trouble in the World: We are often not prepared and need to clean-up to receive guests.
Notes: In all of our holiday planning, there are guests to prepare for.

Sometimes, we are simply unprepared to receive an important guest.

We often rush to clean and organize everything to make it look like we have everything together. We hide everything that is uncomfortable or unsightly.
Right now, because of COVID-19, all of the restrictions, and simply because we do not want to get other family members sick, we are simply not in a state to receive important guests.
Sometimes, it’s done simply out of concern to not harm our guests.
//Wet floors, misplaced legos, or a loose stair step.

When we receive someone important to us, we want to make sure that we and our homes look their best.

When expecting the Messiah to come, the people wanted to know how they could look their best.

John was telling people how they can actually BE their best to receive the Son of God.

The difference between the people of Israel at that time and us as Gentiles today is that they had known the Law of God that applied to them as the chosen people.
As the chosen people, they should have always been ready to receive the Son of God.

John prepared the people to receive Jesus through confession/cleansing of the heart.

Transition: Like the people of Israel, we just want to know how we can receive continual peace, rather than feeling like we need to scramble to prepare ourselves every time God might be near.

We do not find peace in simply preparing ourselves.

When God comes near:
We want to feel love, joy, and peace.
We want to be blessed.
We want to know how we can live forever in His Kingdom.
Grace in the Text: John the Baptist prepared the people to receive Jesus through confession/cleansing of the heart.
Notes:

John taught a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

The people’s hearts needed to be cleansed/ made pure to receive Jesus.
Baptism even brought Gentiles into the benefits of the Kingdom of God, the “crumbs.”
The people were baptized as soon as they confessed their sins.
The outward sign of the baptism followed their inward change, so others may know of the change, and for gracious accountability with other fellow believers.

The dirty, hairy, and probably smelly, man who lived in the wilderness was called to cleanse them.

John acknowledged that he was not worthy to remove the sandals of the Son of God.

John relied upon the grace of God to keep him alive.
John called for repentance and still lived in humility.

John baptized symbolically with water to cleanse them on the outside, while God cleansed their heart on the inside.

But, even with the heart cleansing that prepared them to receive the Son of God, the Spirit’s cleansing and filling that Jesus will give, would do far more to further the Kingdom of God, where God will reign eternally.
Grace in the World: We can prepare to receive Jesus in a new way through our confession of sin/cleansing of our hearts.
Notes:

Believe and confess your sins so that your heart may be cleansed that the Son of God might come into your heart.

Be baptized and baptize your children that you and they might know the Holy presence of God in your heart by His Holy Spirit.

Show and tell others how they can find inner peace through confession and baptism to find hope in a newly cleansed life in Christ and be empowered to do the same for others.

Through the Advent season, remember that we are preparing our hearts anew to receive and be renewed by Jesus Christ that all the world might be drawn into the Kingdom of God.

We prepare the way of Jesus with peace that comes through confession and repentance.

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