Law/Gospel Theme: By nature people tend to be self-centered. It’s easy to desire credit… And steal the limelight.
Today’s message reminds us that our purpose ought to be pointing others to Jesus first.
As John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus and pointed to Him, we want everything we do to reflect the love of God and give glory to Him.
Today we remember why Jesus came to this earth. Jesus came to redeem us. And because of Him alone. We have life and hope. We want our lives to reflect that joyful understanding. And to share it with others around us.
Prayer: Stir up our hearts o Lord, to make ready the way of Your only begotten Son, that by His coming we may be enabled to serve You with pure minds.
Hymn: Jesus loves me
Confession/Absolution:
LORD - we pray to you also for the forgiveness of our sins. Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father.
In Your compassion forgive us our sins. Known and unknown. Things done. And left undone.
And so uphold us by Your Spirit. That we may live and serve you in newness of life. To the honor and glory of Your Name. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on you. Forgive you all your sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And may He strengthen you in all goodness. And by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.
Matthew 3:1-12
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”
John’s clothes were made of camel hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them:
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Hymn: Joy to the world
Every day we want to make sure that what we do is going to point back to God and His amazing work in our lives. Our goal should not be making ourselves look good. But showing people how important Jesus is.
That’s what John the Baptist did. Do you know who John the Baptist was? He was born just a few months before Jesus.
He had a special and extremely important job to get people ready for Jesus. He was a little bit interesting. For example, he wore itchy clothes made of camel’s hair!
And how many of you had bugs for breakfast this morning? Well, John ate locusts. (Which are like grasshoppers) with honey!
He was also a bit loud. He wasn’t afraid to tell people that what they were doing was wrong. He’d shout things at people sometimes. And it was not always too popular because of all this.
However, those around him knew he was significant. In fact, they asked him if he was the Messiah that they had been waiting for. They wanted to know if he was the special one.
And John was quick to point out that his role was different. He had come to prepare for Jesus. But Jesus was so great John couldn’t even untie His sandals.
John pointed to Jesus. He told people that He was the one they needed to follow.
John got some attention. But his goal was always to show others that their attention should go to Christ.
And that’s what we want to do. We want to live in a way that does draw attention. So people notice there’s something different and special about us.
But we don’t want to keep that spotlight shining on us. Instead, we want to let people know that our lives are different because of Jesus.
All that we say and do should bring glory to God. We want to let others know how wonderful and full of love He is.
Every day we want to point to Jesus. We want to prepare our hearts for Him. And other people’s hearts as well.
As we continue in this Advent season. Let’s remember to live joyfully and to share His light with one another!
Prayer: Thank you, LORD for Your words and promises. Thank you for sending Jesus. Help us to trust in you. And to point other to Him. Our light and the source of our love. Thank you for your love and care.
Words – 415
Reading ease -87.3
Reading Level – 3.4
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