Our church Calendar for the week of December 12, 2010
Tuesday, Dec, 13th
7:00 PM ... Choir practice
Thursday, Dec. 16th
7:00 PM ... Choir practice
Saturday, Dec. 18
1000 AM Fill treat bags
Sunday, Dec. 19
9:15 AM ... Sunday School opening
9:30 AM ... Sunday School
10:30 AM ... Worship Service
6:30 PM ... Children's Christmas Program followed by a Birthday Party for Jesus
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK
Wednesday, December 15,th ,,,, Van Everhart & Richard Swing
If you would like to donate to the cost of filling the treat bags please see Johnny Sink
THIS PASTOR’S VIEWPOINT
Just the other day I was going through the toy section of a large department store where they have all the dolls one could imagine and was amazed at the tremendous variety there are. There were dolls for every occasion, or you could even purchase a doll that had an extensive wardrobe and then you could dress it for whatever occasion your doll might find itself attending and it seemed there was an endless wardrobe o from which to choose. By chance, as I was passing through the display I noticed a young girl with her mother. The child looking closely at one doll exclaimed, “Oh Mommy, I just love her! And look at all the clothes she can wear!”
I thought of this encounter this week as I was reading Paul’s letters to Ephesians and Colossians. In Ephesians 1:3 and 7 (NLT) he writes, “…we belong to Christ…He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son.” My mind flashed back to that child in the store and I hoped the doll would get to belong to her just as we belong to Christ. What a shame, however, that the doll would never know its owners love as we know Christ’s love; would never be able to return love or communicate affection; would never even be able to dress itself to please its owner.
Though all the clothes were in the dolls little wardrobe it could put nothing on itself to make the child happy. Here again we differ from the doll. Colossians 3:12 (NLT) says, “Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
God has told us what we must wear but we have to choose to put them on. Remember how proud we were when our mother exclaimed the first time we dressed ourselves, “Oh, how nice you look!” God is just like mom and we should feel proud to please him. But look at Colossians 3:14 (NLT) “… the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love.”
Unfortunately you can’t see these clothes on yourself in a mirror, but others will see them and God most certainly will give you a thumbs up every time you’re dressed in your Christian “outfit.”
Sermon, December 12, 2010
WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN TO ME?
Sermon Text: John 1:6 8, 19 28 (NIV)
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Have you ever been frustrated because you were trying to talk to someone who simply was not listening? Would you wives hold up your hand? Isn’t it frustrating to feel like no one is listening to you? --- Don’t you want to yell, “Pay attention! This is important!”
In our Bible passage today, a man named John has come to the people of Bethany, near Jerusalem, with an urgent message--a message of the utmost importance.
“There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
Can you imagine a message more important than that? “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
Before he was even born, John was chosen for this most important job. ----- An angel came to John’s future parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, and told them that they would have a son. ---- And this son would be an instrument of God.
In Luke 1, verses 16 and 17, the angel says, “Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
And so, from a young age, John knew his purpose in life: to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. To make them ready to receive the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, the One who would restore the throne of Israel and set the Israelites free from the oppression of the Roman government.
Actor Jimmy Cagney once gave this advice to a fellow actor, “Walk in, plant yourself, look the other fellow in the eye and tell the truth.”
That was John’s method of spreading the message. --- He didn’t use fancy language. --- He didn’t call attention to himself. He called the people to repentance and the washing away of sins; he even baptized them as a symbol of this new life they would lead when the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, came.
And the people listened! But they did not understand. Some of the leaders of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, became concerned when they heard of John’s claims.
Weren’t THEY the official voice of religion among the people? So who was this John, and where did he get the authority to preach that the Messiah was coming?
The exchange between John and the priests and Levites in verses 19 through 27 resemble a “yeah-well” interview. Somebody seems to be missing the point.
First, the priests and Levites want to know if John is the Messiah.
No, I’m not, John replies.
Are you Elijah? they continued. ---- Second Kings, chapter 2, records that the prophet Elijah never died, but was transported directly to heaven in a chariot of fire. For this reason, the Jewish people had always believed that Elijah may come back to announce the Messiah. Remember, this was in last Sunday’s Sunday School lesion?
But again, John said no. Was he some other Prophet? No, again. Wasn’t anybody really listening to him? He surely thought to himself. Why won’t they listen? His job was to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.
To make his point clearer, John quotes from the prophet Isaiah, who, more than 700 years before Jesus’ birth, gave us the best description of the Messiah in the whole Old Testament. Isaiah 40, verses 3-5 read, “A voice of one calling; ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’”
John drives this point home by altering the wording slightly: “I AM the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” Don’t they get it? ---- It’s not about me, John is saying. ----- Who cares who I am? ---- I’m telling you about the Messiah. That’s the whole point.
“I baptize with water,” John replies, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
The removing of another’s sandals was the job reserved for the most menial, least respected servant in a household. Yet this is how John views himself and his mission in relation to Jesus. “He came only as a witness.”
It is interesting to note that the word “witness,” used in both its noun and verb forms, appears more times in the Gospel of John than in any of the other three Gospels combined. This is John the Baptist’s “singular purpose” in the world.
John used a variety of images to communicate his mission.
In a discussion with his own disciples about his relationship with Jesus, John said, “You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full.”
In the Middle East, it was customary for the friend of the bridegroom (today we call him the best man) to be sure that no one went into the room of the bride except the proper lover, that is, the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stood by the door so that only the bridegroom could enter. Therefore, the bridegroom would have to identify himself, usually by speaking a few words.
Using this imagery, John says that his responsibility was merely to introduce the bride to the bridegroom, that is, to introduce Israel to Christ. John’s task was to “make straight the way for the Lord.” And that is our task today. On this third Sunday in Advent we are to prepare a straight road into our hearts. How are we to do that?
ACCORDING TO JOHN, WE ARE TO REPENT OF OUR SINS AND BE BAPTIZED INTO A NEW LIFE. Baptism is a symbol of death and re-birth, a symbol of washing away the old life. To receive Jesus into your life is not the same thing as adding on a new room to a house.
It requires instead that we demolish the old house, every part of it, and build a brand-ne
w one on a new foundation. We must give up our old way of life before we can receive the abundant life that Jesus came to give. We cannot receive the Messiah, His presence or message or mission, unless we are ready for it.
How will you prepare for this Advent season? How will you “make straight the way for the Lord?” Are there un-confessed sins, fears, prejudices, habits that are keeping you from a fruitful, committed Christian lifestyle? Is there apathy or unbelief in your life that needs to be confronted?
Advent is not meant to be a warm and fuzzy season in the life of the church. It is a time that demands soul-searching and repentance and change.
Author Patsy Clairmont wrote that one year, she decided to write “Noel,” the French word for Christmas, in bright lights on the roof of her house. Unfortunately, she ran out of lights halfway through the project, so she ended up with just the word “NO” in flashing, multicolored lights on her roof.
Some of us want to say “NO” to the Christmas season too. We are too rushed to enjoy it. We are too detached to experience it. We are too cynical to believe in it.
There is only one solution to our problem: we must prepare a road in our hearts for the Messiah to come in. We must repent and be baptized into a new life.
The Alcan Highway built as a lifeline to Alaska during World War II and was built over the roughest sections of land instead of the easier and more direct western slope because of fear of a Japanese invasion. Old-timers recounted instances of having big pieces of equipment swallowed in the soft tundra, or mile-long sections carried away by raging torrents after a rain. The work of building the road was both frustrating and dangerous.
Why did they do it? Because their country needed that road. It was as simple as that. A diesel operator named Tiny put it well. He said, “We belonged to the nation and we got sent!”
This was John’s simple answer also. “I was from the nation of Israel, and I got sent.”
Road-building is a difficult job. Society tells us that this season is a time for tinsel and bright lights and materialism. The Bible tells us that this is a time to examine our hearts and abandon our old ways.
Which road will you choose this season? I pray it will be the road to a new life in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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