Sermon Audio
December 7, 2014
Are you prepared for
Jesus Christ?
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts
be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
A few weeks ago I told
of how Michele and I are preparing for my parents visit in a few weeks. Like with any visit whether relatives or with
friends for an evening meal, there is anticipation and there is
perspiration. The one takes place inside
of ourselves and sometimes keeps us up at night, the other is the work that we
have to complete with our hands and by the sweat of our brow before their
arrival. But all of this connects
clearly with our Advent Worship.
This week we continue
our series of the Advent Candles and contemplate the second candle. It is sometimes known as the Candle of
Preparation or the Bethlehem Candle. We
need to ask ourselves as we prepare during this Advent season, “Are we prepared
for Jesus Christ?”
When I visited with
Edna Snethen in the hospital last year about this time, she and I talked about
the coming of Jesus Christ and our return to Him in heaven. We both agreed that we do not know the day
nor the hour of His return, nor do we know when we will be called home to be
with Him. Yet, though we do not know
when, we both agreed that we still needed to be prepared. And this Candle of Preparation we light this
morning is just that, a reality check for us who gather here today that we need
to be prepared for Jesus return.
Each of our lessons
this morning reflects, refines and refocuses this concept of preparation and concentrates
us on the reality of our need for preparation.
Just like a magnifying lens used to capture the sunlight and focus its
rays, our lessons illuminate the reality of our need of preparation for Jesus
coming in the manger. For the King
cometh, Jesus Christ is coming and we need to be prepared. Just like farmers in the spring after a
winter slumber check the irrigation towers and pivots and get out the planters and
make sure they are serviced, repaired and ready to plant the corn or milo to
insure a crop in the fall. So to in the
church and in our individual lives during Advent we need to prepare and be
prepared for Jesus entrance in Bethlehem.
Sure, we look to the manger
and say, this is only a Child. Yet, this
Child Who lays apparently helpless in the manger is the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords. This is Jesus Christ, the
Word made Flesh Who dwells among mankind.
Jesus Christ comes to offer each and every one of us life and
salvation. Jesus Christ takes on His
Humanity beginning as each of us began as babes, but this is no ordinary Child,
this is the Savior of the World that we find in the manger in Bethlehem.
In our lighting this
Candle of Preparation, we prepare, not only the wreath counting down the weeks
until our celebration of Christmas, but also the preparation of our hearts and
homes for the entrance of the King. We
light the Candle of Preparation and of Hope because this is God’s fulfillment
of His promise of a Savior to come down to earth and save us. We light the Advent Wreath to be a beacon for
Goodland where we live and our church community in which we gather to partake
of His precious Body and Blood. We light
the Candles because we live in a world full of darkness that is filled with
fallen humanity in need of the light of Christ.
The Advent Wreath leads us down the path of remembering and preparing
for Jesus and sharing why He comes in a lowly manger.
For Jesus Christ is the
light that breaks the bonds of darkness and shows us the way to Him. Jesus Christ is the light of the World. We prepare and light our Advent Wreath candles
in preparation of His entrance not only in a manger in Bethlehem, but
especially into each of our hearts. We
light our Advent Wreath in order to pass on to the future, our children our
history and heritage and especially our faith in our King of Kings and Lord of
Lords.
We light simple candles
in a circular wreath in order to lighten our path and our journey to the manger
to meet our Savior. For our Savior,
Jesus Christ comes offering us grace and forgiveness and we remember this not
only with our wreath of candles, but around and from the Altar. For Jesus Christ offers in, with and under
His Body and Blood the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, not for a
select few, but for all of mankind. And
we are empowered to share this with our fallen world, including all of mankind,
but especially all of us saints who come to light the Advent candles in
preparation on this the Second Sunday in Advent here at Emmanuel. AMEN.
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