SERMON OUTLINE 005--10 DEC 2006

ROUTE CLEARANCE

Second Sunday in Advent
FOB Paliwoda
10DEC06

Scripture
Luke 3:1-6
Malachi 3:1-4

Timeline
Luke 2:21-24 Christ is circumcised. Naming ceremony. Two doves are sacrificed (denoting that His parents were poor).
2:25-35 Simeon prophesizes about Jesus’ life.
2:36-38 Anna prophecies about Christ.
2:39-40 Christ returns to Nazareth.
2:41-50 Jesus lingers at the Temple after the Passover. Christ’s parents, though poor, always attend.
3:1-3 Dating the coming of John.
3:3 John’s ministry and message.
3:4-6 Preparing the way for Christ.
3:7-19 John’s message and arrest
3:14 Soldiers be content with your wages.

Malachi 3:1 God will send His messenger.
3:2 Who can endure His arrival?
3:3 He will purify the religious leaders so that their offering might be acceptable.
3:4 Offering is pleasant before the Lord.

I. Introduction

A. Preparing our hearts for the coming of the Lord. What does that preparation look like?

B. John was preparing the people of Israel, the country, for the coming of the Lord.

C. The language he uses comes from Isaiah

D. Today, just as there was back then, there is a leveling going on. I can see it in our faces. The stress, anxieties, and all the ranges of emotion are changing our hearts. How open we are to the Spirit will tell what shape they will become.

II. Stop Fixing the Wrong Path and Get On the Right One

A. We either try to fix the incorrect path we are on or pay too much attention to another’s. Illustration: it is easy to pick out someone else’s problems but not your own. The feedback of the E4 mafia can be brutal, but it is more often than not honest.

B. v3: baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Metanoia: repentance of sins. Means a change of mind that yields a change in lifestyle.

C. What happens if you follow the incorrect route over here? And what happens to us if we follow the incorrect, Spiritual route? Illustration: Al Pacino in the final scene in Scent of a Woman: “There is no prosthesis for an amputated soul.”

III. Despite Traveling on the Right Path, You May Still Need to Ask for Directions

A. Priests would often undergo a complicated ritual to ensure they were clean before the Lord.

B. We have this theme of cleaning, washing, which is just what baptism is. Christ comes to purify our hearts. Illustration: how do you remove the impurities in a precious metal?

C. The right path will and can be dangerous. “He knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity. Heaven prepares good men with crosses.”[1]

D. Where is the map? We find it in worship, in prayer, in study of the Word. What do we bring to worship? Worship is what we do with our lives, not just what we do in church. Your own desire to see Christ, to lift Him up, meaning to place Him first in our lives, will tell us what kind of worship we will have.

IV. John Was a Spiritual Engineer

A. He made the path smooth for Christ to travel. Why was this important? Because bad guys love terrain that is hard for the good guys to access. Illustration: clearing a route or the flattening of the Eagle’s Nest.

B. Where is your hill-country? Hills are great places for the enemy to hide, to set and ambush. Hills also complicate our travels, slow us down, make us lose focus.

C. Spiritual Route Clearance


1. Have the right people. It is a team effort. Who is your spiritual battle-buddy?

2. Have the right equipment. Your Bible, devotional materials, rosaries, a quiet place of study.

3. Have the right training. Who has discipled you? Who are you discipling? Is or has the church trained you well.

4. Have the right plan, include a backup. Are you following God’s plan or your plan?

V. Conclusion: Preparation for the Cross

A. Illustration: NCO Creed and not making officers do the NCO’s job.

B. “Before we can dig up the moral weeds of violence, materialism, and greed in our society that are strangling our children, we must dig up the moral weeds in our own backyards. So many children are confused about what is right and wrong because so many adults talk right and do wrong.” Marian Wright Edelman

C. We are in a period of preparation. We must prepare our lives for the coming of Christ, the indwelling of the Messiah.

D. We must be more like John, our lives must witness to folks in such a way that they are willing to receive the message of the Gospel.

E. John and Christ were preparing to build a community that would withstand persecution, would share the Gospel, and would remain faithful to the covenants they made.

[1] Ben Johnson, Leadership, Vol. 2, no. 1