Christmas Made Clear

Prepare the way of the Lord

Isaiah 40:3–5 NLT

3 Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! 4 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. 5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!”

Luke 1:76–79 NLT

76 “And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. 77 You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. 78 Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

Paraphrase Luke 1 and the angels prophecy of John the Baptist tell use about how John was going to prepare the way of the Lord.

Luke 1:12–17 NLT

12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”

How to Prepare the way for people

We have to share the Good New of Christ. People that are lost those who have not received Christ yet, don’t need you and me to judge them, they need us to love them to life.

If you really love them, you are going to want share the Good News with them.

If we believe that hell is real and people we know doesn’t know Christ and are on there way to hell, if we love them why wouldn’t we share the Good News with them.

There are family members that are heading toward hell right now, sons and daughters. Moms and Dads, co-workers, your best friend, your Grandfather, your Grandmother. If we love then and don’t want to see the lost for eternity in hell, we have to share the Good News with then and love them to life in Christ.

#1 TELL PEOPLE THEY NEED SALVATION

Luke 1:76–79 NLT

76 “And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. 77 You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. 78 Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

Zechariah gives how John prepared the way for Christ

Tell people how to find salvation through the forgiveness of son (vs 77)

Luke 3:3–8 NLT

3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him! 5 The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. 6 And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’ ” 7 When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.

#2 WE NEED TO PURSUE AFTER PEOPLE

Luke 3:3 NLT

3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.

John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan river

It would be cool to get some context on how far john traveled for his ministry

#3 WE HAVE TO EMPHASIZE REPENTANCE

Luke 3:3b NLT

3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.

When we preach repentance, we need to help people see their need forgiveness for their sins

We also need to share the offensive message of the gospel in love and compassion

#4 WE MUST LIVE IT OUT WITH YOUR LIFE

Luke 3:7–8 NLT

7 When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.

John Challenges the religious people of the day to prove that their faith is genuine and not just say things with the words but to live it out.

How many times do hypocritical Christians create a barrier for people to receive Christ.