We prepare well for the things we value.

Luke 1:26–38 NIV

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

We prepare for what we value.

I want to show you this. These are my Diving Mask, snorkel etc, when I was younger I loved diving. I had been a snorkeler and an instructor, I played octopush (underwater hockey), I trained as a novice diver, and sports diver. I had wetsuits, the drysuits, buoyancy aids, cylinders, regulators - everything I need to go diving andI loved it. It was the highlight of my week.

Let me explain a typical diving trip to the glorious sub-tropical surroundings of Stoney Cove in Leicestershire. An old Granite quarry. Preparation would start at the end of the last dive with the washing of all your equipment, then the drying of of it all, some time before going diving again I would bike the 15 miles from my home to the nearest diving shop to have my cylinder refilled with air, which took ten minutes or so and then cycling fifteen miles home - with a bomb on my back

On the day we would dive, it was a . 45 minute drive, another -40-50 minutes to kit up, and have the obligatory bacon butty. then we would kit the water. Depending on what you did determined how long the dive would be, if we went to the deepest part of the lake, you would be diving for about 15 minutes. Before taking the kit off, and driving home. The Dive preparation would be in the order of 5-6 hours for 15 minutes in freezing cold water. - but it was worth it.

It is amazing what we will do in order to prepare for something we value, something we care about.

Preparation is the key

Today, we celebrate the 2nd week in the Advent . Last week, we talked about the first candle and its’ representation of Hope. This week, we will look at preparation.

Today, we celebrate the 2nd week in the Advent season. We continue with our sermon series on the Advent wreath. Last week, we talked about the first candle and its’ representation of Hope. This week, we will look at the 2nd candle which represents preparation.

Many of us go through our own version of preparations to get ready for Christmas. We set-up Christmas trees and decorate them with lights, fancy ornaments and perhaps a star on top. Or even tastefully adorne our houses with enough lights for low flying aircraft to mistake us for the runaway.

We brave the shops to purchase gifts for our loved ones in remembrance of the gifts brought to Jesus by the wise men. We prepare for the holiday by setting up physical reminders of Christmas all around us. We invest time, effort and imagination in preparing for this event and following traditions either cultural or personal. we do this because we care about it. We care about the times with our families, the food, the presents and for some of us the meaning of Christmas. whatever our driver we spend more time preparing so the event is easy.

I learned years ago that if you want an easy Christmas Dinner, get someone else to cook it! but if you can’t do that the secret is to prepare as much as possible in advance.

Those of you who will be taking A levels, GCSEs, Driving tests will all know the secret to pulling it off on the day of the test is the preparation you put in the years, months and weeks before hand.

Gods Plan

As christians we often look at the birth of Jesus and the death and resurrection of Jesus as being isolated events that bring us salvation and freedom - and they do. We see them as surprising events -He sent a baby, who would have thought of that. He died and rose again - We never saw that coming. These events are amazing, surprising and miraculous. But God prepared these events in advance. A plan started from that fateful day in eden or even from the beginning of time.

His preparations took longer than a day or a week. His preparations required thousands of people and centuries to complete.

But, God had his own way of preparing. His preparations took longer than a day or a week. His preparations required thousands of people and centuries to complete. He sent the savior into the world at a specific time of his choosing, to a specific woman with her betrothed. A certain town, in a certain country, at a certain time to a certain family. There was nothing by chance as to when, where, who and to whom the coming messiah would arrive in this world. It was not an accident that this all occurred that this moment in history. It was not a fleeting response to a nice situation, but a meticulously planned event that was designed to change the history of the world. The coming of the Christ was well rehearsed, projected centuries earlier and all by the knowing hand of God. He had this idea from the very beginning.

He sent the savior into the world at a specific time of his choosing, to a specific woman and her fiancee.

To a certain town, in a certain country, at a certain time to a certain family. This was not a fluke or randomness. There was nothing by chance as to when, where, who and to whom the coming Jesys would arrive in this world.

It was not an accident that this all occurred that this moment in history.

It was a meticulously planned event that was designed to change the history of the world and the lives of each of us.

The coming of the Christ child was planned, projected centuries earlier and all by the knowing hand of God. He had this idea from the very beginning.

In the Beginning

As early as the book of Genesis, God already had a plan for our future. Our earliest ancestors, Adam and Eve, fell into sin in the Garden of Eden. It wasn’t until this sin that a plan of salvation was needed. After all, the sinless do not need to be saved. It is only the sinner who has been condemned. But, as soon as God had man and women admit to their error,

Genesis 3:9–13 NIV

9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The preparation started - the preparation for forgiveness is recognising you have done wrong.

God already had a plan for renewal.

Through which, all mankind would have hope for the future a. Preparations were already being made to save a world full of souls that hadn’t even been born yet. Here, in the Garden of Eden, God spoke of the coming saviour. He said to the serpent:

“I will put an enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” ()

The woman spoken of here is Eve. This was not a chance occurrence, but the beginning preparations for the coming Messiah - the plan that would lead to Christmas was set.

This earliest of prophecies spoke of an offspring, it spoke of a saviour; preparations for Jesus who would come centuries later. The plan was already created and set into motion from the very first sin.

But, this plan would not impact for generations.

You know if God had of dealt with evil there and then, the plan would not have worked.

God needed to learn about ourselves, our desires, our abilities our shortcomings, our strength. God wanted us to desire the relationship with him - he instrumented free choice - he built in preparation time.

The God fearing Israelites needed to grow before they could receive the Christ. They had to explore their world and explore their faith before the world was ready for Jesus. I think that is as much true of each of us as it was of the people of the bible.

have had the same impact to us if he had come immediately in Eden. We needed to learn about ourselves. God saw this and built time into the preparations. The God fearing Israelites needed to grow before they could receive the Christ. They had to explore their world and explore their faith before the world was ready for Jesus. Although the elements were present in the Garden of Eden, time was a tool that worked towards God’s plan. God chose to use this time to institute some of his prophecies to show His people the truth. After all, Adam and Eve were given the pleasure of being able to talk directly with God. The spoke with God, not in prayer, but just as I am speaking to you. They didn’t pray to God, they conversed with Him. As time moved forward, God used his prophets to write down the events of the future. I’m sure God intended to show us His truth by allowing us to compare the prophecies with the actual events. God used time, and the prophets as tools. In this way, scripture validates itself and His plan is revealed. In fact, much of the Old Testament is a story of a people not yet ready to receive the coming Messiah. God chose the time, the place, and the players who would be involved with the nativity.

Each of us needs time to explore ourselves and explore God before we accept Jesus either initially as Lord and saviour or incrementally as we learn to trust on Him more and more through situations we face.

As time moved forward, God used his prophets to write down the events of the future that would lead to the fulfilment of his plan. I’m sure God intended to show us His truth by allowing us to compare the prophecies with the actual events. God used time, and the prophets as tools. In this way, scripture validates itself and His plan is revealed. In fact, much of the Old Testament is a story of a people not yet ready to receive the coming Messiah. God chose the time, the place, and the players who would be involved with the nativity.

God does this today with scripture, words of knowledge, pictures and dreams placed into our lives. The truth of God is always true - the timing of God is always perfect. not necessarily convieiennt but always perfect.

The Lineage of Jesus

One of the ways God revealed His plan for Jesus was through prophesies about his family.

Repeatedly in the Old Testament, we find references to the House of David and the royal lineage. God spoke to David directly in the book of 2nd Samuel when he said:

He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ” (,)

1 Samuel 2:13 NIV

13 Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled

1 Samuel 2:16 NIV

16 If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”

2 Samuel 2:13 NIV

13 Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.

2 Samuel 2:16 NIV

16 Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.

2 Samuel 2:13 NIV

13 Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.

1 Samuel 7:13 NIV

13 So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines.

2 Samuel 7:13 NIV

13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2 Samuel 2:16 NIV

16 Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.

2 Samuel 7:16 NIV

16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ ”

1 Samuel 7:16 NIV

16 From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places.

This conversation was talking about the Messiah who would come in the future. He would be from David’s family and would rule on David’s throne forever. God fulfilled this through both Joseph and Mary. This is why the Gospel of Matthew starts with the long family line to Joseph and in Chapter three for Mary - Jesus was of David.

This conversation was talking about the Messiah who would come in the future. He would be from David’s family and would rule on David’s throne forever. God fulfilled this through both Joseph and Mary. This is why the Gospel of Matthew starts with the long family line to Josheph and in Chapter three for Mary - Jesus was of David.

The roots of Jesus were important to validate that He truly was from the Royal family of David; Joseph from David’s son Solomon and Mary from David’s son Nathan. In this way, the Old Testament prophecy in 2nd Samuel referring to David’s throne was shown to be true. The throne would not be an earthly one, but it would be eternal.

Gods plan was preparing generation on generation.

Jesus would be born of a virgin

The extended family was not the only preparation made for Jesus. As we read in the Gospel message earlier, Mary was prepared by the angel Gabriel for the events that were to follow. Imagine i, the events that unfolded with a young woman like Mary. She was engaged to be married. Around this point in history, an engagement of this type would normally occur at the age of 12 and continue for a full year. Its likely that Mary was somewhere between 12 and 15 years old. By today’s standards we would consider her a girl not ready yet for a family. However, times were different back then. This engagement was normal. However, a young teenager then as today would react much the same way. How would a 13 year old young woman react when confronted by the angel Gabriel? Think about it, how would you react at that age? How would your son or daughter react? A being sent from God is in your midst, and he’s there to talk to you. An angel sent from God, not by accident, but by design. He’s there to prepare you for something.

The message that God sent to Mary was not the only message sent that day. He also sent a message to those around her. God chose to use an unusual situation to grab the attention of those around the true Messiah and his earthly family. Everyone understood how babies were created. Through the union of one man and one woman, a child would form inside the mother. Yet, Isaiah predicted this would not be so with the coming Savior. In the prophet wrote:

Isaiah 7:14 NIV

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

The fact that a virgin would conceive was not something that would stay a secret. It was to be so evident that something special happened, that the name of the child would be Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Obviously, this was not to be a normal pregnancy. This was a very unusual series of events. And here we find in , the Gospel writer quotes as referring to Jesus. He was the Immanuel and was born of the virgin Mary. Again, prophecy fulfilled.

Matthew 1:23 NIV

23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Isaiah 7:14 NIV

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Joseph and Mary Chosen for the Task

The selection of Mary and Joseph for the task of raising Jesus was not a random choice either. With both being from the family of David, part of the equation was already present. However, to raise Jesus properly, both parents needed to be faithful servants of God. They had to be willing to take on the responsibility of raising Jesus according to the law. This, of course, would include following the customs of circumcision at the proper time. Angels appeared to both Joseph and Mary to help prepare them for what was to come. But, they would have a challenge on their hands. They would have to flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. (). Mary and Joseph were the right people, with the right qualifications, with the right outlook toward God, at the right time in history. They were obedient even with those actions they did not understand. They were Godly people ready to do their part in the preparations God set out before them. All of these factors had to come together at one time. Almost as if God had planned it.

Lets take a look at this in more modern terms. For example, if a police officer gave you a speeding ticket, then immediately took it back and destroyed the ticket in front of you, you would likely be grateful that the ticket was destroyed. You would be grateful that you did not have a ticket to pay. However, you likely forget the ticket soon. The idea of the speeding ticket is to change how you drive. Destroying the ticket immediately would not force you to learn from the mistake. Instead, you would likely continue with your previous habits.

In much the same way, God’s plan was designed to change how people behave. Man committed the first sin in the Garden of Eden. But, God did not destroy the debt immediately. Instead, he set up a plan to forgive the debt in due time. He set up the preparations right away, but allowed us to learn from the mistake. History in the form of the Old Testament is used as a learning tool even today, even in this building. God used time to demonstrate his faithfulness while still allowing the Messiah to come into this world to forgive the debt of sin.

God’s plan required time. But it also required certain elements to come together. It required the lineage of the House of David. It required a virgin ready and able to take on the responsibilities as the mother of the Christ. It required a set of parents brought up in the law who could raise Jesus in the faith and customs of Israel. All of these pieces had to come together in one place, at one time. Through Mary and Joseph, they did. Through them, Jesus entered the world and changed it forever.

Conclusion.

Our preparations are small and insignificant compared to what God set-up. Like God we prepare well for the things we value, for the things we love. - thats you.

And like God we too have a responsibility to prepare for Christmas. - not the tinsel and the turkey but preparing ourselves for Immanuel - God with us. Although Jesus has already come into this world, we remember his coming every year during the Christmas holiday. It is not just our houses, schools and churches that need to prepare for the season. It is also our hearts and the hearts of those around us. As Christians, it is our duty to be the light for others to follow during every part of the year. But, it is more apparent during the Christmas season with all the hustle and bustle of the shopping sprees, sales and shops filled to capacity with customers. It is our duty to prepare ourselves to be examples for others to see.

It is our duty to be the dim light that shines to lead to the light of the world Jesus. God used centuries to prepare the world for the coming Messiah. We don’t have the time to do that, but we do have the time to share the story of Christmas with those who have not experienced God’s love. We have the time to show God’s love in our attitudes. We have time to show the Christ in Christmas.

We have hope for the future because of the coming of Jesus. We should have joy in our hearts because of the promise of eternal life that we have been given. We should have love in our actions because of the love God showed us with the sacrifice of his own son. We have a lot to be thankful for because of the actions of Jesus, not because of our own.

We are here today to prepare for Christmas because God prepared so much before us. And God is still preparing those plans to keep and prosper us - God invests in the preparations for those he loves. So, let us continue to remember in thanksgiving what that truly means to us as well as all mankind.

Prayer

Dear Lord, for many of us, we admit that the story of the virgin birth has become so familiar that it’s easy for us to lose sight of how utterly spectacular and astonishing this event was. After years of waiting, your promised Messiah was to be born in the most unlikely of places to the most unlikely of people in the most unlikely of ways. Except it was not unlikely in your eyes o’Lotd. Only You can plan such awe-inspiring works! You are perfect in your ways, and your plans are magnificent! May we trust you with every aspect of our lives, remembering that Mary’s story assures us that you are able to show up and do the miraculous. Nothing, nothing is impossible for you, Lord!