Be Prepared

How do we prepare for Christmas?

Isaiah 40:3 ESV

3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Who the crier is remains concealed; his person vanishes in the splendour of his calling, and falls into the background behind the substance of his cry.

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 7 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 392.

John 3:30 ESV

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

What claims the most attention as you prepare for Christmas?

Be Christ Centered!

Isaiah 40:3–4 ESV

3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.

Matthew 3:1–3 ESV

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”

Be Repentant!

Isaiah 40:5 ESV

5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Be the Lord’s partner!

How to be prepared for Christmas?

Be Christ Centered!

Be Repentant!

Be the Lord’s partner!