Are You Ready?- Preparing for Christ

Welcome, Prayer, Intro

Good Morning Church! How is everyone doing this morning? It is so good to be back with Church family again! I am excited to worship with you this morning! I am also happy that we are diving into the season of advent when we not only get to reflect on How God came to earth as a child, but be reminded that God will come again!

Prayer- God we come before you this morning and invite you to move in this space. We ask that you would be incarnate in this place of worship. That you would be incarnate in our lives this day. Jesus as we reflect on this season of your coming, may you come alive in our hearts once again! We ask that we might be transformed by your living word this morning! Amen!

This season that we enter in is a season of preparation:

Most common question I was asked/have been asking at the store has been: are you ready?

Thanksgiving- are you ready for the guests, food, travels and all the other preparations?

Next Week- are you ready for Christmas it will be here before you know it!

are you ready for the new year?

If you are a student like me, we are scrambling trying to get ready for finals and the end of semester!!

There is something about this season that demands preparation like no other!

What are some things that you do to prepare for the holidays?

Decorations/ Set up

How many of you buy a christmas tree?

Aside from the holidays, this Advent is a season that demands the same question: Are you ready?

Transition: John the Baptist asks the same question in todays scripture passage! Are you ready? He is speaking to the people of Israel and saying Get Ready God is coming! Lets dive into this text and unpack this passage, if you havent already please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 3 and follow along as we read together.

Walking Through the Text

Historical context: I want us step into the historical setting here as we think about what John’s saying

Israel hasnt heard from God’s prophets for more than 400 years. Silence. Nothing. Not a word.

They have been under rule of a foreign goverment for almost as long as they can remember: Assyria, Babylon, Persia, The greeks, Alexander the Great, The Selucids, now Rome.

They are drowning in Taxes being taxed by the religous elite and by the Romans left and right.

They have watched resistance after resistance crushed by their oppressors.

When you think about this and then ask, “Are you ready for God to come?” it seems like a silly question. Of course they are ready for God’s rescue.

Present Context: In many ways the historical context of the people in John’s day is not unlike our day.

We feel like we are ready for God to come rescue us!

We have endured a global pandemic, we have watched gas and tax prices Go up

I have heard several people talk about the general moral decay of humanity we have witnessed.

In many ways, we are ready for God to come and rescue too! Amen?

Transition: I dont think John is asking if the Jews were ready for God to come fix the world up for them, but if they were prepared for God to come into their world and fix them up! John invites us to reflect on this question in our own lives today.

Who is John the Baptist:

Jesus’ cousin, who was an itenerate preacher who called the people to repentance and life change

We know that he spent some time preparing in the desert.

He dressed very rudamentally and ate a very strict yet frugal diet

What did John have to say?

Change your hearts and lives!

the Kingdom of Heaven is near! God and his Kingdom are coming

Take a moment to think about what those words would be like to these people.

I dont know about you, but sometimes I read, hear, and even say those words, but they just dont sink in.

What did it mean in John’s day to be prepared?

The text says that they come to John and confessed their sins.

Then they were baptized by John, not just as a ritual cleansing, but a symbol of commitment and changed lives!

Then the text says the religious leaders come to John. The Pharasees and Sadducees come to him and what does he say?

Why does John say that? Does he just not like the religious people?

One commentator sugguested that he John is thinking about desert when he says this and that the religous leaders are like the dessert animals that scurry out of the bushes when fire breaks out or the reaper comes.

In other words, He’s questioning their motives. He’s saying are you here because you want to change your life? or are you here because you want to escape the coming judgement?

This is a tough question Church: Are we hear because Jesus has changed our lives or are we here just to escape God’s judgment?

John then says “Produce fruit that shows you have changed lives” Bear good fruit, When your heart is changed, your life changes.

Then John calls them out even further, He says dont think that your religious status or connection to Abraham will get you by.

In other words, You cant just rely on your ancestry to get you by, God’s Kingdom is not a social club where being part of the right family will get you in.

See the Jews thought they could rely on the merits of Abraham to get them by. There is an old idea that abraham sat at the gates of the afterlife and filter out his descendants

John then says, Jesus will come and baptisze you with the holy spirit and fire. I think John is careful with his words, because fire not only refines, but reveals impurities.

This idea reminds us of what Paul writes in 1 Cor 3:10-15 (Slide)

John closes with another image of a farmer separating the wheat from the husks. Another image that would strike home for these people as it was an agricultural society. The good will be kept and the bad will be tossed into the trash.

Transition: What do we do with these harsh words and images that John uses? How do they lead us to prepare for this advent season?

Application/Current Context

Are We ready for Jesus today?

I think we could ask the same questions of ourselves today. Are we ready for Jesus to come?

I want to be a little vulnerable with you right now and Just say in this season of life, I dont think I am. I have been so busy with life that I am not sure if I am ready. In many ways John’s words are a wake up call for me.

I think John’s accusations of the Pharasees and Saducees are relevant to Christians today

Have we just fallen into routine Church of coming sunday after sunday?

Do we produce fruit that shows Jesus is alive in us today?

Do we rely on the merits and experiences of the past?

That means I have to ask myself, am I worshiping the Jesus that saved me and changed my life in the past or am I allowing Jesus to do that in the present?

In many ways the church has gotten comfortable in the waiting period for Jesus to come back and I think it is time for us to wake up! To prepare the way for the Lord!

Now this may sound harsh, but there is Good news! Jesus did come, and no matter where you are you have time to start over to come to him and confess our sins and set your lives on him!

If you have been spiritually stagnant or feel like your life has been too busy for Jesus now is the time to restart. Now is the time to repair and prepare.

I just want us to take a moment of silent prayer and just reset our hearts and lives on the Lord! (Pause)

Lets see this advent season as a time to reset our spiritual lives and prepare for Jesus to return.

The Bible gives us many ways for us to prepare for Jesus as We wait for his return! Lets look at some verses together!

Watch and Pray- Luke 21:34-36

Be Patient - James 5:7-8

Talk about your Hope- 1 Peter 3:15

Live in the Light- Romans 13:11-14

Endure- Matt 24:9-14

Let God continue to Work in and Through you- Phil 1:6

I want us to also know that When Jesus comes back it will be good news for those who are faithful!

Here’s what God will do when He comes again

Read Rev 21 1-5a (From Bible)

Jesus is coming back, the only question is: Are We ready?

Would you pray with me?

Benediction:

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord look upon you with joy and give you peace.

For God has granted us the power and privilege to bear the name of His Son and do God’s work in the World. Go in the peace and power of the name of King Jeus! Amen