This sermon is from Sunday 12-9-07…Advent Two! The // indicate pauses. Hope you enjoy this sermon!

Have you always wished God would give you signs telling you what to do? Have you thought it would be so much easier if God placed those signs in front of you? // Imagine running through life with traffic signs winding and weaving there way through your life telling you where to go and what to do. Go to college here! Yes, marry this individual! Take this job! Nope turn around! // Life would be a whole lot different and a whole lot easier wouldn’t it be?! // But life does not work that way! And because life is full of obstacles and challenges, we are to listen to the words of John the Baptist as he gives us direction and guides us to the promised One by telling us to prepare; prepare for the One born in a manger in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago!

This promised one, born in a manger, is a wonderful gift given to each and every one of us. This gift is given to us to remind us that Christ is the One that was, is, and is to come! // This Christ is the One who will guide us and lead us in the midst of life’s daily challenges! // In many ways, Christ is the light and hope in the midst of the darkness! But so often, we get totally wrapped up in the craziness of our own lives and forget that Christ is the one who guides and protects us! He truly is the One who brings hope to all God’s people.

We all hope for something. // We hope for our family member to be healed from cancer. We hope to find someone to spend the rest of our lives with. We hope that we return from our trips safely. We hope that we are happy and healthy. We hope! //We hope! // We hope! // Yet all the hoping in the world, doesn’t always bring us the things we hope for in our lives.

However as we await to celebrate again the birth of this promised One, who brings hope and peace to all, it is important to listen and live by the words of John the Baptist as he tells us to prepare. John the Baptist calls for repentance as we wait for this little babe born in a manger who welcomes all God’s people. // The reality is that this little babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger is the One who brings hope and peace to all of us.

“The comfort and hope of being watched over by a God who can work all things together for the good of those who love him is a message continually needed in a world that feels as though it is falling apart.” // These words from the movie Signs helps us to see what an amazing gift this little one is to each of us. This tiny precious babe brings hope and points us toward the promise that Christ will come again.

In his promise to come again, Christ asks us to take this time this Advent season to wait, not only, for the birth of the Christ child but also to the promise that he will come again to judge the living and the dead. // What does it mean to wait for the one that brings hope and peace and joy to all God’s people? // And while we wait, how do we point towards the One who brings these things to our lives?

The reality is that John the Baptist does point us towards this sweet precious child born in a manger. And while reflecting on John the Baptist’s words, it seems to me that there truly is a little bit of John the Baptist in all of us. // In the Spirit Garage Band’s Album Free Parking, the song “Ezekiel’s Sky,” truly aids us in seeing what it means to wait for the promised one while listening to the words of John the Baptist. The chorus reads “I’ve got a hidden agenda for the rest of my life, it’s our job to point to Jesus Christ. There’s a little bit of John the Baptist in all of us.” // What does it mean to have John the Baptist in all of us?

It seems to me that having John the Baptist in all of us means we continue to find hope in the promise of this little one born 2000 years ago while also clinging to the promise that God forgives us and will send his Son again to judge the living and the dead. // This innocent babe is the One we need to turn to give us direction and light when our world often seems like its being turned upside down.

So may we find and take time this Advent season to look towards the manger, // towards this innocent precious babe, born 2000 years ago in a stable,// who is the One who guides us through life’s many obstacles and truly does give us those signs we wish would be more blatantly obvious! // Help us to see Christ’s directions for our life as we await the anticipation of his birth and for the time when he will come again to judge the living and the dead!

AMEN!