1st Sunday of Advent
(1) Focus Statement:
This sermons shows that we need to
be ready for the second coming of
Christ because it could be anytime.
(2) Function
Statement:
Because of this sermon, the
congregation will be moved
to yield more fully to the Spirit
of Christ in order to get
ready for the second coming.
1st movement
Do you remember
life before 911? The big news was Gary
Condit, the election results, Bill Clinton, etc. We thought very little about getting on a
plane and flying anywhere in the world!
We would have been upset if we were detained too long at the screeners
at the airport. At Senath-Hornersville
School (I have to think back to there because that is where the kids were
before Sept. 11th), every other year, a group of 7th and 8th graders
from the school had the practice of flying out to New York or Washington
D.C. Years just before Sept. 11th,
Wesley had gone. We didn=t
think anything much about putting him on the plane for the trip. When we went to the Post Office, the furthest
thing from our mind was catching a deadly disease from the mail. When a crop dusting plane flew over, we
didn't think about it spraying anything but chemicals for neighboring
crops. This was not only the climate of
our area it also reflected the climate of our nation. National Intelligence was
down to a minimum since the Cold War. We
just didn't expect anything to happen here, so we really weren't watching for
anything to happen! If we had been
expecting something to happen, we would have been ready! We would have had war planes in the air over
New York and Washington. Our media
wouldn't have been telling the world where our president was. We would have really been searching people at
the airports and we wouldn't have minded it when we were being searched,
realizing it was for everyone's safety.
We would have had heavier doors between the cockpit and passenger
compartments of our airplanes. We might
have even had Federal marshals on the planes.
If the people were expecting to be used as human bombs, they would have
probably resisted more on the planes, but something like this had never
happened before!
2nd movement
Jesus says in our
scripture today, "So it was in the days of Noah!" People were eating and drinking, going on
with life as usual. People were marrying
and giving in marriage, making plans for the future. They didn't expect it to rain; it had never
done that before! If they had expected
it to rain, they would have been ready.
They would have been building boats instead of laughing at the one who
was!
3rd movement
Jesus says this is
the way it will be at the second coming.
People will be going on with life as usual: some will be ready, but some
will not be! We generally will not be
expecting it! How many of us really
expect that Christ will come back today, tomorrow, next week, or in our life
time? Come on now! Do we really?
It didn't happen in the lifetimes of the many who have gone on before
us! If we were expecting it, we would be
getting ready! We would be reading our
Bibles with a passion, trying to make sure we hadn't missed anything! We would be taking every opportunity to talk
about Spiritual things, trying to figure everything out for ourselves and
inviting our loved ones to join us on the journey! We'd be in church every opportunity we had,
trying to get as close to God as we could!
We aren't doing all these things because we really don't expect Christ
to come anytime soon! We think we have
plenty of time! To a world much like ours today, Christ says, "Watch! Stay awake!
Get ready because the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected
hour!" Only as we prepare for the
second coming can we really appreciate what God did in sending Christ into our
world the first time! AWatch!
Stay Awake! Get ready because the Son of
Man is coming at an unexpected hour!@ There is not a better message for us as we
begin Advent this year and as we prepare for the second coming. Many of us are no more ready for the second
coming than our country was for September 11th.
As we go through
Advent this year, prepare your hearts for the second coming: pray, study, and
give yourself to God. Prepare for the
celebration of His first coming by starting traditions in your family that
really help you and yours to keep Christmas a celebration of the birth of
Christ. Plan a Birthday Party for
Jesus! Teach your children or
grandchildren the symbols of the Christmas tree: evergreen, because Jesus
brings us everlasting life; lights, because Jesus is the light of the world;
and angels, because they remind us of
the angels that proclaimed the saviors birth! The best way we can start the
preparation this morning is to yield more fully to the Spirit of Christ! As we encounter Christ at the table this
morning, yield to Christ this morning!
Almighty God,
As we begin
this Advent season and move toward the season of the birth of the Christ,
forgive us of our sins. Let us be
prepared for your coming! Let us be
prepared so that if you were to come back tomorrow we would be ready and not be
caught unaware! Amen.
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