Page 2 - December 2019 Newsletter

Pastor Marc Brown

A voice cries:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

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.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Isaiah 40:3-6

In less than a month, it will be Christmas! To be honest, I have mixed emotions about this at this
point and I am not certain I am ready for this yet. I love the reason for this season, but there are so

many distractions. My guess is that people in Jesus day said the same thing.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied that Jesus was coming 700 years before Jesus was born. He tried to

prepare them well in advance so their hearts were ready for the coming of Immanuel. Yet when
you read the story of Jesus’ birth in the scriptures there was not a huge crowd waiting. The process
of waiting and not receiving and other factors of life left most moving on and disregarding the event
that would have the greatest impact on them and the world. We all say we want God to come close
and confirm his love for us, but the question is will we be ready when he does?

Advent is a season of preparation to get ready for God to come close. Yes we celebrate his birth and
his coming already, but we are called to get ready for when Jesus is coming again. If he came today,
would you be ready? Would you recognize him and would he recognize you? In this busy season of
meetings, gatherings and normal activity, may we take the time to prepare our hearts for God’s very
presence. May we be ready to respond like the shepherds. May we be willing to make sacrifices

like the wise men and journey a great distance because we don’t want to miss him. May we be like
Mary, willing to trust that God can do the impossible and use us to do it.