Children’s Sermon

Luke 3:1-6

Prepare the Way

Objects suggested: A picture book featuring earth movers or photos of earth movers

Do you find it exciting to watch large construction machines at work? A few of the familiar ones you might see are bulldozers, road graders, backhoes, cranes, tractors, and forklifts. (Show pictures.) Many of these large pieces of equipment are used to move earth. You will see that some have big buckets attached so rocks and dirt can be moved from one place to another. Others lift heavy objects, drill through concrete, and dig ditches.

Perhaps you have been on a road trip with your parents and were stopped by a construction worker holding a sign. If you looked around you probably saw some of these large machines building a new road or repairing an old one. What did you notice?

In the city you may have seen these machines preparing an area where a new building would be built. Did you see a tall crane lifting a large beam or a backhoe digging a ditch?

The preparation that goes on before new roads or buildings are built is exciting stuff. This is also an exciting time of year. We prepare to celebrate Christmas, the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.

In today’s lesson we learn that a man, named John, traveled around telling, all who would listen, about Jesus. Just as the earth movers we have been talking about prepare for a new building or a new road, John came to prepare the people for the arrival of Jesus.

We read in the Bible: “Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight” (3:4).

This message is for each one of us today as well as for the man named John. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas we have opportunities to share God’s love and joy with others. The machines we talked about today are powerful. So is God’s love.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible