Tag: Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!

2nd Sunday of Advent: 10 Dec – Mark 1:1-8 ~ prepare the way / repent and be baptized

2nd Sunday of Advent

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Opening Prayer

With tender comfort and transforming power You come into our midst, O God of mercy and might. Make ready a way in the wilderness, clear a straight path in our hearts, and form us into a repentant people, that the advent of Your Son may find us watchful and eager for the glory He reveals. We ask this through Him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near: Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
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“Prepare Ye The Way” – Michael W. Smith


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Reading:Mark 1:1-8 (NLT)

This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written:

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way. He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’”

This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.

John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”
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Intercessory Prayer

Lord God of heaven and earth, we eagerly await the return of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Prepare us to welcome Him, we pray –

+ For a spirit of repentance among all believers….
+ For peace with justice, where it is most lacking….
+ For reconciliation between people who are at war….
+ For our children, that they might never know a day apart from You….
+ For parents, that they may pass on to their children the precious gift of faith….
+ For Christian charities around the world and for all the people they help….
+ For all who have died in Christ, that they may receive their just reward in heaven….

Gracious God, Your help is near for those who trust in You: hear our prayers we ask, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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“Prepare ye the way of the Lord” – Jeremy Riddle

Prepare ye the way of the Lord | Prepare ye the way of the Lord | Oh, the way of the Lord

Make straight paths for His feet | Clear a way in the street | Prepare your hearts to meet | The One who is coming | Every valley shall be raised | The rough places become plains | His salvation comes today | To those who would receive Him

What His words have foretold | All together we’ll behold | Every knee bending low | On the day of His coming | Now is a time of urgency | You must repent and believe | For the day of reckoning | Comes with His coming

The King is coming | The King is coming | The King is coming
Yahweh | Yahweh | Yahweh
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Blessing – 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (NLT)

“May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Daily Reading: 09 June – The Living Word: John the Baptist – Luke 3:1-20 ~ preaching a baptism of repentance

Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

E100:11.d – The Living Word

John the Baptist – Luke 3:1-20 (NLT)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Luke 3 It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,

O Άγιος Ιωάννης O Πρόδρομος, Saint John the Forerunner
O Άγιος Ιωάννης O Πρόδρομος, Saint John the Forerunner

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him! 5 The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. 6 And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’”

7 When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 9 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”

10 The crowds asked, “What should we do?”

11 John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”

12 Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”

13 He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.”

14 “What should we do?” asked some soldiers.

John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.”

St John the Baptist pointing to Jesus
St John the Baptist pointing to Jesus

15 Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” 18 John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.

19 John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. 20 So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.

“Prepare Ye The Way” – Michael W. Smith

Penitential Prayer

O blessed Christ, my teacher, my savior, my God: You have commanded me to love others as myself. Yet it is so often easy to see the faults in others, for I see their outside and compare it against what is inside me. I have inflated my goodness and importance in my own mind, but have judged others for the smallest shortcoming, and I am filled by foolish pride.

I vow by this prayer that I will strive to follow your Word, to forgive all who have injured me, to turn loose the petty resentments and grudges that poison the world with hatred, and to overlook the faults of others; and I ask to be pardoned wherever I have done injury to my brothers and sisters, who are your beloved children even though they, like me, are sinners. And I vow, when I fall short of your commandment, to seek out and confess my wrongdoing.

Forgive me, Holy Christ, and help me to ever amend my life; this I pray, with faith in the grace you have promised to the penitent sinner. Amen.

Closing Sentences

+ I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.

+ I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.

+ I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.

– 1 John 2:12-13 (NLT)

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!