How to Prepare for the Holiday Pandemonium
Type of Event: Worship Service: Sermon only
Date Recorded: 26 Nov, 2006
Location: Pittsburgh, PA 
Topics: Christmas
Description: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness; Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3)
Too often, we allow the "holiday season" overwhelm us. What starts out with happy anticipation of joyful gatherings and peaceful worship, instead ends up covered with anxious shopping and distracting office parties. This is not to say that gifts and office parties are bad, but our culture allows the evil spirits to push us into thinking more about the correct celebration of Christmans than about what is being celebrated.
I call this "Holiday Pandemonium," the craziness that distracts us from what we really would rather be doing, enjoying friends and family and the peaceful holiness that surrounds us. "Pandemonium" has taken on the meaning of "wild, lawless confusion" but originally was the name John Milton used in Paradise Lost for the capital city of hell (from the Greek "Pan-" meaning "all" and the Latin "demonium" meaning "evil spirit"). Both of these senses are meant in "Holiday Pandemonium".
How do we prepare ourselves for the Holiday Pandemonium so that we might avoid the chaos and anxiety as much as possible? The prophecy in Isaiah, repeated in the New Testament, tells us to prepare the way of the Lord, or more literally, to "sweep" the path of the Lord. We start the beginning work of repentance by reading the Word and thinking about our lives and what we really want. By doing the preparation work ahead of time, before the Pandemonium sets in, we allow the Lord ino our lives in ways that, though unseen, are powerful. It is like a baptism before the work of regeneration takes place.
To see that this is true, read Isaiah 40:1-8, John 1:19-27, and True Christian Religion 531, then listen to the full audio version of today's sermon, and then try putting it into practice.
This Christams season sermon is archived at www.PittsburghNewChurch.org and is available as a free podcast at the Apple iTunes store.
References: Lessons: Isaiah 40:1-8; John 1:19-27; TCR 531
Text: Isaiah 40:3
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1How to Prepare for the Holiday Pandemonium (Amos Glenn) - Isaiah 40:3 (Nov 26, 2006)11m 53s
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