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Back in the 80’s, when I pastored a multiracial church in Chicago, there was one African American family with Cajun roots who had the tradition of preparing a huge pot of filé gumbo every Christmas Eve. Gumbo includes just about everything imaginable, and all the flavors slosh around to create something even greater than all the great stuff that goes into it.

Isaiah 40:1-11
Wilfred Brimley died on August 1, 2020, at the age of 85. The actor was gruff and burly, yet very lovable. His best-known movie role was in Cocoon. Others may remember him for his Quaker Oats commercials with his famous tagline, “It’s the right thing to do.” He was also in the movies The Natural, The China Syndrome, and played Shannen Doherty’s grandfather on NBC’s Our House. Once when he was asked how he prepares for a role, Brimley replied, “I get up in the morning and I get dressed.”

Contents
“The Estranged” by Keith Hewitt
“The Greatest Story Ever Told” by C. David McKirachan


The Estranged
by Keith Hewitt
Isaiah 40:1-11

Note: This sermon is the second in a series you can continue through Advent. This is a great opportunity to have some fun with the children as you lead up to Christmas. The series is designed to end on Christmas Eve, but you can end it on the 4th Sunday of Advent if you do not have a children’s cermon on Christmas Eve. The most important part of this series is that the more fun you have with it, the more fun everyone else will have too!

Objects: You will need three objects:

Sam was the envy of all his friends. His dad was a farmer, so he drove a tractor. On rare occasions Sam was allowed to sit in the tractor cab and even help drive.

Sam's dad was entering a ploughing competition, so he was spending quite a lot of time in the tractor practising ploughing in straight lines.

(Appropriate for Advent)

To understand this rich passage, the preacher must first understand its setting. Historically, this is the message addressed to the Judean exiles in Babylonia, between 550 and 538 B.C., and it takes the place of the call of the prophet known as Second Isaiah, who is himself among the exiles. That prophet's preaching is found in Isaiah 40-55.

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.
-- Mark 1:1a

The four gospels each have very different ways of introducing the story about Jesus. Matthew begins his gospel with a long genealogy, tracing Jesus' lineage -- "son of David, son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1-16) from the time of Abraham through fourteen generations, through the line of Mary's husband, Joseph, all the way to Jesus.