Day: Advent 3B

Lectionary Passage: John 1:6-8, 19-28

Scripture Focus: John 1:6-8

Object: A pointer stick (or a laser pointer)

Good morning boys and girls. I bet you have all seen one of these pointer sticks before (reveal the pointer). They are used to draw attention to something important, something that shouldn’t be missed by anyone (point to each child). But have you ever noticed that a pointer never points to itself (try to point the stick at itself to show it doesn’t work). It can’t! It’s job is to point to something else, something other than itself.

And that reminds me of our story for today. It’s about John the Baptist. He was given an important job from God: To point other people to Jesus who is the light of the world. John never pointed to himself. In fact, he was pretty clear that he wasn’t the important one. John wanted everyone to know that the important person was coming and his name is Jesus! Just like a pointer stick draws attention to something important, John the Baptist pointed out that the Messiah, the savior of the world, was coming and that we better be ready for him.

But John isn’t the only one who points the way to Jesus. We have to do that too! Each of us is like a pointer stick for others to follow Jesus. We point to Jesus whenever we do good works or show kindness and love in his name. Just like John, it’s our job to point others to the light of the world, Jesus Christ!

Let’s pray: Give us the courage to point others to Jesus so that through us everyone will know he is the savior of the world. Amen.