8-Dec-24 (Luke 3:1-6)

[Bring some pictures of road grading (with bulldozers and the like).]
When people are building a road, they try to make the road as level and as straight as possible. That makes it easier for people to get to where they want to go.
The gospel reading for today talks about this. It's talking about preparing the way for the Lord to come into our lives and how to make the paths straight and smooth for God.
Let's think about that. How would we make it easier for God to come into our lives? What could we do to make it easier for God to teach us and to help us? [Wait for answers]
Right. We can pray and spend time reading our Bibles so we're more familiar with God and it's easier for God to help us see what we need to do and to be. We can practice treating others the way that God treats us which will help us be more grateful for how much God forgives us and help others to see how much God loves them.
All of these are ways we can make the paths straight and level for God.
Let's pray about that.

Prayer

God, we thank you for sending us Jesus to help us to know who you are and how much you love us. Help us to make your ways straight and level so that we can learn even more about you and be more like you want us to be. Help us to use those straight paths to share your love with other people too.
We pray in Jesus' name. AMEN