Key Verse: Matthew
3:3
Big Idea: John the Baptist came to prepare the pieces
for Jesus the King.
Most of us are the heroes of our own stories. We think we
are the most important people around and look at who can serve us. Maybe you
invite the people to a party who you think will bring the best gifts, or who
will invite you back. John the Baptist sets a very different example: he knew
that he was not the main event, but just the appetizer, getting things ready
for the real King. He began preaching about the responsibility to turn away
from their sin (repent) because the King was coming soon.
The people who believed what he taught were baptized: buried
in the water and pulled up again in a picture of how their old life had died
and been raised again by God. Baptism did not change them (John sent people
away who had not already been changed), but it made their change public. Among
those baptized were all 12 of Jesus’ disciples, the raw materials He would take
to build His first church.
One day, a Man came who was not like the others. He did not
have any sins of which to repent, but had been perfect His entire life. He was
the one that John had been getting everyone ready for. John knew that Jesus did
not need to be baptized, but Jesus asked to be baptized anyway, so He could be
the model for His followers. As Jesus came up out of the water, God’s voice
from Heaven announced that this was His Son – the heir of the Kingdom. John
continued to work, but His purpose of preparing the pieces for the King’s
ministry was completed when He prepared the King Himself.
Discussion idea: Who are some people who have helped
prepare you to succeed?
Prayer Focus: Have younger kids think about a time
they were selfish, and older kids and adults consider patterns of selfishness
in their lives. What desires, temptations or situations make us self-centered?
Pray for us to see ourselves the way that John saw himself, as a piece in a
much bigger puzzle.
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