Full of the Spirit, John the Baptist Prepares us for the Coming of Jesus
Get Ready--Get Ready!!!
Theme: The Holy Spirit
Theme Verse: "'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit', says the LORD of Hosts." Zechariah 4:6
Readings: John 1:1-9, 15-28 and Matthew 3:1-12
Memory Verse: 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) (Pre-K to grade 3)
John's birth and whole life were a calling from God. "He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb"...and would "go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah…and make ready for the Lord a people prepared." An angel had spoken to his father about his son's birth and calling which included the fulfillment of prophecy in Malachi 4:5 "Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse." In Matthew 11:14 Jesus said "And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." John also fulfilled Isaiah 40:3. All of God's past dealings with his people were coming to a climax in John and Jesus.
God called John into the wilderness to preach. He was dressed like a prophet of old. He was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah given 750 years before: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Word received: You live in a wilderness, it is a wilderness of lies and deceit that your culture is telling. I want you to make a straight path through that wilderness to me. I want you to help make a highway for me.
"In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3:1-2) A word received: John pointed to my kingdom. You are to do the same. It is not a kingdom of men, it is the kingdom of heaven. John faithfully points to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our job also is to bear witness to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. "For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight."'" (Matthew 3:3) A word received: You in your time and your generation are called to do what John did -- prepare the way for me.
John's message was first of all to "Repent", which means not only to turn away from sin but to return to their God and the covenant Israel had made with God. "Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins." (Matthew 3:5-6) A word received: I want my people to come forward in repentance, confessing their sins. You speak of the people of the Hill [Hamilton Hill in Schenectady] confessing their sins; I want my people at Christ Church to do that as well.
NOTE: Another passage about repentance in Isaiah is in 30:15. "In returning and rest you shall be saved in quietness and in trust shall be your strength, and you would not". The context is God talking to his rebellious, stubborn people. "Returning" means return to God but "rest" is interesting. It means to come down, be broken (as a horse is broken). As in (come down off your high horse and be obedient to your master).
Lots of the common people came out to John, confessing their sins but John had a stern message of warning for the religious leaders of his people. "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, 'Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?'" (Matthew 3:7) A word received: Who is speaking plainly to the church leaders in your day about the wrath that is to come? John told the leaders to bear fruit that fits repentance and don't count on saying to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our Father." (Remember the saying, "God has no grandsons!) A word received: What excuses are you giving for the lack of fruit in your life? Look at the fruit of my Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I want these to be evident in your life.
What kind of fruit is "in keeping with repentance"?
Are we ready to hear John's message in our day? It is pretty easy to see the faults and sins of others. What uncomfortable truth might Jesus be saying to us? Pray for ears to hear and a heart to respond to what the Spirit is saying to the churches in our generation! Word received: Are you ready? Are you ready to hear the words of My prophet John? If you are truly ready, then you will act on the words of John when I call you to act.
Now look at John 1:1. Word received: That is My Son Jesus who I am talking about. I speak about him first because he is first. John pointed to Jesus. I want all things and all men to point to Jesus. That is what their testimony should be: to point to Jesus. Read verses 6-9 &15-28. "He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me." Word received: John was willing to be used by Me to point to My Son. Are you willing to be used by Me? Word received: John humbled himself before men. I want you to humble yourselves before men. John answers all the questions about "Who are you?" of the priests and Levites from Jerusalem. He answers NO to all their questions, even the question about Elijah, but Jesus saw it differently (Matthew 11:14) John's answer to "Who are you?" is to quote the verse from Isaiah. (Memory Verse) Look at all the things John has to say about Jesus: vs.15, 27,29 "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world., vs.32 "I saw the Spirit descend on him like a dove and remain on him.", Verse 33, "He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." Word received: It is through My Spirit that John is able to witness about My Son. John was meek in Spirit, but strong in body and soul.
John was under the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Word received: What kind of discipline are you willing to live under? John lived under the discipline of these words: "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:76-79)
Now go back and read the Memory Verse again. Word received: Get ready! Are you prepared? I want to prepare you to meet My Son Jesus. Are you ready?
In times of God's visitation he brings both salvation and judgment. See Matthew 3:12. "His winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Word received: Pray for the day of My threshing. Pray that none of the wheat will be lost with the chaff. Pray for My little ones who are being led astray by lies. Pray for My will to be done.
NOTE: later, after John was put in prison by King Herod, he sent word to Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?" We don't know exactly what John expected, but he was beginning to doubt. Jesus sent word through John's disciples about all the signs and wonders he was doing that the prophets spoke about. (Luke 7: 18-23) "Go tell John what you have seen and heard." Part of the problem was that John was sitting alone in prison, isolated from what was going on. We need to note this. When we isolate ourselves from the body of believers we are much more vulnerable to doubt. We need the body of believers and we need to do what John did--take his doubts to Jesus.
Teaching Ideas for Lesson 12
Please read the Study Guide first. Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have memorized it.
Remind them their parents need to sign a report slip monthly if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.
Make sure they know what happened in the story. Get them to tell you.
Basic points of the lesson for little ones
1.God's WORD, the Bible, often tells about people and events that will come in the future. Those who do this are called prophets. Isaiah and other prophets told about Jesus and John the Baptist hundreds of years before they came.
2. John pointed to God's promised Messiah, Jesus. God wants us to point to Jesus and help make a way for people to come to know him. One way we can help make a way for Jesus is to follow him ourselves and to point to him.
3. John told people to get ready for Jesus and his kingdom. God wants us to get ready to receive and celebrate Jesus' coming the first time as a baby at Christmas and to receive him NOW as our King and Savior. (We call this time of preparation ADVENT which means "coming". What are you doing to get ready?)
4. John talked about repenting and being baptized. What does repent mean? If you are going down the wrong path in the woods, repent would mean going back (returning) to where the path divided and going the other way.
(For people who have not received Jesus in their hearts, it means asking Jesus into their hearts and going in his direction instead of their own way. Baptism is to seal that choice.
For people who have received Jesus it means to daily compare the way we have acted and thought with what Jesus tells us to do and think. If we have failed (sinned) we need to daily repent, tell Jesus we are sorry, ask his forgiveness, ask him for his Holy Spirit to help us choose his way the next time. The sooner we repent, the sooner we will get back on the right path.)
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