The Grand Introduction Mountain Life Church Life Pack Good News! Series January 29, 2012
The Grand Introduction Sermon Notes January 29, 2012 Write any notes from the week here I. Repentance as a Lifestyle A. Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit B. A lifestyle of worship 1. Sin preoccupation 2. Heavenly consciousness II. John s Definition of the Coming Messiah A. This is new material! B. The Messiah is God! C. The Messiah baptizes with the Holy Spirit D. The Messiah baptizes with fire III.Jesus Humility A. Jesus came to John 1. Jesus joined the rabble 2. Jesus insisted John baptize Him to fulfill all righteousness B. Jesus reasons for water baptism 1. Jesus affirmed John s ministry 2. Jesus affirmed water baptism for repentance 3. Jesus gave us an example 2 19
Table Talk Teens Read Matthew 3:13-17 Question One: Why do you think Jesus presented Himself as a candidate to be baptized? Describe John s reaction to Jesus request and why. Question Two: John recognized Jesus did not fit the requirements for his baptism, since his baptism was for repentance from sin. Jesus had never sinned, so he had nothing to repent from. See if you can explain Jesus response to John. Question Three: In verse 3:15, in the phrase, to fulfill all righteousness. Share in your own words what is the meaning of righteousness. Question Four: Jesus baptism served several purposes: 1. If Jesus were to provide righteousness for sinners, he must be identified with sinners; 2. He fulfilled the Father s will; and 3. He confirmed the ministry of John. Describe what you think the purpose of baptism is for you. Question Five The significant thing about the baptism of Jesus was the presence of all three Persons of the Godhead (the Trinity) at this event. Describe the Trinity. 18 IV.The Dove from Heaven A. Jesus Identity on this earth 1. He was 100% God 2. He was 100% man 3. He walked on this earth stripped of many of His godly attributes 4. He chose to walk as a man empowered by the Holy Spirit B. Jesus is our example, and He does not cheat 1. Contrast before and after the dove in Jesus life 2. If Jesus needed the Spirit, how much more do we? 3. Why don t we see miracles more often at the hands of God s people? V. The Voice from Heaven A. The Father s blessing on His Son 1. Fathers speak identity 2. They speak destiny 3. And they speak respect and value into their children 4. God spoke all these things to Jesus B. The Father s Testimony to the world 1. God spoke this way to affirm John the Baptist 2. God the Father put His seal of approval on Jesus for all to hear C. God s prophetic affirmation of His Future Children 1. IN CHRIST 2. My identity is sealed by the Holy Spirit, and affirmed by the Father 3
Life Group Questions for January 29, 2012 Good News! Series Message = The Grand Introduction Ice Breaker: Tell a fun or funny story about your past that happened in the water. Read MaGhew 3: 11-17. 1. What do you think it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit? 2. What do you think it means to be baptized with fire? 3. In what ways do you see Jesus humility in this passage? After answering that, then tell of other stories where Jesus showed His humility. 4. As a group, talk about what you think the definition of HUMILITY is. Elementary Matthew 3: 13-17 Table Talk Day 1: What is baptism? Read Matthew 3 : 13-17. Have you ever seen anyone be baptized? Day 2: Explain that the water doesn't save them, Jesus does. There is nothing magical about being baptized. It is a picture telling people that we trust Jesus and want to follow Him. What is one thing that you must do before you are to be baptized? (believe in Jesus) If your child has not already made a commitment to believe in Jesus as their Savior, offer them this opportunity for salvation. Day 3: Ask your child why they believe God is pleased with Jesus. (Matthew 3:17). What does baptism tell others about you? Ask your child if he/she has any questions regarding baptism. Memory Verse: Change your ways and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Acts 2:38a 5. Tell about what water baptism means to you. 6. As a follower of Jesus, we are IN CHRIST. Talk about what that means to you. 7. If you are IN CHRIST, how does God think of you? 8. Pray for one another 4 17
Table Talk Preschool & Nursery: Read your child Mark 1:9-11 or Matthew 3:13-17 or the story of Jesus baptism from a children s bible. Why did John the Baptist not want to baptize Jesus? He thought Jesus should baptize him instead. What came from heaven when Jesus rose from the water? A dove Whose voice came from heaven and spoke? God s Main Idea: Jesus is baptized in obedience to God; He is revealed as God s Son. Bible Verse: Mark 1:11, And a voice came out of the heavens: You are my beloved Son. In you I am well-pleased. Prayer: Lord, thank you for the time that we shared learning about your Word today. May we use it in our lives every day. Help us to pray every day for those we love. Thank you for your Son Jesus that came from above. Amen. Personal Devotion Pages The following pages are designed to help you enjoy a regular time alone with God. We have divided up the curriculum to help us grow wherever we are at in our relationship with God and in our knowledge of His Kingdom. LEVELS: Since we are a Colorado church, we use skiing imagery to communicate the different levels of intensity and time involved in relating to God. BEGINNER: If you are new in your relationship with God, we encourage you to try the exercises under this symbol: INTERMEDIATE: If you have walked with God for some time and would like a little more challenge and more time involvement, try the exercises under this symbol: Activity: Show your child on a map (from a Bible) how Jesus travelled from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized. ADVANCED: These exercises are for people who have walked with God for some time and display maturity in their relationship with Him. These exercises provide a practical way to encounter God and His truth on a regular basis. There are no rules here. Please don t hurry through the process. Slow meditation and memorization seems to soak in better than cramming. Enjoy! 16 5
Day One 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Read Ma[hew 3: 11-17 3. After meditating on verse 11 for a while, write down in the space below what you think it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and in fire. Take 5 minutes and pray for your family for whatever comes to your mind. Memorize MaGhew 3: 17. Take 10 minutes to pray for your family, and 10 minutes to pray for people in your life who need the Lord. Memorize MaGhew 3: 16-17. Take 10 minutes to pray for your family, and 10 minutes to pray for people in your life who need the Lord. Take whatever time you have left to pray for your church leadership. Memorize MaGhew 3: 16-17....and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. ~Matthew 3:17 On this watershed day, the day of Jesus baptism, His Father affirmed to the world that Jesus was His pride and joy. The message was for Jesus, for John, for the crowd, and many believe the message was for the spiritual powers that were present. Martin Luther taught that because Satan is not all knowing, nor is he omnipresent (everywhere at once), he did not know who the Messiah was. Luther tells us that Satan tried to kill the Messiah through his servant, Herod, back when the innocents were slaughtered in Bethlehem. Day Five But Satan was not aware of the poor family traveling to Egypt just before the slaughter. Satan may have known that Jesus was a godly man, but did not know He was God s son until God announced it. Did you notice that the temptations of Jesus occurred immediately after the Father s blessing? Satan had identified his target, and so he went after Him in the wilderness. Notice that each of the temptations deals with Jesus identity as the son of God, the Messiah. Now that I am IN CHRIST, God says to me, You are my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased! 6 15
Day Five 1. Take some time to praise the Lord from your heart. Enjoy Him thoroughly before moving into a time of thanks. Thank God for all the good things He s done for you lately. 2. Meditate on Ma[hew 3: 17. These words are from the Father to Jesus. If you are Jesus follower, then you are IN CHRIST. Say those words over and over to yourself, acknowledging that they are now God s words to you. Day One As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ~Matthew 3:11 God has been talking to John. He knows stuff about the coming Messiah that people shouldn t know. He knows the Messiah will be God. He knows He will baptize repentant people with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Who knows this kind of stuff unless God whispers such mysteries in their ear? As John sat in silence in the desert wastes enjoying his meal of grasshoppers dipped in honey gravy, he heard the still quiet voice of the Ancient of Days. 3. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you afresh today. Invite Him to empower you, and ask that the Kingdom come through you today! 4. Finish your Bible memorization today. John s information about the coming Messiah is new information. No one before him knew about a Messiah who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. John knows this Messiah is more than just a righteous man - He s actually God! While baptism in water symbolizes repentance, baptism in the Holy Spirit is a whole other ball game. Water baptism reveals that my sin and my past are buried with Christ. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is all about now, and all about power for the future. Such a baptism empowers me to overcome sin, and to walk in supernatural power to bring the good news to others. The baptism in fire comes with the baptism in the Spirit. It burns up selfishness and sin, and separates believers from unbelievers. Holy God, I welcome you to baptize me with Your Spirit and with fire! 14 7
Day Two 1. Take some time to quiet yourself before God and thank Him for all He s done in your life lately. Then praise Him for who He is. 2. Meditate on Ma[hew 3: 11-17 again today. Write down some ways that Jesus revealed His humility to us in this passage. 3. What do you think is the significance of water baptism? If you have not been water baptized, write down your reasons NOT to below. Then write down the reasons you think you ought to be baptized. 4. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring the scriptures alive in your life in such a way that you desire to immerse yourself in them daily. 5. Continue memorizing and meditating on the scriptures for this week. Day Four After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, ~Matthew 3:16 Scholars agree that this day in Jesus life is a watershed. Until this moment, He has not performed a miracle as recorded in scripture. You see, Jesus was truly all God and all Man. Yet, Paul tells us in Philippians 2 that He laid down many of His attributes of deity (His omniscience and omnipotence), and took on the form of a bond servant - a man. Jesus not only came to die for our sin, but He came to show us how to live. If He could put on His God suit any time it got hard, we could not relate to Him. Jesus didn t put on His God suit when it came to doing miracles and all sorts of healing. Jesus chose to be a man who did what He did by the power of the Holy Spirit who came to fill Him on the day of His baptism. The clear message is this: If I get the same Spirit Jesus got, then I can do what Jesus did. Jesus holiness, His love, His power, and His ability are all mine when I allow Him to baptize me with the Holy Spirit. The obvious question follows: Then why don t we see more miracles at the hands of Jesus followers? Why don t we see Jesus followers acting more like Jesus? The answer to this eludes me, but I think it goes back to the issue of abiding in Jesus. I think the church has failed to abide with Jesus on a daily basis, and for that reason, we can do nothing. Father, today I make it my goal to resemble You in every way. May my life glorify You every moment of my existence. Empower me to abide in You today! 8 13
Day Four 1. Take time to praise God for who He is and then thank Him with a grateful heart for all He has done for you lately. 2. Do you personally feel equipped by God for every good work He has for you? Write down whether you feel equipped or not, and talk to the Lord about it honestly. 3. Repentance is a daily endeavor. Take a moment to write down the sins you have repented for in the past week. Honestly look at your list and see if you are experiencing victory over that sin since you repented. Day Two His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. ~Matthew 3:12, NAS95. John s black and white, fiery words define the coming Messiah as a metaphorical farmer winnowing wheat. In John s day, the farmer would use a winnowing fork to pick up large amounts of wheat and toss it in the air. The lighter, outer layer of the wheat, called the chaff, would be blown off the grain by the wind. The grain was useful, and was to be stored, but the chaff was burned as waste. The Messiah was to be a divisive person. He would divide between believer and nonbeliever, between Heaven and Hell. The meek and kind Jesus of Nazareth has proven to be the most divisive person in history. The very mention of Jesus name in an affectionate way can bring about law suites, offense, and even jihad. Jesus name often provokes looks down the nose and jeering critics who throw that name into a big box labeled, silly. 4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. That name also invokes passionate praise and adoring worship. Does Buddha's name cause such division? How about Vishnu? Sun Yung Moon? Allah? I don t think so. The greatest question in all of life is, What will I do with Jesus of Nazareth? There is no greater question, and frankly, no other question rivals it in importance. How will you respond to the name of Jesus today? 12 9
Day Three 1. Take time to praise God for who He is and then thank Him with a grateful heart for all He has done for you lately. 2. Sit quietly before the Lord for a few moments and slowly let Him speak to you. Give Him permission to say whatever He wants to say. 3. Read Romans 6 slowly today. Write down the things that stand out to you in this chapter. 4. Take some time to submit all your members of your body to God. Thank Him that He has purchased you, and made you a slave of righteousness, not a slave of sin. 5. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. Day Three Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me? ~Matthew 3:13, 14, NAS95. Jesus humility astounds me. He could have ordered John up to Galilee to baptize Him simply because He could. Instead, He came to John to be baptized in a muddy river surrounded by an unsophisticated rabble. Jesus came to affirm John s ministry. He came to show us (and John) that John s baptism was legit. Jesus came to reveal to John that he was right where God wanted him, and was doing exactly what God wanted him to do. Jesus probably knew that sometime in the near future, John s tribulations would be costly. He would need to remember that God spoke to Jesus as He came up out of the water at His baptism. 9 Jesus came to give an example to you and me of the importance of water baptism. In today s modern church, a surprising number of believers have NOT been baptized because they do not see the significance of it. The bottom line is this: It was good enough for Jesus, so it should be good enough for me. Baptism reveals to the world that I am making a stand for God. I have died, and now I live for Him completely. I believe that it is a sign not just for men, but for the spiritual realm as well. I believe it tells Satan that he has lost a person for his kingdom. God has ransomed a prisoner, and baptism puts it in the enemy s face. Water baptism symbolizes a new birth. At Jesus baptism, the proud Father affirmed His Son by filling Him with the Holy Spirit and speaking a profound blessing. If you ve not been water baptized, commit to doing so today. 10 11