Bulletins - Spring City Fellowship

- - Psalm 150:3NIV2011
Hearts Waiting (Joy To The World)
A Christmas Alleluia
O Holy Night
Crown Him (Christmas)
Angels We Have Heard On High (Gloria)
Glory To The Lamb
O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
Our Theme for 2025 is “Live Like Jesus”
It comes out of a simple desire to follow Jesus - and to learn better what that means.
We have spent the entire year in the Gospel of Matthew.
We have covered just about everything that Matthew tells us about the renewed life and living like Jesus.
And now in this season of Advent what do we go back to the beginning!
We will be in Matthew chapter 3 today
And since we had a snow cancellation two weeks ago chapter 4 will go into the new year.
Remember the elements of surprise, redemption and transformation in each story?
When we look at the story of the coming of Jesus the Messiah, we see the same elements of surprise, redemption and transformation that we see all through Matthew’s gospel.
This week is a another new story, but with the same elements.
We are beyond the birth narrative and about to discover how Jesus ministry began.
Jesus didn’t just start preaching one day.
The ministry of Jesus began with the prophetic ministry of John the baptist.
Johns ministry was not the usual sort but he preached a message of reform for all of Israel.
John was out in the wilderness baptizing Jews who wanted to repent and renew covenant with God.
Jesus participated in the revival led by John and then he took it to a whole new level.
Think of John as the opening act at a concert. He set the stage, warmed up the audience, and created anticipation. Then, suddenly, the lights flash, the music intensifies, and Jesus steps on stage, ready to take everyone on a journey. John prepared our hearts, but it was Jesus who changed the world!
John prepared the way but Jesus led the way.
As we read through Matthew 3 look for the elements of surprise, redemption and transformation to appear.
But observe, not just where they show up in the story, but how they shape and change the story.
And after we have done that we will consider how the se elements are shaping and changing our stories.
Surprise - a prophet!
Matthew 3:1–2 ESV
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The last prophet of Israel to be recorded was Malachi.
That was 400 years earlier!
It is not as if nothing happened during those 400 years.
We have books like the Maccabees which describe Israels miraculous survival through revolutions led by devout Jews -like Judas and Simon Maccabee.
Is it any wonder that those were popular names during the time of Jesus.
But there were not prophetic writings - no one speaking for God.
No one was saying “thus says the Lord!”
This is probably because the last thing Malachi prophesied was to wait for Elijah to come...
Malachi 4:5–6 ESV
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
Elijah was arguably the greatest prophet of the Old Testament.
He performed many signs and wonders.
He confronted the rulers of Israel about their idolatry.
He even challenged the prophets of baal to a showdown and won.
The bar of expectation was pretty high for who the next prophet should be and what he would do.
No only had Israel not seen a real prophet in 400 years - but John looked and acted the part in a way that was beyond everyone’s expectation.
This guy must be it...
The time has come.
Matthew 3:3–4 ESV
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ” 4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
John was a pretty special guy.
John was a cousin of Jesus with his own unique birth story.
John was from a priestly family - he could have been serving in the temple like his father Zechariah.
But he chose a different path.
He went out to the wilderness - dressed in animal skins and lived as a survivalist.
He was be Bear Grylls or the Les Stroud of the first century.
He knew how to Outwit, Outlast and Outplay before Survivor was a thing.
John didn’t go looking for crowds to preach to - the crowds came to him.
He looked like Elijah,
His message sounded like that of Elijah,
The place he was preaching was even close to the place where Elijah was last seen before he was taken up to heaven.
Matthew further points out that the place of John’s ministry is also a prophetic fulfilment.
Isaiah 40:3 ESV
3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isaiah is a vary interesting book.
There are 66 chapters in Isaiah, just as there are 66 books in our Bible.
There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.
There is also a distinct division in the book of Isaiah, so much so that some scholars insist that they are two different manuscripts.
Isaiah chapter 40 sets a completely different tone.
Isaiah 40:1–2 ESV
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
And you know the next verse because we just read it.
The voice crying out in the wilderness.
Matthew identifies John as that voice.
According to the gospel of the Apostle John, that is also how John the baptist identified himself.
He was simply making the announcement that the time had come.
There was going to be a shift in the narrative.
God was about to fulfill his promise from ages past.
The people need to get ready for what comes next.
John was like a revivalist - the preacher that makes a passionate plea.
It’s like he is looking right into your soul.
You know you are not where you should be.
You spend most of your time and energy trying to avoid thinking about God.
You know your not perfect and you don’t even know where to begin.
If God were to show up right now, you could not even look at Him, much less look at the one who is telling you about Him.
That’s why someone needs to prepare the way - tell people to get ready - because God is about to show up!
Those who responded were baptized.
Matthew 3:5–6 ESV
5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Most of you know that I have spent a lot of time studying baptism - I literally wrote a book on it.
I’m going to try to keep this short...
What John was doing was something new - but not entirely new.
Baptism wasn’t really a thing - or at least not like we know it.
Some people say that the Jews baptized proselytes - but we don’t have any proof of that until the second century.
What we do have is the Essenes - a Jewish separatist group practicing ceremonial immersion - but that wasn’t just once - that was daily!
There were ceremonial washing prescribed for the priest in the Old Testament - that’s a solid precedent.
And it was customary for people to bathe for ritual purity - the idea that when you come into God’s presence you want to come clean.
The people who came out to John to be baptize really did come clean - in more ways than one.
They were confessing their sins.
That is something that usually happens when you bring your sacrifice to the temple.
You lay your hand on that animal, confess your sin and the animal is slaughtered right there in your place.
That is why John pointed to Jesus and called him the lamb of God.
John 1:29 ESV
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
When we baptize, we know what Jesus did, and for Christians today - baptism symbolizes participation in the death and resurrection of Christ.
But for those who were baptized by John in the Jordan, it was simply preparation for what was to come.
and for WHO was to come.
The change is real!
People were surprised to see a prophet after 400 years.
They were surprised by his message, calling them back to God.
And they were surprised at the spiritual cleansing that seemed to happen spontaneously and they responded to John’s invitation.
Oh, but that is just the beginning...
Redemption means reform.
John preach a message of repentance.
Repentance means things must change.
If you keep doing what you are doings you will keep getting what you are getting.
Do you want a different result? - You have to change!
God wants to redeem - He wants to turn bad things into good things - but in order for Him to do that, we have to turn to Him and turn with Him.
Watch what happens when you turn to God.
Watch and see what you can turn into.
That kind of change is what the Bible calls “bearing fruit.”
Living faith bears fruit.
Matthew 3:7–10 ESV
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
It’s no surprise that if John was attracting large crowds that the Jewish leaders would also pay him a visit.
But John had some harsh words for the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
He called them vipers - a nest of venomous snakes.
He said that the stones would make better children of Abraham - probably referring to the rock pile that was left as a monument when Joshua crossed the Jordan.
In other words - if God did it once - He can do it again.
The people that are plunging themselves beneath the water are examples of true sons and daughters.
He said they were like dead trees that are about to be cut down.
Why? No fruit.
Dead wood is just spreading rot - contributing to disease.
Better to get rid of it and spare the healthy trees.
John’s words should make us all think? Is that true of us?
When I walk into a church, I want to know - Is there life here?
I’m not so concerned with the quality of performance - I want to know if it’s genuine.
Are people really worshipping - or are they just putting in their time.
Do people really care - or are they keeping up appearances.
I think its great when people bring their best.
But I want to know, what is God doing that is above and beyond anything that we can do?
Is the presence of the Holy Spirit evident or is it just a performance?
Jesus brings real change.
Matthew 3:11–12 ESV
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew records for us some of John’s teaching where he talks about his successor.
Baptism is a metaphor.
A metaphor is something that points to and explains something else.
The power of baptism to accomplish what is does is because there is also an invisible power at work in the heart of the one being baptized.
The Holy Spirit is like the wind. You can’t see the wind, but you can see what the wind does. We see and feel the effects of the wind and it interacts with our bodies and with the world around us. That is how it is with the Spirit.
We baptise people in water - symbolic of cleansing, of new birth, of passing through judgement or destruction (you will have to read to book to get all of them.)
But that water also points to something real that is accomplished by Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
The change is real! - or it should be real!
We can’t see how it happens, but we know why it happens.
It happens as we respond in obedience to God.
When we turn around and move with Him.
John also speaks of fire, another purifying agent, but more extreme than water.
Fire is ultimate judgement - water displaces the dirt, fire consumes it.
It adds to the metaphor a sense of permanence.
Jesus isn’t messing around - the change He brings is legendary!
Jesus transforms baptism.
So the next thing we read is that Jesus himself comes to be baptised.
Wait. What? If baptism symbolizes repentance - why is the embodiment of perfect humanity doing it?
In my book I make the point that Jesus, by being baptized, changed everything including baptism itself!
It’s like the jokes we tell about Chuck Norris - the notorious tough guy from the old TV shows. Chuck Norris isn’t afraid of the monsters under the bed - the monsters are afraid of him. Or when Chuck Norris bowls, he always get a strike - in fact all the pins in the bowling alley just fall down out of fear.
Well when Jesus was baptized - an event that is symbolic or personal and spiritual transformation - it was baptism that was forever transformed! That’s even bigger than Chuck Norris!
Ignatius, the early church Father, writing in Greek in the early second century stated, “For our God, Jesus the Christ … who was born and was baptized so that by his suffering he might purify the water.”
Jesus did not need to be purified - but He purified the water for all who would follow.
So for the early church, that added to the list of baptismal meanings that is symbolizes following Christ by doing what He did.
Jesus models baptism as an act of submission to God.
Jesus models submission.
Matthew 3:13–15 ESV
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
“to fulfill all righteousness” what does that even mean?
On a very basic level it means “ it’s the right thing to do”
But if you study it out, it means a lot more than that.
It hints at God’s plan to restore all things and that this is part of that plan.
So Jesus is also saying, “it’s the right thing to do and this is how we are going to make everything right.”
That means when we are baptizes following Christ, we become part of God’s plan.
Perhaps you thought that baptism was just a public declaration of faith?
It used to be that baptism mean you were joining the church.
Many churches stopped doing that because joining the church involves commitment and they want to be sure that people understand the commitment they are making.
Actually, baptism involves and even bigger commitment.
You are not just joining a church - you are joining a world-wide movement.
You are joining yourself to every other person who is joined to Christ and committed to seeing God fulfill his plan on this earth.
That is a life-long commitment and it encompasses everything you have.
If baptism was just a matter of finding your place in a local house of worship, then John was right, Jesus should have been the one doing the baptising.
But God was not creating a hierarchy.
Its not an organization.
It’s not a power structure.
But the Church of Jesus Christ is bigger than that.
It’s an organic movement.
It’s a pervasive influence.
It’s Spirit and Fire.
Our buildings and structures cannot contain it.
You can’t force it or make it happen.
You can only submit to it.
By “it” I mean God - submit to God - who is greater than all of our preconceptions of Him.
God responds with approval.
Matthew 3:16–17 ESV
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
When Jesus was baptized the heavens opened.
I mentioned in my book that baptism serves as a kind of portal to another realm.
It invites us to experience spiritual reality in the midst of our present circumstances.
Just like Jesus - fully human - but also divine.
2 Peter 1:3–4 NLT
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
Earlier I compared Jesus to Chuck Norris.
But what if you could be Chuck Norris, or Batman or any of your favorite superheroes?
Jesus is more than just a role model.
He is the model for a new way to be human - empowered by the Spirit of God.
The Apostle Paul introduces us to a new kind of language when it comes to being a Christ-follower - he says we are “in Christ.
Like a hand in a glove.
Except he is the hand and we are the glove.
Galatians 3:26–27 ESV
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
That means wherever you go, Jesus goes with you.
When you walk into a room, Jesus walks in with you. ( I have a story about that in the book)
When you comfort or encourage someone, Jesus speaks through you.
There is a little book written by a 17th century monk that has become a Christian classic. “Practicing the Prescence of Christ” by Brother Lawrence. He talks about being consciously aware of Christ’s presence with him and in him no matter what he is doing, even in the mundane things of life.
What would we do or not do if we were more aware of who we are in Christ?
That is why practicing His presence is so important.
But that’s not all, at Jesus’ baptism the Spirit descended like a dove and the voice of the Father was heard speaking a blessing over the Son.
This is one of the greatest attestations to the doctrine of the Trinity.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit - all manifested at one time and in one place.
It’s also why we baptize, In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
If you got one, you have all of them.
Here’s another wonderful thing about being “in Christ”
The words spoken over Jesus are how the Father looks at you.
Because He sees us through the lens of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
That means you are His beloved Son - You are His beloved daughter.
In whom He is well pleased!
How can He say that? - Well, by faith of course.
Because He knows who He created you to be and therefore who you are becoming.
And He sees you, not only as you are, but at complete “in Christ.”
Surprise, redemption and transformation.
It’s the pattern we see as Jesus began His ministry.
And it’s the pattern that we see when Jesus, the Savior of the world, comes to us.
Questions for reflection:
How do you think you would have responded to someone like John the Baptist? Are you moved by revival preaching or are you cynical, even critical? Can you get past the personality of the preacher and see what the Spirit of God is doing?
Have you followed Christ by being baptized? Do you ever think about your baptism and what it meant? Was it just a symbol, a formality or does it portray a life that is changed by Christ?
Have you ever thought about what it means to be “in Christ?” Does Jesus go with you wherever you go? Do you move with Him? When you hear the words of the Father, “this is my beloved child,” do you know that He is speaking to you?
- - Matthew 3:1–2ESV
- - Malachi 4:5–6ESV
- - Matthew 3:3–4ESV
- - Isaiah 40:3ESV
- - Isaiah 40:1–2ESV
- - Matthew 3:5–6ESV
- - John 1:29ESV
- - Matthew 3:7–10ESV
- - Matthew 3:11–12ESV
- - Matthew 3:13–15ESV
- - Matthew 3:16–17ESV
- - 2 Peter 1:3–4ESV
- - Galatians 3:26–27ESV
Glory In The Highest

Psalm 150:3NIV2011

Surprise - a prophet!

The time has come.

Those who responded were baptized.

Redemption means reform.

Living faith bears fruit.

Jesus brings real change.

Jesus transforms baptism.

Jesus models submission.

God responds with approval.

Questions for reflection:

How do you think you would have responded to someone like John the Baptist? Are you moved by revival preaching or are you cynical, even critical? Can you get past the personality of the preacher and see what the Spirit of God is doing?

Have you followed Christ by being baptized? Do you ever think about your baptism and what it meant? Was it just a symbol, a formality or does it portray a life that is changed by Christ?

Have you ever thought about what it means to be “in Christ?” Does Jesus go with you wherever you go? Do you move with Him? When you hear the words of the Father, “this is my beloved child,” do you know that He is speaking to you?

Matthew 3:1–2ESV

Malachi 4:5–6ESV

Matthew 3:3–4ESV

Isaiah 40:3ESV

Isaiah 40:1–2ESV

Matthew 3:5–6ESV

John 1:29ESV

Matthew 3:7–10ESV

Matthew 3:11–12ESV

Matthew 3:13–15ESV

Matthew 3:16–17ESV

2 Peter 1:3–4ESV

Galatians 3:26–27ESV