Malachi 3:16-17 says, "Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels;"

If you talk about God, and think about His name, and love Him, God calls you his special jewels. Do you know how diamonds are made? A diamond starts as just an ugly black pile of carbon - the same stuff that is in the lead of your pencil. There is actually a lot of carbon in your body. Pinch yourself. Not too hard. There's carbon in there, too. Well, this black ugly pile of carbon that is deep under the ground gets squished by the weight of all the dirt on top of it, and something awesome happens. That black, ugly, boring, carbon starts to fuse from the heat and pressure of it all, and makes a diamond: the hardest substance on earth. Now, it's not ugly and weak; it's strong and beautiful.

God says, the the ones who respect the Lord and speak about Him to one another: He looks down at those kids and says: "Those guys are my jewels." Even when you feel like the weight of the world is pressing down on you; when you say, "God, this is too hard! There's too much pressure!" God says, "Watch. If you love me, I don't see a scruffy kid; I see someone who is my jewel. Let's sing Diamonds.

Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf1ARbpB0gA

Today is Patriot Day, a day when we pray for the United States and remember to thank all the police officers and fire-fighters. Let's sing America the Beautiful together.

Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URbYAaAK9OQ

Isaiah 40:3 says, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.

Jesus' mother, Mary, visited John's mother Elizabeth one day before their babies were born. John was so happy, he jumped up and down inside Elizabeth's tummy!

Also, did you know that John and Jesus were cousins?

Raise your hand if you have ever seen a desert.

Raise your hand if you have ever seen a desert.

Who listened to John? A: KING COLE, B: KING KONG, C: KING HEROD, D: MARTIN LUTHER KING?

Large crowds came to hear John preach. He even got the attention of King Herod! John was a very famous, very important prophet. Jesus said that there was no prophet greater than John the Baptist.

John said he was not good enough to . . . A: WALK JESUS’ DOG, B: WASH JESUS’ DISHES, C: UNLATCH JESUS’ SANDALS

John said this about Jesus: "He must increase, and I must decrease."

Even though John was a very important prophet that even the king listened to, he said that he was not worthy to take off Jesus' sandals.

Back in the Bible days, people liked to be nice to their guests, and they would welcome their guests and say, "Look how long you've been traveling! Let me have my servant wash your feet, they're all dusty from the road!" Then the lowest servant would wash the guest's feet. John said he wasn't worthy to do even the lowest job for Jesus.

Last week, we learned that John the Baptist preached about repentance. This week, we're going to learn that John preached that we should be baptized!

John the Baptist lived a long, long time ago when Jesus was alive. He was a very special person with a mission from God. He was going to "prepare the way" for Jesus to come.

Last week, we learned a word that means "to turn from sin; to change one's mind." What is that word that we learned?That's right: REPENT. So, let's play a little game to remind us of what "repent" means. I'll need some volunteers. Come up if you want to volunteer (as many as want to participate may come up and line up at the altar area, with some space between them.) What I want you to do is to walk around the sanctuary. Make sure you have plenty of room between you. When I say "repent," you need to turn completely around and start walking the other way. Okay? Ready? Go! Start walking around the pews. March, march! Repent! March, march! Repent! March, march. Repent!

John baptized people in the Jordan River. The Jordan River has always represented death. There are many songs about "crossing the river Jordan," and maybe you've heard a grandma say "after I cross Jordan, I'm gonna see Jesus." Crossing Jordan represents dying. The Bible says that we need to be dead to our sins. Do dead people steal things? No. Do dead people tell lies? No. Do dead people punch other people? No. John baptized people in the Jordan River: a river that represented death. We need to be baptized and ask God to wash away our sins, "calling on the name of the Lord," and then we can be dead to our sins even when we are still alive. Then, Jesus can come into our hearts.

John preached it pretty hard. He didn't tell people that their sin was ok, or that it was just a mistake. He got serious! He might have even started pointing at people and shaking his hand like this. He told people that their sin was horrible, and they have to stop sinning right now! He might have even yelled!

The Pharisees and Sadducees spent all their time trying to look like they were so holy and righteous and better than all the other nasty, dirty people! They had a lot of pride in their hearts. So, John called the Pharisees and Sadducees a "brood of vipers." That means a mess of snakes! He told them to not think that they would be OK because they were the great great great great grandkids of Abraham.

He said, "bring forth fruits worthy of repentance."

John wanted the Pharisees to "bring forth fruits worthy of repentance."

Do you think John got the attention of the pharisees when he called them a mess of snakes?

I think he got their attention. John told the pharisees to REPENT, and stop being sneaky snakes, hiding a sinful heart while they tried to look holy.

What kind fruits do we need? We need "Fruit of the Spirit!"

If we have hate instead of love, we need to repent!

If we have anger instead of joy, we need to repent!

If we have doubt instead of peace, we need to repent!

If we are mean instead of kind, we need to repent!

If we are bad, and not good, we need to repent.

If we are unreliable instead of faithful, we need to repent!

If we are rough instead of gentle, we need to repent.

If we are selfish instead of having self-control, we need to repent!

John told the Pharisees to have good fruits.

Who else did John preach to?

Roman soldiers. Who wants to be a Roman soldier. (put the helmet on, and give them the spear.)

The Bible said, some soldiers were questioning John, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages."

Now, almost NOBODY pointed fingers at Roman soldiers and told them what to do.

But John told them to REPENT, and stop stealing and lying.

Who else did John preach to?

Tax collectors. Most everybody back then hated tax collectors because they would look in their book and see: "Hmm! Mr. Ichabod owes two gold coins to Caesar." Then they would come to Mr. Ichabod, and say, "You owe four gold coins to Caesar!" Mr. Ichabod would say, "But I thought I only owed two gold coins!" Then the tax collector would say: "Give me four gold coins, or I'll have a Roman soldier poke you with a spear." Then the tax collector would take the money, give two coins to Caesar, and put the other two coins in his pocket." The tax collector would get rich, and Mr. Ichabod would get mad.

So, when the tax collectors asked John "What shall we do?" John said, REPENT and stop taking too much money from people. That's stealing.

The crowd asked John, "What shall we do?

He answered and said unto them, He that has two coats, let him give to him that has none;

. . . and he that has meat, let him do likewise.

Okay, so they didn't really have burgers back in Bible times, but you get the picture.

So, John told the crowd, if you are selfish, if you don't care about anybody but yourself, REPENT, and start helping people who need it.

John said to prepare the way for the messiah to come. The people back then would have thought about kings. When kings came into town to visit, the people would try to make the road very nice; they would toss the rocks out of the way, pull the weeds, and make a nice path for the king to come through.

That's what we need to do in our heart. The Bible says to "lay aside every weight and sin that doth so easily beset us." Let's toss aside all those heavy rocks of sin that get in our way.

I'm thirsty! I need a drink of water. (Pretends to take sip from a glass full of dirt. Kids say, “gross.”)
What’s the matter? I can’t drink from this? You’re right! There’s no water. I’ll just put some water in. (Kids say, it’s dirty!) What? I need to dump the dirt out? You’re right. (Dumps dirt out.) NOW, I can have a drink! Don’t pour water in there? It’s still dirty? I guess you’re right. (Washes out cup. Tries to take a drink from empty glass, tips it on its end, gets nowhere.) This doesn’t work. I’m still thirsty! I’ve got to fill the cup? You’re right! (Fills glass, takes drink.) You know, this glass is a little like our hearts. We’ve got to dump all the dirt of sin out of our hearts. That’s repentance. We need to be baptized, and have our hearts washed clean. Then God will fill us with His refreshing, pure Holy Spirit. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit “rivers of living water.”

First John told the people to repent. The pharisees needed to repent, the roman soldiers needed to repent, the tax collectors needed to repent, and the crowd needed to repent. John even told King Herod to repent! Acts 17:30 says that God commands all people everywhere to repent. That means you and me, too!

After the people repented, what did John do? He baptized them. The Bible says that baptism washes away our sins. There's nothing special about the water, but there is something very special about obeying the word of God.

John said that Jesus was coming to baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He did not mean a fire that would hurt us, but he meant that we would have a happy, exciting glow in our hearts that makes us smile and get excited about Jesus. That is what the Holy Ghost does. It makes you hug people! When you get the Holy Ghost, you will speak in a language you haven't learned; that is called "speaking in tongues." Ephesians 1:14 calls the Holy Spirit, ". . . a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance." Our inheritance is heaven, and the Holy Spirit is the first taste of heaven. The Bible says the Holy Spirit guarantees our inheritance.

Let's pray at the altar. Everyone come up front, and we will close our eyes. You can raise your hands up, or fold your hands. Let's pray: Jesus we repent of our sins. We ask you to forgive us. Help us to turn away from sin, and start doing good things. If we've stolen something, we are sorry, God. If we have disobeyed our parents, we repent. If we have a mountain of pride, if we think we are better than someone else, we repent.