Bible Study “Second Sunday of Advent – I Will, With God’s Help”
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
Advent invites us to risk pushing on through the world’s weariness to expectant hope. Something’s coming we proclaim! Immanuel: God With Us in the form of an infant. We celebrate what happened 2000 years ago while we look to the promise that Jesus will come again. We are also called, as we live in this parenthesis time, to look for messages God continues to send: what has happened, and will happen again, is also happening now: right here.
Today we have a story about a prophet. What do they think a prophet does? (a prophet tells it “like it is” and helps people notice what needs to change.)
The Prophet Isaiah could see the day when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of God.” John the Baptist saw clutter blocking the way to God. John pointed to the truth that through Baptism, we are called to seek knowledge of God, get rid of the clutter, and smooth the path on which we walk.
Opening Prayer: Thank you, God, for the messengers you send us to help us figure out what we can do. Amen.
The Bible tells us that in the days before Jesus began his ministry, a man called John began preaching and telling the people to prepare for the coming King. When John told people to prepare for the King, he didn’t mean that they should go home and sweep the floor, pick up their toys and make their beds. He meant that they should prepare their hearts. How? By repenting of their sins and turning toward God. When they did this, John would baptize them in the Jordan River. That is how he got the name “John the Baptist”.
Please open your Bibles to Matthew 3:1-12 and read or read the scriptures below.
Matthew 3:1-12
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[a]
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Questions:
- When is this happening — what are “those days?” (Jesus had just begun his ministry and was probably about 30 years old. John the Baptist was his cousin, born about 6 months before Jesus.)
- Describe John’s outfit and his diet. (Verse 4.)
- Where was John preaching? (Verse 1))
- Who came out to hear John? (Verse 7a)
- Who were the “Pharisees” and the “Sadducees?” (The religious leaders.)
- Why do you think John had such harsh words for them? (They had gotten pretty sure of themselves and didn’t think they needed to tell God they were sorry about anything.)
- Who is the person John the Baptist is referring to in verse 11?
- John the Baptist was out in the wilderness — how did he baptize people? (He led them into the Jordan River and baptized them there.)
Click here for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on url)
LUMO- Gospel of Matthew 3:1-17 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py2zZMiQYjA
Overview: Matthew 1-13 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dv4-n6OYGI
Activities:
Baptism - Have you seen a baptism? If you remember or not, following is an explanation of how it is done and how you can do it. Pour some water in a bowl. The person being baptized would bend over the water, or in the case of an infant, their parent would hold them over the bowl. The person in charge of the baptism would then say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Repeat: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. After saying that, dip a finger in the water, make the sign of the cross. (To “cross yourself,” take your right hand and put your thumb, index, and middle finger together. Then touch your forehead, the center of your chest, your left shoulder, and your right shoulder.) When you are in church, watch the people going to communion and see how many people will dip their finger in the bowl in the font at the front of the church before taking communion. This is an ongoing reminder of their own baptism, knowing that we continue to say ‘In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ Baptism is a special day for Christians to celebrate and remember that they are now forgiven and children of God.
Advent Wreath – Hopefully you completed your Advent Wreath and you lit the first purple candle of hope or prophesy. Now you need to light the second purple candle of Peace.
25 Days of Christmas Activities
Voice in the Wilderness Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/voice_in_the_wilderness_crossword.htm?fromSermonId=397
Voice in the Wilderness Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/voice_in_the_wilderness_decoder.htm?fromSermonId=397
Word Search: https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/4473133/i-will-with-gods-help/
Prayer: Thank you, God, for John the Baptist who showed people how to “prepare the way of the Lord.” Amen.
