The Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begins with the words of the early preachers: "Listen! I will send My helper to carry the news ahead of you. He will make the way ready. His voice calls out in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord. Make the road straight for Him!' "

John the Baptist preached in the desert. He preached that people should be baptized because they were sorry for their sins and turned from them. And they would be forgiven. People from over all the country of Judea and from Jerusalem came to him. They told of their sins and were baptized by John in the Jordan River.

John wore clothes made of hair from camels. He had a leather belt around him. His food was locusts and wild honey. He preached, saying, "One is coming after me Who is greater than I. I am not good enough to get down and help Him take off His shoes. I have baptized you with water. But He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Jesus came to the Jordan River from the town of Nazareth in the country of Galilee. He was baptized by John. As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, He saw heaven open up. The Holy Spirit came down on Him like a dove. A voice came from heaven and said, "You are My much loved Son. I am very happy with You."

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Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and Peace be with you Christ's Soldier!

It has been a very long time since I've written to you. Today is a good day to write again. Today we hear the story of Jesus getting Baptized. We also hear of a man named John. He was a cousin of Jesus. John was born exactly six months before Jesus. John liked to live outdoors. He wore camel's hair clothes. He had a big leather belt to hold his camels-hair clothes on. There isn't much to eat in the wilderness, so he ate bugs. These are big locusts, but they are good for you. People must have thought John was a very special type of person. The knew he preached the truth. He was not afraid of any man. He would tell them just what was true. He told them they need to be sorry for acting bad, and to turn to God and be good. To help them do this, he gave them a washing in water. They called it in the Greek language "baptismo". It means to dip. They would either dip their body down into the water, or if there was not enough, they would dip their hand into the water and pour it over a person. This was a sign of what God was doing inside them. God would answer their prayer to clean them from their sin.

Now John told them all that Jesus was greater than he was. He told them that he baptized with water. He said Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. You see, Jesus gives to people the gift of himself in the Spirit. He said in another place that men must be born of water and the Spirit. So today we baptize with water, like John did, and God baptizes with the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. It means we are born again when we are baptized. We are re-born as Spiritual people. We then belong to two churches. One is the visible church. It is all the people on earth we can see who are Christians. The second Church is Christ's invisible church. It is every Christian who has ever lived. When you are baptized in the Spirit you become a saint, and have communion with all the other saints.

Now when Jesus was baptized, God gave two signs. One was a dove that flew down from heaven on to Jesus when he came up out of the water. That is a sign of the Holy Ghost coming down to us. The other sign was the voice of God from heaven. It said, "You are my son who I love very much; I am very pleased with you." Today, in baptism, we remember these two signs. A lot of times you will see a picture of the dove coming down. You will also hear the minister say a prayer calling for God to accept the new person in Christ's name. God is much pleased with all those who come to him for baptism. He wants the people to be clean of all their sins. He wants them to love him as their heavenly Father.

Farewell, and may God, the Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost bless you, your family, and your friends!

Granddaddy

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LESSON EXERCISES

* Can you name the people in this story, and tell about them?

* In you own words, what do you think this story is about?

* Draw a picture that tells the Gospel story. (You may copy or trace the one on the lesson if you wish.)

* Make up a story (parable) or share a true story that is like our lesson today.

* Sing a song about today's story A LITTLE CHILD THE SAVIOR CAME

Songs for Children

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Notice: This is an open letter to my Grandson Nathan. It is under copyright protection: The Rev. Mark Carroll, MMVII

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