Preparing For The Main Attraction

2024 Church Vision & Theme

2024 Church Theme:

Kingdom Minded

2024 Theme Scripture

Matthew 6:33 ESV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

2024 Church Vision

Thriving together in Jesus Christ as we seek first the Kingdom of God.

Journeying through the Gospel of Matthew for 2024

Introduction- How to properly introduce a guest speaker

According to the Rotary Club International

The introducer’s job is to

1. Remind the audience why the topic is important to them

2. Establish the speaker’s qualifications to speak on the topic

3. Get the presentation off on a high note by establishing an up-beat tone

4. Make the speaker feel especially welcome

Those within the Legal Profession are also instructed that a secondary purpose of introducing someone, such as a speaker,

is to motivate the audience to listen. Just because the audience is there doesn’t mean the are ready to listen. Maybe they came to be seen, take a brief nap or escape something else. You can motivate by giving a preview of the speech from the perspective of the audience. Let them know “What’s In It for Me”–narrow the gap between the audience and the lectern.

Transition To Body- John the Baptist Preparing the way of the LORD

Body

Urgency of the God-inspired Preacher’s Message

Matthew 3:1–3 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.” 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.’ ”

Repent-

to change one’s way of life as the result of a complete change of thought and attitude with regard to sin and righteousness—‘to repent, to change one’s way, repentance

Prophet-

one who proclaims inspired utterances on behalf of God—‘prophet, inspired preacher.

Crying out and shouting out -

with unusually loud volume- has a sense of urgency to the moment

Isaiah 40:3–8 ESV

3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Powerful Example of the Preacher’s Witness

Matthew 3:4–5 ESV

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. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,

Interpreters from the earlier centuries were inclined to underscore the simplicity of John’s attire (for example, Chromatus, Maximus of Turin, Peter Chrysologus). They considered this as a symbol for repentance.

In times of severe national apostasy in the Old Testament, some prophets (like Elijah) found it necessary to live outside society’s boundaries.

2 Kings 1:7–10 ESV

7 He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” 8 They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.” 9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’ ” 10 But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

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.”

Drawing people from everywhere

Matthew 3:5 ESV

5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,

People’s Response to the Preacher’s Imperatives

Matthew 3:6–10 ESV

6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 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.

Don’t Presume

3:9. Jewish people commonly believed that they were saved as a people by virtue of their descent from Abraham. The idea of God raising up people from stones would have sounded to John the Baptist’s Jewish hearers more like pagan mythology (the Greeks had such a story) than reality, but these words emphasized that God did not need Israel to fulfill his purpose (as in Amos 9:7; cf. Gen 1:24; 2:9). Some scholars have also suggested a wordplay on “children” and “stones” in Aramaic.

Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 3:9.

Illustration: True Baptism

to employ water in a religious ceremony designed to symbolize purification and initiation on the basis of repentance

Preacher’s Position in Relation to Jesus Christ

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.”

The prophets had predicted the outpouring of God’s Spirit on the righteous at the time when God established his kingdom for Israel (Is 44:3; Ezek 39:29; Joel 2:28). They also decreed fire upon the wicked (Is 26:11; 65:15; 66:24; Jer 4:4; 15:14; etc.). In Matthew 3:11, the wicked are baptized, or immersed, in fire (3:10, 12), the righteous in the Holy Spirit.`

Transition To Close- Get off the stage and make way for the Main Attraction

An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or ”headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform again at the end of the event, or perform with the featured act after both have had a set to themselves.

The opening act's performance serves to "warm up" the audience, making it appropriately excited and enthusiastic for the headliner.

But when you do get an opening slot for a touring or established act make sure you approach it right. The number one rule about opening is to play a set one minute less than your allocated time slot. Meaning, if you get a 45 minute set, play 44 minutes, pack up your gear quickly and get off stage. I don’t care how good you think you are or how much the audience is loving you, never play long.

Close- The Main Attraction Is Jesus Christ

Matthew 3:13–17 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. 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.”

John 3:25–30 ESV

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Isaiah 64:4–6 ESV

4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. 5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

2 Corinthians 4:7 ESV

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

John 12:27–33 ESV

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.