Dear Christian friends:

When Jesus was thirty years old, God needed someone to point to Jesus and tell Israel, "He's the One, you have been waiting for, the One the prophets wrote about, the One God promised He will send to save you."

The man God chose for that important work was John the Baptizer. John was the last preacher to prophecy about the Messiah. John the Baptizer was more important than a prophet. He was the Introducer. He introduced Jesus to Israel. No other man before or since can have that high honor.

But really you and I, all of us are Introducer's! God still needs men and women to introduce Jesus to those who have not yet met Him. God calls you and me and gives us high honor:


How can we introduce Jesus to those who have not yet met Him? We can learn from John the Baptist. God chose him and prepared him for that important work. He lived in the desert, so he can think and study God's Word, not be bothered by many things and temptations of the world. God called him for that work. (Luke 1:13-17, 45)

John the Baptist wore only a coat of camel's hair, leather coat and ate locusts and wild honey. By his careful eating and living He admonished people not to love things of this world.

John also studied writings of the prophets. Then he can know Jesus when He comes. Luke 1:33, "And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’"

John was very humble. He did not seek praise for himself, but for Jesus. (verse 30, read it) "This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’"

John baptized with water to impress Israel that when Jesus comes He will forgive sins, (verse 31, read it) "I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

John called Jesus, "Lamb of God who takes away the world's sin!" (verses 29, 36) John called Jesus "Lamb of God", why? (See if any can answer. If not, explain!) (2 Corinthians 5:21)

We can't do everything as John did, but we can do some things he did to introduce Jesus to people today, who do not know and believe in Jesus. God has called us and chosen us to introduce people to Jesus. Jesus has called us and chosen us through baptism. He has given us faith in Him.

He has been teaching us through His Word and through the Lord's Supper that He is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin and the world's sin. We, the same as Andrew should be excited and eager to introduce others to Jesus Christ. God has chosen us for this work! (Romans 8:28-36, Ephesians 1:3-6)

You can't baptize like John, but you can talk to people about baptism? Ask if they have been baptized. Are children baptized? New baby baptized? Tell them about the wonderful blessings God gives through baptism.

On Good Friday and during Holy Week ask people if they know about God's Lamb. Ask why John called Jesus "Lamb of God"? Invite them to come to Church with you on Good Friday and Easter to meet Jesus, God's Lamb. On other special Church days invite people to come to Church with you to meet Jesus Christ. Yourself attend every Sunday!

By yourself showing love, mercy, forgiveness, and kindness to those people who do not yet know Jesus you can introduce Jesus to them. They will see that you are different than most other people in the world and will wonder why you help people in trouble. (Tell about Missionary Jones, "Go and Tell", Ministries page 13)

These are a few ways you, like John the Baptist, can introduce people to Jesus. God will bless us if we do that important work. He blessed John as he introduced Israel to Jesus. (verses 36-41)

Many Jewish people came to John and got baptized. When John pointed to Jesus and said, "Look, the Lamb of God", we read that two of John's disciples left John and began to follow Jesus. (read verses 36-42) Andrew and Peter both later on became joined with Jesus' twelve disciples.

God very much blessed John the Baptist when he introduced people to Jesus. Many became believers in Jesus and received eternal life through John's work. God will also bless us, if we have faith and courage like John and introduce people to meet Jesus.

A few of you have been doing that, and new people are coming to meet Jesus in our Church. I hope more of you will do that. It pleases Jesus very much and you will find excitement, and joy in doing that work when you see people whom you introduced to Jesus become strong Christians. Think of Andrew. He was very happy and satisfied when his brother, Peter became a disciple of Jesus. Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus. God blessed Andrew's work. (Tell the story of "Mary and Ann", page 17, "Go And Tell").

God will bless us when we introduce people to Jesus. True, some will not want to meet Jesus. Not everyone will accept your invitation. Some will say, "No" or make excuses. Perhaps some will mock you if you try to introduce Jesus to them. That happened to John, too.

King Herod became angry when John talked to him about his sin. He put John in prison. Later he commanded his soldier to cut off his head. But even in that John had peace and joy in his heart. He suffered for Jesus' sake. Jesus says in Matthew 5:10-12: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Let us introduce people to Jesus! God will bless us very much if we do!

Amen.