Elijah is Coming (Luke 1:1-25)

Luke desires to present to us an orderly account of Christ, and why Christ is the messiah. We begin our Christmas series with Luke's account of John. We are going to cover Luke's gospel for Christmas, and then we will head back to Luke's gospel after we finish Hosea.

Why is Christ’s Baptism Stressful? (Luke 12:49-59)

When Christ enters history we expect Christ to bring peace, life, and joy in this age. However, this is not what we see with Christ. Christ speaks of casting fire and creating division. This is the messiah who is supposed to bring the kingdom of peace, shalom, that is a kingdom of wholeness for his people. So, if this is true then why is Christ bringing division on this earth? Secondly, why is Christ so overwhelmed by his baptism?

John's Fire Sermon (Matt. 3:1-12)

John calls the current leaders of Israel a brood of vipers.  This is not very flattering.  In fact, such speech would most likely put you at odds with the current leadership.  Why would John use such language?  What can we learn from such a harsh sermon?