What is your baptism story? Think of someone who needs to hear the story of what God has done in your life – then go tell them!

Have you ever looked in your pantry or refrigerator at shelves full of food and mumbled, “There’s nothing to eat!”? Or, pushed aside clothes on hangers in your closet and groaned, “I don’t have a thing to wear!”?

Imagine, if you will, that instead of having a cupboard full of groceries that you simply don’t feel like cooking, you ate only locusts and wild honey … that you caught by hand, no doubt – crunch, crunch, mmm! Or, instead of donning the latest Coach clutch, your accessory was a simple leather wrap for your camel skin tunic … I feel itchy just thinking about it. Now, you are eating and dressing like John the Baptist, as described in Matthew 3.

Centuries before his arrival, the prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of John the Baptist (Isaiah 40). The Bible explains how John hung out in the wilderness of Judea, far from the hustle and bustle of the big city (Jerusalem). He didn’t lead a megachurch in the center of town with his picture on highway billboards, three televised Sunday services, a New York Times best-seller and his own podcast (not that any of those things are bad … just that John didn’t have a marketing department). Instead, he preached out in the boonies about the stuff that we don’t like to hear: sin and our need to repent from it. And guess what? People flocked to him! People came from Jerusalem and the whole region of the Jordan River to hear him preach and be baptized in the river. John even baptized Jesus! Wow, can you imagine? Check out Matthew 3 for the whole story.

Today is our annual baptism and anniversary celebration, and we have so much to praise God for these past eight years! Think about your own family and how Crossroads has influenced it. Look at the folks seated around you in the worship service this morning. So many people in our church family have come to know Christ in a personal way because of his work through this fellowship. God is good, all the time! So, let’s focus our prayer this week on sharing our praises. Praise is a type of sacrifice that we can offer God, and I reckon that the more we focus on praising him, the less we’ll notice our frustrations.

Have you ever asked God for something and he hasn’t done it the way you wanted him to? How might he use the situation to his glory, anyway?

There’s too much baggage/regret/fear in my life for God to use me. God doesn’t charge baggage claim fees. He just wants to carry it for you.

I’m no one; how could God possibly use me? Um, hello – look at Moses! Don’t let the enemy talk you out of God’s plan for your life.

Look for the gifts in other people today. Sometimes people don’t recognize their own blessings. Pass along God’s love to them today.

Pick one challenging circumstance in your life and pray today for God to help you see it as a gift.

If God removed the “thorn in your side,” what great things could result? Guess what: He can still do great things in spite of it!