Not the water, but the Savior

01 · GATHER ROUND

Start with a question.

“Who can do the best announcer voice? Can you introduce someone at this table like they’re the star of the show?”

Enjoy some dramatic announcer voices. John the Baptist was a kind of announcer.

03 · OPEN THE BIBLE

The announcer.

The stadium lights dim. The crowd goes quiet. Then a voice booms over the speakers: “Ladies and gentlemen… the moment you’ve been waiting for!” The announcer is important—everyone hears him. But nobody came to see the announcer. His whole job is to point to someone else.

John the Baptist was a little like that announcer. Crowds came from all over to hear him preach and to be baptized in the Jordan River. Some people wondered if John was the promised Savior. But in our Bible verse, John points away from himself. He says, “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come.”

John knew his baptism was only getting people ready for someone greater. Water can clean dirt off your hands, but it can’t clean the inside of a heart. Only Jesus can do that. The Bible says it is Jesus’s blood—his death on the cross for us—that cleanses us from sin.

That’s why Christians call baptism a sign. It’s a real and important gift from God, but its job is to point to someone else, the way the announcer points to the star. Being baptized doesn’t make someone right with God by itself. Jesus, who died and rose again, is the one who makes us clean, and we receive his cleansing by trusting him.

John also said Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That means Jesus doesn’t only forgive us. He gives us his Spirit, who makes us new from the inside out. Water on the outside pictures what only Jesus can do on the inside.

So when you see a baptism, remember the announcer. The water is saying, “Look at Jesus!” He is the one who washes us clean. And whenever you remember your own baptism, or look forward to it, let it point you to him, too.

04 · WONDER TOGETHER

Let’s talk about it.

1. Why did John point away from himself and toward Jesus?
2. What’s the difference between water cleaning our hands and Jesus cleaning our hearts?
3. If baptism doesn’t wash away sin, why is it still important?

Try answering one yourself first. “I don’t know yet” is a fine place to start a conversation.

06 · TALK TO GOD

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, thank you that you are the one who washes us clean from sin. Thank you for baptism, which points us to you. Like John, help us point others to you instead of to ourselves. Fill us with your Holy Spirit, and make us new from the inside out. Amen.

Then invite everyone to add one thing they want to tell God.

07 · MAKE IT STICK

A little truth to learn by heart.

Point down at the floor for the first word, as if pointing at the water. Then point up and out for the rest, pointing to Jesus. Say the answer three ways—in an announcer voice, in a whisper, and in your normal voice—pointing each time.