John the Baptist Prepares the Way 3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,[a] make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” 7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin 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. 9 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.” 10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” 15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Join Pastor Ben Harris on a journey to discover the authentic life as a Christ-follower through obeying His word and loving and serving one another in truth. Listen to the messages of the Restored 4 Life radio show every Sunday at 8:30 am on KSPD, 790 AM and 94.5 FM Boise's Solid Talk! The word “restored” means to be reestablished, refreshed, and revived. We at RCC believe that all of us have blown it, but desire something more in life than regret or mediocrity. We’ve discovered that “more” is a relationship with Jesus, God’s one and only Son, who came to earth in order to RESTORE us from failure to follower. Join us as we set out on a journey to discover the authentic life of a Christ-follower through obedience to His Word, loving one another in truth, and serving and showing what the abundant God-life looks like. “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. RESTORE to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” Psalm 51:10, 12 Pastor Ben 3633 W Floating Feather Rd., Eagle, ID 83616 | 208.938.2191 https://www.restoredcommunitychurch.org/ Podcast Website: https://www.790kspd.com/podcast-restored-4-life/
