John the Baptist Introduces the Word

John
Written By Steve Estes

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: John 1:6-8, 15
December 18, 2022

John 1:6-8, 15: There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light

(John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'")

Sermon Outline:

1. The idea of a "witness"

2. John the Baptist's witness

  • Manner

  • Role

  • Message

3. Lesson #1: Don't over-value God's witnesses

  • John the Apostle disabuses the notion that John the Baptist was the pinnacle

  • Application

4. Lesson #2: Don't under-value God's witnesses

  • Don't under-value God's witnesses in general

  • In particular, don't under-value witness of the two Johns

5. Lesson #3: It's not enough to merely hear the gospel; you must do something with it

Steve Estes

Steve Estes has been senior pastor at Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, Pennsylvania, for over thirty-five years. 

Steve’s books and other writings began with his longtime friendship with Joni Eareckson Tada. As teenagers, they grappled with why God allowed Joni’s paralysis in a swimming accident in the Chesapeake Bay. Steve left for college . . . they kept in touch . . . she liked the style of his letters. When her 1976 autobiography Joni spawned thousands of reader responses, she asked Steve to join her in crafting a follow-up. The result was A Step Further in 1978.

Later, Wycliffe Bible Translators commissioned Steve to write the biography of former college friend Chet Bitterman, a Wycliffe linguist who was kidnapped and murdered by political terrorists in Colombia in 1981. Other books and articles followed, including When God Weeps (with Joni) and A Better December (a giveaway book for non-Christian friends at Christmas.)

Steve was educated at Westminster Theological Seminary, Columbia Bible College and Jerusalem University College in Israel. He has taught homiletics at Westminster and is a board member of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation.

But Steve would say his most significant life achievement was persuading college classmate Verna Stoltzfus to marry him in 1974.  They now have eight children and more grandchildren than can fit in a van.

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And the Word Became Flesh
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