"John wasn’t hurting anybody. He was just out there in the wilderness preaching and baptizing when the posse from the Pharisees rode up," begins Jim Somerville, Pastor of Richmond's First Baptist Church and co-founder of A Sermon for Every Sunday. He continues his sermon from John 1:6-8, 19-28, "They looked him up and down suspiciously — the camel hair tunic, the wide leather belt, the locusts and wild honey still left on his dinner plate — one of them spit on the ground and asked, “Who do you think you are, anyway?” “Well,” he laughed. “I’m not the Messiah, if that’s what you’re thinking ... Look, fellas," John said, running out of patience, “I baptize with water!” Water? What's so special about water? Somerville admits, not much. Our baptism with water doesn't change us. It just makes us wet. But John brings the good news. One is coming who can and does change us. Thanks be to God!

This sermon is from A Sermon for Every Sunday, a series of lectionary-based video sermons designed for use in worship, Bible study, small groups, Sunday school classes or for individual use.

For more sermon preparation help, check out Pulpit Resource, Will Willimon's weekly lectionary-based sermon resource, available online and through a print subscription.