Wonderful. Thank you, Joel.

Good morning, Covenant Bible Church.

Joel was gracious to push my sermon back a week.

I was originally slated to preach last week, but we had the birth of our daughter and everyone

is doing well, so we are saying praise God in our home. So now it's good to be with you and in the pulpit this week. If you would direct

your attention to the text at hand, we'll be picking up where we left off in the gospel of Matthew.

This week's text is Matthew chapter 3, verses 1 through 12. So if you have a Bible or those sermon notes with you,

would you follow along with me as I read the text? And as I read it, would you stand with me

in reverence for the Word of God? When I conclude reading the text, I will say, this is the

word of the Lord. And as a congregation, I will ask that we respond by saying,

thanks be to God. So this is once more Matthew chapter 3, verses 1 through 12. The Bible says this.

In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Repent, for the kingdom of

heaven is at hand. For this is he who was

spoken up by the prophet Isaiah when he said, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way

of the Lord, make his paths straight. Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt

around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them,

You brood of vipers, who warns you to flee from the wrath to come.

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not presume 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.

Even now the axe is laid to the root of the

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