John was a busy man. Hundreds came every day to see him, to hear him, to be baptized by him. You can picture the scene, can’t you?

There’s something about the birth of a baby that is so exciting. Understatement of the year, I know, but hear me out.

Winter is demanding on our Wisconsin roadways, isn’t it? Even when you’ve lived here for a long time, it usually takes that first good snowfall to remember how to drive in the wintertime. You really have to remember to slow down and sometimes even what you think is slow enough is not. And yet, it’s not only the driving difficulty that increases exponentially because of our winter weather, but the wear and tear on the roads is also magnified.

I think generally, we’re a thankful people here at Eastside. We spent the first part of our service speaking words of thanksgiving as we’ve quoted various different words of Scripture. We’ve sung hymns of thanksgiving. In a few minutes, we’ll approach the throne of God’s grace and thank him again for specific blessings. I’ve even heard people who are so thankful, that they say, “Thanks for nothing!” Can you believe that?

“You are all a bunch of sheep!” That phrase has been tossed around quite a bit over the last year. And it’s not a compliment. Usually, it’s in reference to people who blindly follow someone or something. However, that picture of being a sheep is much different for the Christian.