Last Week's Take Aways:

Take Away: Just as with John’s birth, God can have specific timing for certain things to unfold in your life which will bring about circumstances that bring Him the most glory. God may be waiting for us to decrease so that His perfect timing can come about.

Take Away: As with Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit can give supernatural insight and discernment. As we decrease, the Holy Spirit has more room to manifest Himself in our lives.

Take Away: As John proclaimed a new way of living was coming, we can also proclaim to others that Jesus brings with him a new covenant. As we decrease we can receive more of the new covenant found in Jesus.

Pleroo (play-ro'-o)=Fulfill: to verify a prediction

Trinity is the result of "systematic theology". The word "Trinity" is not found in Scripture, but is the culmination of several theological testimonies about the triune God. The first reference to the Trinity is found in Genesis 1:26 with the description of "our image".

Take Away: John was at first apprehensive towards Jesus’ request to be Baptized, but then concedes verifying Jesus’ claim to Messiahship. We can sometimes be apprehensive towards what Jesus asks of us, but when we’re obedient we decrease and Jesus increases in us.

Take Away: God desires to use each of us in ministry. As we decrease and He increases in us we can be used for powerful things in God’s Kingdom.

Immersion in Jewish Tradition
The Jewish laws which had been passed down orally from generation to generation had several things to say about the need for ritual washing, and the most desirable places to do it.[1] There are six different options suggested that satisfy the requirements, starting with pits or cisterns of standing water as acceptable but least desirable, moving up to pits that are refreshed by rainwater as slightly more desirable, then the custom-built ritual bath, or “mikveh” with 40 se’ahs (300 liters) or more of water, then fountains, then flowing waters.
But “living waters” (as found in natural lakes and rivers) were considered to be the best possible situation.
The Mishnah specifies what makes the water clean or unclean, and expresses a preference for a larger, fresher body of water, “For in it persons may immerse themselves and immerse others”.
So Yochanan immersing people in the “Living waters” of the River Jordan was perfectly within Jewish law and practice at the time.

Take Away: Water Baptism is an outward and visible sign of our decision to follow Jesus who is the true Living Water who cleanses us from our sins. Our Baptism is a symbol of us decreasing and Jesus increasing in our life.