Baptism of Jesus courtesy free clip art |
Matthew 3:16-17
When
He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the
heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and alighting upon Him.
And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Today
is the day of Epiphany the star of regeneration. It is a celebration of the wise men that
followed the star and brought gifts to the Christ child.
Pastor
Jerry read from Matthew 3:13-17 about Jesus coming to John requesting to be
baptized.
Baptism is signifying a change of direction in one’s life, a new beginning. Jesus was about to change direction and begin his ministry.
At first John refused, saying that he needed Jesus to baptize him, but Jesus said to John, “Permit it to be so.”
Baptism is signifying a change of direction in one’s life, a new beginning. Jesus was about to change direction and begin his ministry.
At first John refused, saying that he needed Jesus to baptize him, but Jesus said to John, “Permit it to be so.”
John
declared to the crowd, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
World.
Pastor
said, we will not argue the modes of baptism, because the very act is a
mountain top experience. One’s heart
must be ready for an experience with God and to understand all of the
mysterious meaning of the Water baptism observance.
In
life we have few mountain top experiences, but they are a time of extreme peace
and presence of deity.
Some
would dispute the need of meeting
God in a church and claim they find this peace and solitude in nature, in
fishing, in music, or the arts such as painting and the dance.
Pastor said, he would not
deny that God can be real in these places, but we must not neglect the
gathering together in like precious faith to worship God.
The Jordan River was a
mountain top experience for Jesus the sinless one. He did not need his sins washed away as he
had no sin. This ceremony was a
testimony that he was committed to finish the task set before Him.
As Jesus came out of the
water, The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove came and rested upon him, and God
the Father’s voice from heaven spoke and said, “This is my beloved Son, hear ye
Him.”
(Notice the trinity was evident
here in visible and audible form.)
Our baptism may not be as
dynamic as the baptism of Jesus, but it can be as meaningful.
Martin Luther said, “There is
no greater comfort to the Christian than baptism, as it is an outward sign of
an inward work of grace.”
3 comments:
Sister, you preach, and I'll turn the pages... We are new creatures and I feel it. God bless your words tonight and every day they are grasped...
I've never heard that quote by Luther, I really like it. Thanks for sharing.
As a person who's been a believer for over half my life, I don't often reflect back on my Baptism, it's a wonderful memory. thank you.
Good post Hazel, since Floyd will turn pages I will sing as you preach...
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