Pastor Jerry was reading from Mark 1:4-11 about John The
Baptist baptizing people in the Jordan river , and
Jesus came requesting to be baptized.
John at first refused, but relented and when Jesus came up from the
water, an amazing thing happened.
And
immediately, coming up from the water, the heavens parted and the Spirit
descending upon Jesus like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased.”
Pastor asked a question,
“How does your faith hold up in times of trial? Sometimes we are shaken. Do we become bitter with sorrow and emotional
turbulence. We might pray, Get me out of
this and I will become a Priest. (Or some other rash promise.)
When everything is successful and we think we can control
the situation, we think we don’t need faith.
This week has been sour.
That is nothing new. Throughout
history there have been invasions, terrorism, troubles, sickness and death.
So much depends on one’s faith and what you believe. Faith is deep seated confidence, while belief
is often opinion. Faith is always NEW
while belief comes and goes.
Place faith on what is vital, and to build up our faith
often takes a lifetime.
You can model Faith, but you cannot give someone faith.
In Genesis chapter – In the beginning all was new.
In John chapter 1: 1 In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
The Word is capitalized as Jesus is
the Word and linked with creation.
When we receive Jesus we are made a
New creation, something that was never before.
God is doing something new and
radical in truth guiding principles. We
have all had experiences that are unique.
The message of Jesus was The
Kingdom of God and Salvation, and he begins a ministry of new beginnings.
How do we define ourselves?
There are several traditional
methods of baptism. Christian baptism
defines us and it relates back to the cleansing of all impurities and a new
beginning.
Regardless of the method, we can
remind ourselves “I was baptized.”
