Epiphany: The Baptism of Jesus
Matthew 3:13-17 Common English Bible
13 At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River so that John would baptize him. 14 John tried to stop him and said, “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?”
15 Jesus answered, “Allow me to be baptized now. This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.”
So John agreed to baptize Jesus. 16 When Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him. 17 A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.”
GATHERING FOR SUNDAY
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Hello NewDay Brothers and Sisters,
Before I get to the sermon texts for Sunday, I come to you this day feeling heavy, worried, sad and burdened for our world, for our communities, and people in our communities being affected by the immigration problems, arrests, recent killing in MN, shootings occurring, school disruptions, and overall fears our immigrant communities are experiencing. I urge you to pray, and intercede for all who are impacted, for us as Christians to know how to act and pray and stand in the gap for people who are fearful and needing support, and for God's wisdom and help to prevail for our leaders. This morning, I spent time praying the Lorica Prayer of St Patrick, known as St. Patrick's Breasplate Prayer, taken from the Catholic Bible App:
I hope this will encourage your prayers for yourself, point us back to Jesus, and give us language to intercede for those struggling in our nation right now.
Sermon texts this Sunday will be from the Lectionary: Psalm 29; Isaiah 42:1-9; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17.
We are resuming the readings from the Red Book, and are on the week of Ephiphany. between January 7 and 14.
We will be exploring the themes of Epiphany over the next month.
What do you think of when you read the word Epiphany? Or see?
When Pastor Zach and Derek and I met this past week for sermon planning, we mulled over the words on the image Derek created- revealed, illuminated, unveiling, as well as clarity, understanding, "the light dawned," or "all things made sense!" And, why the church fathers designated a season for Ephipahy. It is a time to ponder, wonder and lean into the revelation of Jesus, as the Son of God, Messiah, Christ.
This week, we are reading the account of Jesus' baptism by His cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus was revealed and confirmed in this act of Baptism as God's Son, and the Holy Spirit manifested in the form of a dove upon His baptism, the voice of God audibly identified Jesus as His Son that He is pleased with, and marked the beginning of His ministry, and the road to the Cross.
We will spend time exploring the Why for Jesus' coming to John for Baptism, what happened, the significance of His seeking out baptism, and what this means for us as followers of Jesus.
You also will have the opportunity to renew your baptismal vows this Sunday, if you feel compelled to do so, at the end of the service. This does not mean we will be doing Baptisms on Sunday- just a renewal of baptismal vows, if this would be meaningful to you!
If you would like to discuss being baptised, I would love to talk with you about this too.
God bless you this day with His love, peace, hope, help, comfort and reminder of Who He is, and His presence with you and this world today.
In Christ, Pastor Kari