The Powerfully Important Message in Jesus’ Baptism…and Ours

When Jesus was baptized, he was communicating a powerfully important message. 

The very fact that he was baptized speaks volumes. So do the words of the Father spoken to the Son at his baptism. 

But his baptism and these words take on even deeper meaning for us when you see them in the light of what John the Baptist was preaching right before it. 

I always thought I understood John’s reluctance to baptize Jesus. After all, this was the Messiah, and John is only a prophet preparing the way for the Messiah. John says as much.

But there’s more to it. Way more.

For John, Jesus’ baptism would have felt like a possible rejection of his message.

It wasn’t a rejection, but it was a correction. 

This weekend we’ll look at the correction.

And we'll also take a deep dive into the powerfully important message in Jesus’ baptism.

My hope is that it will deepen your understanding of your baptism......or compel you to follow the example of Jesus and be baptized. 

Hope to see Saturday or Sunday!

Photo by Tyler Lastovich on Unsplash

This is Us

We are the church, whether we are gathered or scattered--each one of us, a part of the body of Christ, wherever we go, whatever we do.

So, where can you find us, and what are we doing?  

Hector and Beth Dalton and their son Brant, Sue Ellen his wife, and their kids hosted a family for Easter through our partnership with the Hospitality Center for Chinese at the UM. Beth writes, "We were pleased to host a Chinese professor and her parents from Shanghai.  They joined us for the Easter service, and then we served traditional ham, rice, vegetables and dirt and worms for dessert.  Although skeptical,  our guests enjoyed the "dirt cake" dessert very much and asked for the recipe.  For entertainment, we performed a puppet show of the resurrection (prepared by my 8-year-old granddaughter) and finished the day by playing pie face."