Good morning! This is Pastor Brian. I thought I would take a moment and come to you with another note from me as we enter into the new year. I know many of us got to see some snow that either we were very excited or perhaps we were a little less excited than excited about having the snow. I know here at my house we had a little less than an inch of snow and then we received a nice coating of ice on top of that. But it’s beginning to melt pretty well here this morning.
As we entered into the new year, we started off with first a challenge to ourselves to introduce someone to the good news of Jesus Christ within the year 2025.
And then last week, we talked about how what will we write in our chapter of our lives as we strive to serve the Lord in 2025. Everyone was given a small notebook to record notes along those lines.
Now, this week, we come together to remember Jesus’ baptism and to reaffirm our own baptisms. As part of this remembering, I think it’s important to see the words of Isaiah the prophet and remember how God views us.
In Isaiah 43:4, the prophet wrote the words of God:
Because you are precious in my sight,
and honored, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;Isaiah 43:4-5 (NRSV)
I think those are wonderful words to remember of God’s love for us.
As we continue on, we will have this service of reaffirmation of our baptisms, but in this time, we should recall the time and remember when Jesus was batpized by John in the Jordan.
When he was baptized, it said in Luke’s gospel, “the heavens were opened and the the Holy Spirit came on him like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.” (Luke 3:21-22).
As we come into this time remembering all that Jesus has done for us in our lives, and we remember our baptisms – although some of us may have been baptized as an infant and may struggle to remember that – we can reflect though on the central command of our baptismal covenant in the Methodist Church, which says: “As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service and your witness?”
And so, in this new year, we’re pushing outward to be better witnesses for Jesus Christ in our community.
I would encourage you to be careful and stay safe with the possibility of ice on our roads or sidewalks or back roads in particular at this time. Continue to check on our social media, in our group emails, on our website, and for other communications about whether we’re having services or not due to the cold temperatures and the possibility ice.
May God’s blessing be with you. This is Pastor Brian, saying goodbye for now until we see each other soon.
