This week’s gospel text is Mark’s bare-bones account of Jesus’ baptism... and according to the learned minds that assembled the lectionary, it ends with God’s words of approval about his “beloved Son.” But in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Chris Keating suggests that an important element of the story is contained in two verses that immediately follow -- which are omitted by the lectionary committee. While those verses aren’t about Jesus’ baptism per se, they describe how right after his baptism Jesus was “driven by the Spirit” out into the wilderness -- where he was “with the wild beasts” and tempted by Satan, but was also waited on by angels. Chris points out that if we view that episode as part and parcel of the story of Jesus’ baptism, we are presented with its imperative; in other words, the inevitable response to being baptized. Chris notes that it’s all too easy for us to think of baptism as a happy but relatively benign ritual of passage... but reminding ourselves of what followed Jesus’ baptism is an important corrective. By taking into account Jesus’s next steps, we begin to understand that baptism doesn’t just entitle us to church membership (and maybe preferred seating in the pews) -- instead, it’s more akin to an induction notice into God’s army of believers. Like Jesus, we are called to go out into the wilderness of our world and to wrestle with temptation and feral beasts, knowing that (as with Jesus) God’s angels are out there in the wilds to assist us. Chris reminds us that Jesus’ baptism provides us with a model for real Christian living -- we too must face a wild, untamed world where bad things happen, rather than sitting inside our churches and practicing a safe, inward-looking faith.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer provides some additional thoughts on the Acts passage, which recounts an amusing encounter where Paul queries some new believers about whether they had received the Holy Spirit when they became believers... and they reply that “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” That’s something of a familiar refrain in many areas of modern life -- there’s so much going on that we just don’t pay attention to or are aware of unless it’s right under our nose or has a major effect on our own lives. For many people, politics certainly fits that description -- unless an issue receives major publicity, we rarely have any clue what our elected representatives are up to. For example, how many folks in the affected states were aware of some of the laws that went into effect on Jan. 1? Dean suggests that might be something of an analogy for how we view baptism; do we even realize what it truly means to be baptized? How much attention do we pay to the fact that baptism is a transformation that changes everything?
There’s Something in the Water
by Chris Keating
Mark 1:4-13
There’s nothing like a baptism.
In traditions that baptize infants, it’s a touching moment -- babies draped in heirloom gowns, teary-eyed grandparents, proud mamas and papas. For churches practicing believer’s baptism, there’s the added emotional dimension of adults or adolescents making public professions of faith. It is an uplifting moment for the entire church.
And afterward, brunch at grandma’s house.
But Jesus’ baptism wasn’t cute. No adorable gown, no inspiring chorus sung by a choir. Mark’s stripped-down, just-the-facts account of Jesus’ baptism renders the reader breathless. As Jesus emerges out of the water, the heavens are torn open and a voice declares “You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
And immediately Jesus heads out -- not to brunch, but into the wilderness. He doesn’t post pictures on Instagram. He doesn’t hang out with his cousin. Instead, Jesus runs. He heads to the wild and wooly places of the world, where evil awaits and tragedy is common. We know those wilderness places all too well -- they are the places where mothers are accidentally shot by their toddler sons, where suicide bombers strike crowded civic centers, or airplanes crash into oceans.
Jesus’ baptism leads him straight to the world’s misery, which may make us rethink the meaning of baptism.
In the News
Of course, the reverse is also true. Perhaps Mark’s depiction of Jesus’ baptism might prompt us to rethink the depth of the world’s misery.
Take, for example, the recent accidental shooting of a mother by her son. Hayden is a small farming town in the northern portion of Idaho. According to the town’s website, its residents enjoy small-town life, outdoor recreation, and pristine lakes. It’s a remote area, isolated from the crime and stress of urban life.
But its residents were tossed into a wilderness of sadness and confusion when a two-year-old boy shot his mother with a gun he had taken from her purse. Veronica Rutledge and her son were shopping at a Walmart the day after Christmas. In one deadly moment, she turned away from the shopping cart -- while he retrieved her handgun from its zippered compartment. Taking the gun in his hands, he fired one shot to her head. Rutledge died at the scene.
Police ruled the shooting accidental. The gun was hidden inside a special compartment designed for weapons. The 29-year-old mother -- who was an avid gun enthusiast as well as a scientist -- had received the purse as a Christmas present the day before.
Family members took pains to note that Rutledge was well-versed in gun safety. Like many persons in Idaho, Rutledge was licensed to carry a concealed weapon. As her father-in-law Terry Rutledge said, “We are gun people.” It’s not unusual to carry loaded weapons in stores in Idaho, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the nation. Her family pointed out that the 29-year-old scientist was well-educated, an author of many scientific papers, as well as a dedicated mother and responsible gun owner.
“An inquisitive two-year-old boy reached into the purse, unzipped the compartment, found the gun, and shot his mother in the head,” Terry Rutledge said. “It’s a terrible, terrible incident.”
More than that, it was a gruesome reminder of the wilderness places of our world. Rutledge’s family and friends must come to terms with the ramifications of that “terrible incident.” It’s not an event which can be easily forgotten. It will take them straight into the untamed regions of grief, heartache, and trauma. The moment will be relived time and time again as the child grows.
One family’s heartache captured the attention of the entire nation. It was another tragic reminder of just how close the wilderness is to our daily life.
There’s no way of exactly mapping the dimensions of this vast unchartered territory either. Unlike other statistics involving gun deaths, there is no bank of information on this type of shooting. It is by definition an event that creates two victims -- the one who is killed, and a child who must live within the wilderness of having caused a loved one’s death.
But it doesn’t end with gun violence.
Each day’s headlines offer additional glimpses into tragedy and pain. Another airliner crashes into the ocean -- instantly creating widows and orphans. Or another volunteer willingly tapes explosives to his chest, sending shrapnel across crowded marketplaces.
In fact, according to findings from a recent Israeli study suicide bombings increased 94% in 2014. The bombings -- like one December 31 in Yemen -- have become the signature of terrorist groups. The New Year’s Eve attack in Yemen killed 33 people in the city of Ibb, where crowds had gathered to celebrate the prophet Muhammad’s birthday. Sunni extremists were suspected of carrying out the attack.
Life in the wilderness is brutal. Fear of the unexpected lurks everywhere. Surviving the wilderness requires more than luck. It can get hot out there, so it’s best to bring some extra water along. Yet in Jesus’ case, he had barely stepped out of the river before the Spirit told him to get moving.
There had to be something in that water.
In the Scripture
Mark gets right to the point.
In those days, Mark tells us, “Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” Having described John the Baptist’s sudden appearance in the -- you guessed it -- wilderness, Mark shines the spotlight on the Gospel’s central character. Mark keeps that narrative moving, focusing entirely on what’s happening in the water.
Mark makes Jesus’ baptism the centerpiece of his entrance into the world. Lacking an infancy narrative or extended genealogies, Mark prefers to introduce Jesus by way of his identification with those coming to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ baptism is not just a pretty family tradition, but a public attestation of God’s presence with humanity.
As Jesus emerges from the water, the heavens are ripped open. The Spirit seems to be brooding over this moment, a reminder that Jesus’ baptism is symbolic of a new creation. Moreover, it’s an intently personal experience. Mark emphasizes (v. 10) that it is Jesus who sees the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descend. There he is declared to be the Son of God.
The editors of the lectionary draw a line at verse 11. Yet our eyes wander past this arbitrary cutoff, and for good reason. Jesus is the Son of God, but what does this mean? What is the impact of his baptism? Verse 12 gives a good clue. Dripping wet, river mud still lodged in his toes, the Spirit pushes Jesus “out into the wilderness.”
It’s a two-step process: baptized, and sent. Immediately. The word, notes Eugene Boring, is ekballo, which is the same term used for Jesus’ exorcisms. (See “Mark 1:12-13, Exegetical Perspective,” in Feasting on the Gospels -- Mark [Westminster/John Knox Press, 2014], p. 17.) The Spirit casts Jesus out of the water and into the wilderness -- a place where he will be tempted and will struggle. Yet, like Israel before him, the wilderness will be a place where he learns to utterly depend on God alone.
Jesus is baptized, and is propelled into a wild place. There must have been something in that water indeed.
In the Sermon
Without jumping ahead of ourselves into Lent, it will still prove helpful for our congregations to hear verse 12 as part of the baptismal sequence in verses 9-11. Mark reminds us that for Jesus, baptism conveys a particularly acute urgency. God sends Jesus into the place of struggle -- not Satan. Moreover, God sends Jesus there immediately. Clearly, there is a connection between Jesus’ baptism and places of struggle.
That is good news for us.
Few baptisms, a preacher could note, convey that sort of urgency today. Typically, the only urgency I hear from parents is that “we’d better do it sooner than later,” for fear that great-grandmother’s gown might not fit the baby, or because the squirming infant might be too hard to tame. There is urgency in Jesus’ baptism, but it isn’t because he might outgrow his outfit. The urgency is the great human need which awaits him.
The Spirit sends Jesus to the place of ordeal so that he might declare the good news of the kingdom of God (1:14-15). Preaching on this text will allow the congregation to see how Jesus comes to us in our experiences of the wilderness. But it could also motivate congregations to take note on how they are called to get moving. A wilderness awaits. By including verse 12 in our understanding of Jesus’ baptism, we have the opportunity to discover a profound truth about baptism. Our baptism isn’t an all-access pass to the perks of the kingdom. Rather, like Jesus’ baptism, our baptism is a reminder that we are called (“driven”) to those frightening places of uncertainty where a scorpion may sting, and razor-sharp rocks might cut the soft edges of our feet.
There are plenty of wilderness places around us too. There are the empty wildernesses created by gun violence, cavernous canyons of grief and loneliness, vacant territories of terror and hopelessness. The Spirit drives Jesus from baptism straight into these places, and calls us to follow as well.
Something was in the water that day -- something that pushed Jesus from the river’s edge deep into the wilderness. It was the Spirit, the same Spirit who calls us from cushy pews into the untamed wilds of the world. That is our Good News -- thanks be to God.
ANOTHER VIEW
This Changes Everything
by Dean Feldmeyer
Acts 19:1-7
With the dawn of 2015, some new laws have gone into effect in several states of our ancient and venerable republic.
Some of those new laws slid easily into place because they were well-considered and their impact was measured before they were debated and passed.
Others, however, are probably going to cause some problems. Lawmakers, eager to make a big splash that will be seen by their constituents, sometimes pass ill-considered laws that cause more trouble rather than solve the problems they were supposed to address.
In the News
In New York, for instance, you are no longer allowed to throw away your old computers, televisions, and video game consoles. You have to recycle them. The law does not, however, say how this recycling is going to take place. Is there a recycling system in place to deal with what is sure to be an avalanche of old computers?
California has enacted 930 new statutes, including a “yes means yes” law which requires lovers to get “an affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement” before they “engage in sexual activity.” Silence, winks, nods, moans, and nonverbal signals will no longer be accepted as consent. How they propose to enforce this law is anyone’s guess. Will a signed and notarized affidavit be next?
In New York, as of February it will no longer be legal to have your picture taken with a lion, tiger, or other big cat. Apparently guys liked doing this for dating sites and it was causing chaos at the zoos.
In Utah, police are now required to impound the car of anyone caught driving without insurance. Are there enough wreckers to haul all these cars away? Enough impound lots to hold them? Who knows?
In the rush to pass new laws to solve new problems, these larger questions are often unasked, the consequences left unconsidered. What will be the long-term effects? What are the broader implications?
In the Scriptures
In this week’s reading from Acts, Paul asks some of the larger questions about baptism to some believers in Ephesus.
I imagine that Luke has given us the abbreviated Reader’s Digest version of this story.
Paul arrives in Ephesus and discovers about twelve believers there already. No doubt he is happy to make this discovery. Being new to the city, it is something of a relief to discover like-minded souls, people with whom you have something in common.
So in the middle of all of this hugging and welcoming he asks: “Did you receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit when you were baptized?”
They all look at each other and shrug their shoulders. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, that’s what happened all right. Yep.”
Paul: “Oh wow! How great is that! Tell me about it.”
“Uh, well... uh...” Then finally they fess up: “Okay, we don’t know what you’re talking about. What’s the Holy Spirit?”
Paul: “Wait a minute. How were you baptized?”
They explain that they were baptized the way John the Baptizer baptized people -- the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Paul then explains to them that John’s baptism is all well and good, but John also said that there was someone coming after him who would baptize not just with water but with the Holy Spirit. This someone, he explains, was Jesus of Nazareth.
Once they hear about Jesus, they want to receive his baptism. Paul obliges them -- and upon being baptized they are filled with the Holy Spirit, and manifest signs of that baptism such as speaking in tongues and prophesying.
Baptism, you see, changes things. Primarily, it changes the one who is baptized.
In the Pulpit
Several years ago my doctor announced to me that I had type-2 diabetes. She explained that this meant that I would have to change my long-standing love affair with food, especially foods of the high-carbohydrate variety (my favorite kind). She sent me to a nutritionist -- a woman who weighed about 90 pounds and was about as big around as a pencil -- whose job it was to tell me how I would be eating from now on.
At one point she mentioned that eating slower would be a good idea, as it takes time for your stomach to send the message to your brain that you are full. Eating slower, she explained, allows you to get the message that you’re full before you overeat. By way of illustration, she said that I might eat half of a taco and then lay the other half down. Sometimes, she said, you might be surprised to find out that you really don’t need to eat the other half.
She talked about portion control and food groups and balanced diets and other helpful things, and then sent me on my way with a little shopping bag full of brochures and booklets about healthy eating habits and low-carb recipes.
When I got home my wife asked me what I had learned.
“Well,” I said, “apparently you can lay a taco down.” Beyond that I couldn’t remember a thing. It was the shock, I guess.
There are some things that, when they happen to us, change everything.
You get married, for instance. Suddenly you’re not just a “me” anymore. Now you’re a “we.” You can’t just go along the way you used to, making decisions as though you’re the only person who’s going to be affected by the outcome. You have this other person that you have to consider -- not just sometimes, but all the time. You’re not a free agent anymore, and you’re not going to be until death does you part.
Or you decide to become a parent -- and “let’s have a baby” turns out to have all kinds of ramifications that you never realized were possible. In nine short months you have gone from doing what you want, when you want, to having your life ruled by a 7 lb. 6 oz. narcissistic tyrant. And it’s going to be that way for the next 20 years!
Baptism is one of those things that changes everything.
Once you decide to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, a Christian, you can’t just keep on living your life the way you did before. You begin to see and relate to people differently. And it’s not just your relationships with people that change. You begin to see and hear the law differently than you did before. You see things differently. Your politics, your ethics, even what you eat for breakfast (and how fast you eat it) now falls under the umbrella of “Christian living.”
When we decide to become Christian disciples, a new law -- the law of love and grace -- goes into effect, and our lives are utterly changed and started in a new direction. Grace, it turns out, changes everything.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Leah Lonsbury:
Mark 1:4-13
Our lectionary passage from Mark’s Gospel for this week leaves out a crucial turn in Jesus’ baptism story. In verses 12-13, the Spirit “immediately” drives Jesus out into the wilderness where he stays for 40 days and is tempted by Satan.
Just like Jesus, those who desire to follow him are immediately called out into the wilderness to serve and live in faithfulness and love. This is the call to all believers, and it can spill over into our vocational lives as well. Police officers have been in the spotlight lately with the non-indictments in Ferguson and New York City, the war of words going on between the NYC police unions and Mayor Bill de Blasio, and again this week with a second Big Apple double shooting of officers responding to a call in the Bronx. However complicated public sentiments may be over the relationship between police officers and those they are hired to serve at the moment, there can be no question that these officers are commissioned and immediately called into the wildernesses of our contemporary culture.
*****
Acts 19:1-7
By the time this Sunday rolls around, some people in our pews will already be wallowing in their rapid failure concerning their new year’s resolutions. Writer, television personality, and blogger Jen Hatmaker writes about this and her repeated and life-draining failed attempts to “be more awesome.”
Still others in our pews will have let the new year pass them by without a second thought about what a new start might mean for their lives and for their interactions with the world that God loves. Perhaps they need to take on some of what Jen Hatmaker is attempting to lay down as a super-overachiever and try their hand at achieving at least something more meaningful this go-round if they can’t fathom what it means to “be more awesome.”
Perhaps a first step for those of us who tend to fall into spiritual obliviousness (if not oblivion) and walk numbly through our lives day after day would be to tune into the Holy Spirit that joins us in our attempts to be (if not “be more awesome”) in our post-baptism lives. Have we forgotten what this baptism is about, the orientation it provides for us, or the One it calls us to follow? Tuning into the Holy Spirit may not cause us to speak in tongues and prophesy, but it might, as Jen Hatmaker writes, bring us home to ourselves, our people, and Jesus. And then we might really surprise ourselves, because those sound like solid first steps to being more awesome after all.
*****
Acts 19:1-7
How oblivious can we be? How can we not know what makes up the foundation of our faith or even who that person is we are supposed to be following? What does that kind of misunderstanding do to the life of faith we think we are building?
We might ask those questions of the disciples that Paul meets in Ephesus who tend to come off as comedic or ridiculous. But are our heads any less in the sand or the clouds?
Well-known Methodist pastor and author Adam Hamilton posted the following remarks on Facebook this week, as he begins work on a sermon series on the half-truths that we knowingly or unknowingly allow to shape our lives...
Several years ago Jay Leno went out on the streets to ask people to name the Ten Commandments. Among those most often named: “God helps those who help themselves.” A survey of Americans found this verse of scripture to be among the best-known by American young adults. There’s only one problem, the verse is neither one of the Ten Commandments nor in the Bible at all. This statement is another of the Half-Truths we’re studying in our sermon series. Any thoughts on this commonly held belief? Illustrations or stories?
What illustrations or stories arise for you and those in the pews? How do our misunderstandings or incorrect understandings of our faith misshape who we are called to be and what we are called to do as followers of Jesus?
***************
From team member Ron Love:
Acts 19:1-7
Bono, the lead singer for U2 and a well-known humanitarian, was in a bicycle accident this past November in New York City. The accident resulted in fractures in his left shoulder, arm, and hand. After several surgeries Bono said that he may never be able to play the guitar again. In his public statement on U2’s website, he went on to say: “The band have reminded me that neither they nor Western civilization are depending on this.”
Application: We must realize our importance to the ministry of the church -- but as Paul laid hands on 12, we are not the sole advocates of Christ.
*****
Acts 19:1-7
Jimmy Dickens, a longtime favorite performer at the Grand Ole Opry, died this past week. Dickens was small in stature, standing only 4'11" -- and always sang his signature piece, which gave the statement of his purpose: “I’m Little But I’m Loud.” The song’s resounding chorus was “I’m puny, short, and little -- but I’m loud!”
Application: With the power of the Holy Spirit, we can all be loud.
*****
Acts 19:1-7
Arkansas poet Miller Williams recently died. Williams is best known to the public for reading his poem titled “Of History and Hope” at Bill Clinton’s 1997 inauguration. One of the poem’s memorable lines read: “But where are we going to be, and why, and who? / The disenfranchised dead want to know.”
Application: Blessed with the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to make a difference in the world.
*****
Acts 19:1-7
Leila Abdel Latif is a celebrated Lebanese fortuneteller. She does not believe in horoscopes, tarot cards, or palm reading, but does believe she has been endowed with vision. Even though divination is deemed a sin in Islam, Latif as a practicing Muslim continues her predictions. She is popular in the media, and government officials often meet with her for private sessions. The problem is that most of her predictions are so general that they can be interpreted many different ways. It is also rumored that government officials provide her with upcoming actions in order to give their decisions an air of destiny. In her own summation, Latif claims a 75 to 90 percent success rate. Regarding this she said, “We are all human in the end.”
Application: Blessed in Spirit, we do not pretend to have a vision of the future -- we only have the power to change the future.
***************
From team member Mary Austin:
Making Changes
As Dean Feldmeyer notes in his article, baptism changes everything in a spiritual sense. Other changes we have to make ourselves, and Real Simple magazine offers help with difficult changes like breaking up with your hair stylist or getting a song out of your head. For the hair stylist, make the change directly. As the article says: “The only thing worse than breaking down over a bad haircut is breaking up with your regular stylist. ‘The polite thing to do is to let him know you’re leaving,’ says Sue Fox, author of Etiquette for Dummies. If you don’t want to call, write a note. And be specific. ‘Maybe the truth is you can never get in to see him, you need to go to someone less expensive, or you just want a change,’ Fox says. Whatever the reasons, don’t fret too much.” The stylist may want a change from you too, it turns out!
One thing we should all be changing is our computer password. The best change is to a “ ‘pass phrase,’ says Ralph Echemendia, lead instructor and researcher at the Fort Lauderdale-based Intense School, which trains technology professionals. Then replace some of the vowels with symbols: M@ry h@d@littlel@mb is good; 1'm@p00rm@n is better. Best? Passwords with letters and symbols that require you to use the ‘alt’ key. ‘As of now,’ Echemendia says, ‘those make a password 99 percent uncrackable.’ ” (Read more from Real Simple here.)
*****
Changing Jobs
One of the things Americans change most is our jobs. Gone are the days of one employer for life with a reasonable pension at the end. However, according to the latest numbers we change jobs about every four years: “The median number of years in which wage and salaried employees were with their current employer in January 2012 was 4.6 years, an increase from 4.4 years in 2010.” Over the last ten years, the length of time people spend at a job has gone up slightly.
Engineers are the most stable employees, and the report says they “have been with the same employer the longest of any occupational category: 7.0 years in 2012, up from 5.7 years in 2010 and 6.4 years in 2008.” Not surprisingly, food service workers have the shortest tenure, with a median length of stay of just over two years. (You can read more here.)
*****
The Five Stages of Change
Researchers now say that they have identified five stages of change. We may wonder why people don’t change a habit that seems destructive -- it looks so easy from the outside. It turns out that a person may be in the process of change, but part of that change is invisible to others. “These stages include precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Once in the contemplation stage, people were most likely to respond to feedback and education as sources of information about smoking. Preparation stage folks were committed to changing and seeking a plan of action. Those in the action and maintenance stages were actively changing their smoking behaviors and environments and found that social reinforcers were important. Those who had relapsed were found to cycle back into earlier stages as they geared up to quit again.” (Read more here.)
*****
Change We Can’t See
The hardest change to see is any future change in ourselves. Researcher Daniel Gilbert says that we can see how we’ve changed in the past, but we tend to assume that our personality, values, and lifestyle will remain the same in the future. Gilbert began to research this question as he looked at his own life. “ ‘I have this deep sense that although I will physically age -- I’ll have even less hair than I do and probably a few more pounds -- that by and large the core of me, my identity, my values, my personality, my deepest preferences, are not going to change from here on out,’ says Gilbert, who is 55.” As NPR reports, “He realized that this feeling was kind of odd, given that he knows he’s changed in the past. He wondered if this feeling was an illusion, and if it was one that other people shared: ‘Is it really the case that we all think that development is a process that’s brought us to this particular moment in time, but now we’re pretty much done?’ ”
Gilbert doesn’t have any answer for why change in the past is easier to imagine than change in the future. He suggests that “one possibility is that it’s just really, really hard to imagine a different, future version of yourself. Or maybe people just like themselves the way they are now, and don’t like the idea of some unknown change to come.” (Read more from NPR here.)
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Ascribe to God glory and strength.
People: Worship God in holy splendor.
Leader: The voice of God is powerful.
People: The voice of God is full of majesty.
Leader: May God give strength to the people!
People: May God bless the people with peace!
OR
Leader: God comes among us this very day!
People: God can’t see us like this! We are broken and sinful!
Leader: God knows all about us and has come to be with us in our broken lives.
People: Does God really want to come in the midst of this mess?
Leader: God does want to be with us in the reality of our lives.
People: Thanks be to a God, who loves us even when we are broken!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“God, Whose Love Is Reigning O’er Us”
found in:
UMH: 100
“Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life”
found in:
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELA: 719
W&P: 591
AMEC: 561
“Wash, O God, Our Sons and Daughters”
found in:
UMH: 605
AAHH: 674
CH: 365
ELA: 445
“He Leadeth Me: O Blessed Thought”
found in:
UMH: 128
AAHH: 142
NNBH: 235
CH: 545
LBW: 501
W&P: 499
AMEC: 395
“All My Hope Is Firmly Grounded”
found in:
UMH: 132
H82: 665
NCH: 408
CH: 80
ELA: 757
“Sweet, Sweet Spirit”
found in:
UMH: 334
AAHH: 326
NNBH: 127
NCH: 293
CH: 261
W&P: 134
AMEC: 196
“Where Charity and Love Prevail”
found in:
UMH: 549
H82: 581
NCH: 396
LBW: 126
ELA: 359
“I Want Jesus to Walk with Me”
found in:
UMH: 521
PH: 363
AAHH: 563
NNBH: 500
NCH: 490
CH: 627
W&P: 506
AMEC: 375
“As We Gather”
found in:
CCB: 12
Renew: 6
“From the Rising of the Sun”
found in:
CCB: 4
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who comes to meet us in the midst of our broken lives: Grant us the grace to face the brokenness of the world with faith and hope, knowing you are there with us; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, for you do not hide in the far heavens. You come and dwell with us in the midst of our broken lives. As we offer you our praise, fill us with the power of your Spirit that we may go out into the world and bear witness to your presence among us. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, especially when we feel we are all alone and deserted by you.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We look around us at the broken world and at our own broken lives, and we are filled with despair. We feel overwhelmed, alone, and deserted. Where is the Holy Comforter? Where is the Good Shepherd? Where is the Great Physician? We find ourselves with no hope and very little faith. Help us, O God. Remove the blinders from our eyes and help us to understand that you are right there with us. Forgive our faithless living, and renew us again. Amen.
Leader: God is with us always, even in our despair and loneliness. Receive God’s love, grace, and presence, so that you may live with hope for yourself and for others.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
Glory to you, O God, who created this world in love. In love you continue to dwell here among us.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We look around us at the broken world and at our own broken lives, and we are filled with despair. We feel overwhelmed, alone, and deserted. Where is the Holy Comforter? Where is the Good Shepherd? Where is the Great Physician? We find ourselves with no hope and very little faith. Help us, O God. Remove the blinders from our eyes and help us to understand that you are right there with us. Forgive our faithless living, and renew us again.
We give you thanks for your constant presence in our lives, even when we fail to perceive it. We thank you for those who embody your Spirit and share your love and grace with us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for all your children in their need. We pray for those who have little hope and no one to assure them of your ever-present grace. We pray for those whose lives are so broken that they have given up hope of ever knowing wholeness.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Sometimes I like to be alone, but usually I like to have people around me... especially when things are scary! It is good to remember that God goes with us to the scary places. Today we hear about Jesus being baptized and then going out into the wilderness, a wild and scary place. He went there knowing God would be with him. We too can know that God is always with us.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Appreciating Our Baptism
Mark 1:4-11
Object: the baptismal font
I want you all to come with me over here to the baptismal font. (Lead the children over to your church’s baptismal font.) Can any of you tell me what happens here at this font? (Let them answer.) Yes, this is where people are baptized. How many of you were baptized right here in this font? (Let them answer.)
You know, Jesus was also baptized, but not in a font like this. Where was Jesus baptized? (Let them answer.) Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. Do you know who baptized him? (Let them answer.) He was baptized by John the Baptist. When Jesus was baptized, God spoke from Heaven and He said, “You are my Son, the Beloved: with you I am well pleased.” We also know that the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven in the form of a dove.
Now, I know none of those things happen when we have a baptism here at this font. We are not baptizing Jesus, so God doesn’t speak and the Holy Spirit doesn’t come down as a dove. But do you know what? The Holy Spirit does come to the person being baptized. We don’t see him, but he is there. In every baptism the Holy Spirit comes into the person being baptized and touches his or her spirit.
Let’s thank God for giving us baptism.
Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven: We thank You for giving us baptism and for sending Your Holy Spirit when a person is baptized. Keep us ever mindful of our own baptism and the blessings we have because of it. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, January 11, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
