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Baptism of Our Lord
Preaching
Preaching And Reading The Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
Unfortunately, this text from Genesis has often been connected with baptism, and therefore the lectionary has selected it for this Sunday on which we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. The confusion has arisen because of a faulty reading of the passage. For example, the "Thanksgiving over the Water" of baptism in some worship books begins this way: "We give you thanks, Eternal God, for you nourish and sustain all living things by the gift of water. In the beginning of time, your Spirit moved over the watery chaos, calling forth order and life" (The Book of Common Worship, 1993).
