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Jesus began his public ministry in a crowd that surrounded John the Baptist, at the Jordan. John was a fiery young preacher who attracted the crowds. He told people what they had to do as well as what they had to be.


When John emerged from the desert preaching repentance and baptism, the people flocked to the Jordan to be baptized. He was baptizing everyone who would change their ways. Jesus stepped forward to be baptized. Why would the sinless One be baptized?


Jesus was there to provide the fullness of salvation John preached. He came to identify with the new gospel of salvation for all people -- Jew and Gentile. He is the One who will separate the wheat from the chaff. The One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the new beginning… He is salvation.


Look carefully at what happened: 'the heaven opened,' which was a signal from God of the launching of a new age. A dove flying in the sky above descends upon Jesus. The Holy Spirit is not to make Jesus the Son of God -- Luke affirmed that in the birth story. It is the anointing for public ministry. The coming of the Holy Spirit is to empower the servant for his task. And, a voice says, 'Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.'


Jesus' baptism was a sign of identification. It is still the same for you and me. It is a sign for the acceptance of the love and salvation of Christ. The water baptism identifies us with the family of God, the Body of Christ, the Church. The technique used matters about as much as whether you pray kneeling or standing. It symbolizes the end of everything about your life that is less than human and the beginning in you of something strange and new and hopeful.


In John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Christian arrives in his journey at the palace. The palace is heavily guarded. It will be a battle to seek an entry. A man sits at the door to take the names of those who would dare to enter. Many are hanging back, reluctant and afraid. Christian with a very stout countenance walks up to the man saying, 'Set down my name, sir.'


'Set down my name, sir.' In essence that is what Jesus did when he came to be baptized by John. He especially wanted baptism to identify himself with us human beings. His baptism was not for cleansing from sin, but it was an opportunity to declare himself a part of our humanity, in our needs, as well as in our potential glory.


'Set down my name, sir.' This is what baptism is: setting down our name and life on the line for the kingdom of God.


An ancient Chinese proverb advises: 'If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed.'


Standing on the threshold of a new year may be the proper time for us to examine and sift our values. It's possible that the strongest thirst of our being is still unrecognized, still hiding under this or that. We all live much of life superficially.


None of us are here by chance. We have a purpose, a calling beyond the self, a unique responsibility to decide and act.


Kierkegaard spoke of the 'leap of faith.' He was speaking of a commitment more dependent on faith than on proof. We are never capable of having all the answers. Those who would grow take many a step, even in the midst of tragedy, not knowing exactly what comes next.


Life calls us to move, to act, to make a commitment, to take a risk, to forge into new territory, trusting God to effect the consequences.


Can you imagine where we would be if Christ has demanded proof of the resurrection before complying with the crucifixion?


But Christ did not make such a demand before he made his commitment. He trusted the future to God. Even with his last breath, 'Father, into thy hands I commit my Spirit.'


The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never in the external world.


I believe in the power of regeneration, a God-given capacity for making a new start in Jesus Christ. Everyone is capable of change.


Human nature is adaptive, and capable of change. No matter however inadequate a human being may be, that doesn't relieve a person from the responsibility of making oneself over into what he should be -- a warm human being capable of love and decency.


Those easy evasions: 'You can't change human nature,' 'the leopard cannot change its spots,' 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks,' and the like, are false.


Human nature isn't something that is fixed and inflexible. While it is true the leopard cannot change its spots, we can certainly change ours.


The American educator, Horace Mann, described the predicament of habits saying: 'Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it.'


Mr. Mann, you are only half right. Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, but it can be broken? There is One who will help you break it, if you desire it. Habits are often practiced without guilt, justified through cleverly devised mental schemes.


We have to be continuously converted all the days of our lives, continually to turn to God as children. Life is a continuous conversion. In every setting in which we are put we have to 'put on the new person.'


There are whole areas of our lives which have not yet been brought into subjection, and it can only be done by this continuous conversion.


Frederick Buechner reminds us that God cannot be expressed but only experienced. 'A Christian is one who points at Christ and says, ‘I can't prove a thing, but there's something about his eyes and his voice. There's something about the way he carries his head, his hands, the way he carries his cross -- the way he carries me.' '9


There is not a single shoe in this place that does not contain a foot of clay… a foot that drags; a foot that stumbles; a foot that hurts; and on just such feet we all seek to walk the journey of life.


The only hope we have is Jesus Christ. He is the same yesterday and today and yes, forever. When you need him, he is there. He's there even when you don't think you need him.


Leave the irreparable past in God's hands. Step out into the irresistible future with him. He is our hope; and without him, we would be hopeless indeed.


I offer you a new start in Jesus Christ. I invite you to commit your life to him in the fellowship of his church.