Brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19 KJV)
Those words from Christ Jesus embrace us… …as we are commissioned to share the Sacrament of Holy Communion with those who come into our midst anew.
Since the beginning of 2019 I have performed 50 baptisms, ranging from newborns just a few weeks old to someone in their older years. Each time the individual, and their families, bring themselves into the presence of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Some have been longtime members while others have come to our church for perhaps the very first time. At each baptism, we light a candle to signify the light of Christ coming into that individual’s life. Each time we provide the ministry of Baptism for an individual (and their family), we share the light of Christ with them and encourage them to share that same light with their child as their years together go by…for as we know, those years go by far too quickly! Those words from Christ Jesus embrace us…from around the top of our sanctuary.
As we gather for worship, we look up to the altar, to the body and blood of Christ Jesus prepared for us as we gather in his name. We see those words written above us, and physically given before us in real time, here and now. God does not abandon us, in the midst of our circumstances, even if we ourselves may turn away. God in Christ Jesus is still there, echoing to us from the midst of the past to wash over us anew in our times of need.