[RCL] Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine,” says God to a community of exiled people. The promises spoken in Isaiah 43:1-7 give assurance and comfort amid uncertainty. God’s people have been exiled. They have been…

I want to talk a bit about the Baptism of Jesus, about what it means. The place to start, of course, is with the story we just heard. We heard the first part of it just a few weeks ago. Remember how John was at the Jordan River (the place where the people of Israel…

What does it mean to be God’s chosen? What does it mean to be God’s Beloved? The four gospels tell the story of Jesus’ baptism a bit differently, but a core truth emerges from all of them: that Jesus is God’s chosen one, God’s beloved son. A voice from heaven belonging to God or God’s…

Today we find John Baptist at the River Jordan, where he preached repentance, baptized Jesus, and admitted how much greater Jesus was than he. John’s is a story of such great significance that we hear parts of it every year — twice, sometimes three times. John Baptist was quite a character — wild and woolly,…

“And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in…

The Baptism of Jesus is a big event. There are a lot of things that come together in Jesus’ baptism. There are a lot of things that come together in our Baptisms. First, let us consider John the Baptist. John is a certifiable wild man. He came from the wilderness. He dressed in what was…