Date: January 12, 2020

Bible Text: Isaiah 42:1-9, Matthew 3:13-17 |

This Sunday's lectionary theme is the Baptism of the Lord. It's admittedly a bit of a jump from the end of Christmas last Sunday and Epiphany on Monday, but since we know virtually nothing about Jesus' life for some 30 years after his birth, that's the way it goes. We just jump right to his baptism, which, as far as we know, marks the beginning of his public life.

In his baptism, Jesus chose to identify with all those who were repenting of their sins, and his humility was answered by the Holy Spirit appearing and resting on him visibly and a voice from heaven declaring Jesus to be God's beloved Son.

Now you might think with all those spoilers, you know everything you need to know, but we will do a little more exploring of what this all means for us, especially in light of our ordaining and installing a new elder for the session class of 2022. So as the liturgy goes, "remember your baptism, and be grateful," and join us!

At the end of the service, some of the members took note of the pastor's 30th anniversary of ordination, which was a surprise to him and a deep joy, so the video is longer than it might otherwise have been.

Notes from the Preacher

I'm including here my first conceptualizing of the Venn diagram I used in the sermon, which I put together in a Google doc. It's pretty much the same as what I drew on the newsprint during the service.

Someone pointed out to me afterward that my Venn diagram wasn't quite right, that if the first circle was "People who need to repent," then anything outside the circle would be "People who do not need to repent," and consequently the third circle with that name is both inaccurate and redundant. Said someone admitted that, for the purpose of making a point in the sermon for people who are likely not well versed in the details of Venn, what I did it was acceptable and in fact made the point I was shooting for. Let me know if you agree.

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