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Getting Ready for Sunday - June 27
Today we will celebrate the
ordinance of baptism, and continue our look at the Holy Spirit's work in
the early church. Baptism is our identification with Jesus. So often in
Scripture we find these phrases: "I no longer live, but Christ lives in
me (Gal. 2: 20)",
or "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God
(Colossians 3:3)." We as Christians must constantly affirm that the life we now live
is through and in and because of and for Jesus Christ our Lord. He has
united us to himself, and lives in us by the Spirit to the glory of the
Father. There is a great significance in the fact that you cannot
baptize yourself - it must be done to you. In a similar way, the
work we do is one of surrendering to that Christ-life, of receiving
His grace, of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape and mold us -
all very passive verbs, but ones that require a great deal of active
listening and obeying. We can still live and eat and breathe and choose and sin as we did
before Jesus, yet we can also choose to live through Christ in holiness. May we see this outward baptismal sign as a reminder of our need to
constantly identify ourselves as Christ's own. Remember that you are not your own; you
were bought at a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
It is hard in our culture of individualism and independence to get this
right, but we will be much happier and healthier following the pattern
of Jesus than the patterns of this world.
SONGS:
Your Grace
is Enough (2003, Matt Maher) - We remind ourselves that God's grace is
the reason we gather together every Sunday. It is our source and
sustenance for life and worship.
Here I am to
Worship (2000, Tim Hughes) - A song about our worship (including
baptism) as a response to Jesus' incarnation and love: "Light of the
world, you stepped down into darkness, opened my eyes, let me see..."
Before
the Throne of God Above (Words - 1863, Charitie Bancroft; Music - 1997,
Vikki Cook) - A song of our justification in Christ. We have been
declared righteous by his life and faithfulness, and now "my life is hid
with Christ on high, with Christ my Savior and my God."
We
will end with the hymn "My Jesus, I Love Thee." God's love is what
calls us into His life, strengthens us to pursue Him, and shows us the
way to live. We love, because God is love, and has shared that love with
us for all eternity.
-Patrick
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Getting Ready for Sunday by
This is where you will find posts about what to expect this coming Sunday morning at Long Green.
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