Learning from Jesus

Good morning, Church. I’m thankful that God has given us another week and another opportunity to be a blessing to the people around us as the Spirit of Christ lives in and through us. I’m thankful that God has given us food and shelter and a loving church family to support us through life’s difficulties. I’m thankful that his grace is enough for us no matter what we’ve done or what we’re enduring. And I’m thankful for you.

You probably already realize, though, that if it wasn’t for Jesus, none of us would be part of this church. Many of us would have never met each other. And we would have no hope for redemption or salvation in this world. But thanks be to God, the Savior has come, and he has opened up a way for us to be made new in his image and wear his name. Scripture teaches us that we are saved by grace through faith and not by our own works, but we also learn that God calls us to obey him in doing a variety of things that show our submission to him and demonstrate our faith. We are called to repent of our sins and confess that Jesus is Lord and be baptized in water as a metaphor for our death, burial, and resurrection. And this morning, Lord willing, we will talk about some of that.

This morning’s sermon will come from the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark where we find a strange man we call John the Baptist who called all of Israel to repentance and to baptism in the Jordan River for the forgiveness of their sins. Many came and did just that including a man named Jesus.

What can we learn from his example? What does that episode teach us? How should our lives reflect the same attitude and response that Jesus’ showed us? We shall see…

—Patrick