Consider the Word, January 6, 2022 The Baptism of the Lord

Consider the Word, January 6, 2022
The Baptism of the Lord
Email stpauls@pei.aibn.com for the link to the Bible Study.
 
Readings for January 9:

• Isaiah 43:1-7
• Psalm 29
• Acts 8:14-17
• Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

 
Collect

Eternal Father,

who at the baptism of Jesus

revealed him to be your Son,

anointing him with the Holy Spirit,

keep your children, born of water and the Spirit,

faithful to their calling;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
Reading: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

 
Reflection Questions

1. In the Gospels and Letters, repentance, baptism, and life in the Holy Spirit aren’t really about becoming a member of a particular church – what value is there to being baptized? 
2. Acknowledging the things we’ve done wrong and feeling sorry is a good thing, no doubt. However, we should reflect on the ways in which the community is complicit in practices and values that are not God’s values: How might we as a community, at the start of a new year, repent of such connections.

 
Closing Prayer

God, your voice moves over the waters.

Immerse us in your grace,

mark us with your images,

and raise us to live our baptismal vows

empowered by the Holy Spirit

and the example of Christ our Lord,

in whose name we pray. Amen.

 
The Message: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

¹⁵ The interest of the people by now was building. They were all beginning to wonder, “Could this John be the Messiah?”

^16-17 But John intervened: “I’m baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

^21-22 After all the people were baptized, Jesus was baptized. As he was praying, the sky opened up and the Holy Spirit, like a dove descending, came down on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson