Wednesday December 11, 2013
Colossians 2:9-15

Do you remember your baptism? Perhaps the gift of baptism arrived in your life while you were old enough to recall the experience. Or your baptism may have happened while you were too young to remember. Either way, the image is the same, in baptism we are symbolically dead and then you were raised to new life in Christ.

I recall a very special baptismal moment with a group of confirmation students. There were nine students in the group. Three of the nine were going to be baptized as they were confirmed into the life of the church. So we started talking about the nature of baptism and the various ways the sacrament could be applied. They were energized around the possibility of a full immersion baptism at the local reservoir. I met with their parents and shared the possibility. Everyone was in favor so we set a date and gathered by the shore on a Saturday afternoon.

We shared a time of commitment and prayer on the shoreline before wading out into the water. There we were waist deep and ready. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” The third baptism marked their preplanned launch into a fresh expression of their faith. On the count of three, they went under the water together and came up with a huge splash of joy before swimming off in a spirit of celebration while their classmates joined them in the gala.

There are steps in our faith journey that mark moments of deeper understanding and commitment. Baptism is one of those moments. The continuing celebration of the Lord’s Supper also gives us a repeated opportunity to start fresh with a spirit of graceful forgiveness.

Today I would like to invite you to remember your baptism and be thankful. Remember that your baptism has power because it comes as a gift from the Lord. It is administered through the life of the church but the sacred gift is available because “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”… and through faith “God made you alive with Christ.”

Let’s Wait On The Word today by giving thanks for what the Lord has done!

Memory Verse For This Week:

Colossians 2:6-7 NIV
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Missional Prayer Focus For Today:
Please pray for the Christmas mission ministry of the Respire Haiti School in Gressier, Haiti. Pray that the children might experience joy during this season of Christmas.