Leader: Remember you Baptism!
People: We remember how Christ was baptized in the Jordan.
L: Remember Your Baptism!
P: We remember how we are all one in Christ.
L: Remember Your Baptism!
P: We remember how, dying with Christ, we will be resurrected with him.
L: Remember Your Baptism!
P: We remember that we are given new life, freedom, forgiveness.
L: Remember Your Baptism!
P: We remember that we are God’s beloved children.
L: In light of remembering our baptisms, let us worship our Holy God.
All: Amen.
Baptismal Remembrance Hymn Sing
Baptism of our Lord
Matthew 3:13-17:
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’”
Today is “Baptism of Our Lord Sunday.” It always falls here, at the beginning of the calendar year, the Sunday following Epiphany. Jesus’s baptism is the start of his public ministry. Before this in Scripture we just have the birth narratives and the story of him as a boy in the temple. Jesus has been growing up, hidden away from the public eye, the stories lost to time - but now, with his coming to the Jordan River, everything is about to change.
John had been baptizing the crowds - this was a baptism of repentance of sins. They confessed their sins, they were washed clean. It was a public commitment to the movement that John preached - that the day of the Lord was coming and with it an end to oppression and reign of justice.
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’”
Today is “Baptism of Our Lord Sunday.” It always falls here, at the beginning of the calendar year, the Sunday following Epiphany. Jesus’s baptism is the start of his public ministry. Before this in Scripture we just have the birth narratives and the story of him as a boy in the temple. Jesus has been growing up, hidden away from the public eye, the stories lost to time - but now, with his coming to the Jordan River, everything is about to change.
John had been baptizing the crowds - this was a baptism of repentance of sins. They confessed their sins, they were washed clean. It was a public commitment to the movement that John preached - that the day of the Lord was coming and with it an end to oppression and reign of justice.
Jesus came to the Jordan, not for forgiveness of his own sins, but to be baptized in solidarity with the people he came to save. And, indeed, as he came up out of the water, a dove descended from the heavens and declared Jesus as God’s Beloved Son.
The one for whom John was preparing the way, the one for whom the crowds were waiting, the one that all of creation was longing for has finally come - Jesus, God’s Beloved Son.
It is on this day we remember not only Jesus’s baptisms but our own baptisms, in which we too are sealed forever as beloved children of God.
Let us sing, “When Jesus Came to the Jordan,” UMH 252
Initiated into Christ’s Holy Church
1 Corinthians 11:12-13, 27: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit…Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
It is on this day we remember not only Jesus’s baptisms but our own baptisms, in which we too are sealed forever as beloved children of God.
Let us sing, “When Jesus Came to the Jordan,” UMH 252
Initiated into Christ’s Holy Church
1 Corinthians 11:12-13, 27: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit…Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
In the United Methodist Church we baptize both children and adults. We will baptize anyone when they are presented or come for baptism - but we only do one baptism in a person’s life. This is because Baptism is the work of the Holy Spirit and there is nothing we can do that will un-do what God has done. This is also the work of what we Methodists call “Prevenient Grace” - the grace that comes before we even know there is grace to be had. And so even as small children we are given the gift of grace and initiated into Christ’s Holy Church.
One of the primary acts of Baptism is incorporating that child of God of any age, into the Body of Christ, into the Church community. In fact, the body of Christ plays an essential role in the act of Baptism. The idea of a “private baptism” is an oxymoron - for in the very act of Baptism, the baptized is welcomed into the fold of community. The congregation makes vows to the person baptized - to nurture them, to teach them, to be an example of Christian love and discipleship to them, to surround them with love and forgiveness, to help them know God and to know God’s love through the congregation. Through you. These are vows we make on behalf of all Christians everywhere and it reminds us just how we are to treat one another in the church. Anything less than love and forgiveness for one another is a breach of our Baptismal promises we made before God.
Baptism recognizes that we are all the Church. We are all the Body of Christ. We are all One in Christ Jesus. Baptism marks each and every one of us as one of God’s beloved people - may we view ourselves and treat each other as such.
Let us sing, “Wash, O God, Our Sons and Daughters,” UMH 605, vs. 1 & 3
Incorporated [Included] into God’s mighty acts of Salvation
Romans 6:3-11:
“Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed[a] from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Christ’s death and resurrection opened the door for all of creation to be saved through Jesus. Baptism is a celebration of walking through that door, and accepting God’s salvation for us.
We live in a world marked by sin - in which sin is impossible to escape. Every person born is affected by our fallen world - we cannot help but be for the marks of sin are all around us. Sin would have us following selfish desires that are not God’s will. Sin would have us labeling our neighbors as enemies rather than fellow children of God. Sin disrupts our hearts, our relationships, our world.
God has always been at work in our world to show us another way. Baptism places us inside God’s story of salvation. The story of God at work in the world is now our story too.
Jesus is the pinnacle of God’s actions in offering us the path of life over the path of sin. God sending Jesus, God enfleshed, to Earth is a sign of God’s love for us and desire to be in relationship with us. It is through Jesus that we come to know who God is and how God wants us to treat our neighbors. Salvation is a relationship with God and neighbor and sin is anything that separates humanity from God, each other, and all of creation.
One of the primary images in baptism is dying to our old self. When the water is sprinkled, or when the baptized is fully immersed, it represents dying to the ways of sin and death. The hold sin has on us is broken. Under the water, we are dead in the tomb with Christ and dead to sin. Arising from the water, or on the other side of our baptism, we leave the tomb with Christ - a new creation ready to follow the ways of Love and Life rather than Sin and Death.
Baptism shows us intimately the very acts of God’s cosmic salvation. It is the salvation of all of creation - it is also the losing and saving of our very lives.
Let us sing, “Child of Blessing, Child of Promise,” UMH 611, vs. 1, 3, 4
Given new birth through water and the Spirit
John 3:1-8: “Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’”
One of the primary acts of Baptism is incorporating that child of God of any age, into the Body of Christ, into the Church community. In fact, the body of Christ plays an essential role in the act of Baptism. The idea of a “private baptism” is an oxymoron - for in the very act of Baptism, the baptized is welcomed into the fold of community. The congregation makes vows to the person baptized - to nurture them, to teach them, to be an example of Christian love and discipleship to them, to surround them with love and forgiveness, to help them know God and to know God’s love through the congregation. Through you. These are vows we make on behalf of all Christians everywhere and it reminds us just how we are to treat one another in the church. Anything less than love and forgiveness for one another is a breach of our Baptismal promises we made before God.
Baptism recognizes that we are all the Church. We are all the Body of Christ. We are all One in Christ Jesus. Baptism marks each and every one of us as one of God’s beloved people - may we view ourselves and treat each other as such.
Let us sing, “Wash, O God, Our Sons and Daughters,” UMH 605, vs. 1 & 3
Incorporated [Included] into God’s mighty acts of Salvation
Romans 6:3-11:
“Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed[a] from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Christ’s death and resurrection opened the door for all of creation to be saved through Jesus. Baptism is a celebration of walking through that door, and accepting God’s salvation for us.
We live in a world marked by sin - in which sin is impossible to escape. Every person born is affected by our fallen world - we cannot help but be for the marks of sin are all around us. Sin would have us following selfish desires that are not God’s will. Sin would have us labeling our neighbors as enemies rather than fellow children of God. Sin disrupts our hearts, our relationships, our world.
God has always been at work in our world to show us another way. Baptism places us inside God’s story of salvation. The story of God at work in the world is now our story too.
Jesus is the pinnacle of God’s actions in offering us the path of life over the path of sin. God sending Jesus, God enfleshed, to Earth is a sign of God’s love for us and desire to be in relationship with us. It is through Jesus that we come to know who God is and how God wants us to treat our neighbors. Salvation is a relationship with God and neighbor and sin is anything that separates humanity from God, each other, and all of creation.
One of the primary images in baptism is dying to our old self. When the water is sprinkled, or when the baptized is fully immersed, it represents dying to the ways of sin and death. The hold sin has on us is broken. Under the water, we are dead in the tomb with Christ and dead to sin. Arising from the water, or on the other side of our baptism, we leave the tomb with Christ - a new creation ready to follow the ways of Love and Life rather than Sin and Death.
Baptism shows us intimately the very acts of God’s cosmic salvation. It is the salvation of all of creation - it is also the losing and saving of our very lives.
Let us sing, “Child of Blessing, Child of Promise,” UMH 611, vs. 1, 3, 4
Given new birth through water and the Spirit
John 3:1-8: “Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’”
We have died with Christ and are born anew, given new life. This is done through Water and the Spirit.
Our Baptismal liturgy recounts many of the ways that God has used water in the saga of God’s salvation of God’s people: the deep primordial waters of creation; the ark that floated upon the waters of the great flood; the passing through the Red sea; crossing the Jordan to the promised land; Jesus nurtured in the water of a woman’s womb; the water in which Jesus was baptized in.
It would be a folly however, to view these just as bodies of water, the combination of molecules that gives us H20. This is more than water - it is water and the Spirit. All of this is guided by God, infused with the Holy Spirit who is ever present in our history, our world, and our innermost lives. It is not simply water with which we are baptized - we are baptized by water and The Spirit. We bless this water. We recognize it as holy. We invite God’s Spirit into it, into our midst. Here with us - in the act of the sacrament of baptism and to be a guiding presence throughout our lives.
We are called to new life - to put to death the ways of sin - and, to every day, let the Spirit of God move within us, to sanctify us, to make us more holy. Holiness is simply a life marked by love of God and love of neighbor as self. It is through water and the Spirit that this journey of holiness begins - and it is the Spirit who continues with us on the journey, throughout our whole lives.
Let us sing, Baptized in Water, FWS 2248
Our Baptismal liturgy recounts many of the ways that God has used water in the saga of God’s salvation of God’s people: the deep primordial waters of creation; the ark that floated upon the waters of the great flood; the passing through the Red sea; crossing the Jordan to the promised land; Jesus nurtured in the water of a woman’s womb; the water in which Jesus was baptized in.
It would be a folly however, to view these just as bodies of water, the combination of molecules that gives us H20. This is more than water - it is water and the Spirit. All of this is guided by God, infused with the Holy Spirit who is ever present in our history, our world, and our innermost lives. It is not simply water with which we are baptized - we are baptized by water and The Spirit. We bless this water. We recognize it as holy. We invite God’s Spirit into it, into our midst. Here with us - in the act of the sacrament of baptism and to be a guiding presence throughout our lives.
We are called to new life - to put to death the ways of sin - and, to every day, let the Spirit of God move within us, to sanctify us, to make us more holy. Holiness is simply a life marked by love of God and love of neighbor as self. It is through water and the Spirit that this journey of holiness begins - and it is the Spirit who continues with us on the journey, throughout our whole lives.
Let us sing, Baptized in Water, FWS 2248
God’s gift, offered to us without price
Acts 2:38-39:
“Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’”
We often view Baptism as a choice we make - or our parents or guardians made for us and then we affirmed it when going through Confirmation. And yes, Baptism is a choice - a choice to give one’s self, to give one’s child, over to God. A choice to die to self and be risen with Christ. A choice to love God and to love one another. A choice to be planted firmly in Christian community.
We fail, however, when we view Baptism just a choice we make and not a beautiful, divine gift, given to us by God.
Baptism is a celebration that we are God’s children, adopted into God’s family, and loved dearly and intimately by God - just because we were created by the God of Love.
When the preacher says, “Remember your baptism” - this is what we mean. We are not talking about the year or day or how old you were. We are not talking about the church in which it took place or the minister who presided over the sacrament that day. We are not talking about the details of your baptism. When we say, “Remember you baptism” we are saying: “Remember that you are God’s child. Remember that you are loved by God. Remember that you are God’s beloved.”
From the day we are born, to the day we are baptized, to the day we die and are returned into the arms of God - and every day in between, we are defined by our Baptisms. We are called to live with our Baptism as the primary source of our identity - everything in our lives should be changed because we have been Baptized - because we know God loves us.
After we sing our next hymn, we will have the opportunity to join in a congregational remembrance of Baptism. As we share the liturgy, as you come and touch the water, I invite you to remember your baptism - and above all, know that you are God’s beloved child.
Let us sing, “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry,” FWS 2051
We fail, however, when we view Baptism just a choice we make and not a beautiful, divine gift, given to us by God.
Baptism is a celebration that we are God’s children, adopted into God’s family, and loved dearly and intimately by God - just because we were created by the God of Love.
When the preacher says, “Remember your baptism” - this is what we mean. We are not talking about the year or day or how old you were. We are not talking about the church in which it took place or the minister who presided over the sacrament that day. We are not talking about the details of your baptism. When we say, “Remember you baptism” we are saying: “Remember that you are God’s child. Remember that you are loved by God. Remember that you are God’s beloved.”
From the day we are born, to the day we are baptized, to the day we die and are returned into the arms of God - and every day in between, we are defined by our Baptisms. We are called to live with our Baptism as the primary source of our identity - everything in our lives should be changed because we have been Baptized - because we know God loves us.
After we sing our next hymn, we will have the opportunity to join in a congregational remembrance of Baptism. As we share the liturgy, as you come and touch the water, I invite you to remember your baptism - and above all, know that you are God’s beloved child.
Let us sing, “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry,” FWS 2051
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