https://joelssermons.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/20160110sermon.mp3
Texts: 1 Corinthians 12:12-13,26-27; Isaiah 43:1-2; Luke 3:21-22
When Jesus is baptized, we’re told that the Holy Spirit descends on him. What this looks like is a dove coming down towards him. What this sounds like is a voice from heaven saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.
In the worship calendar, this Sunday after Epiphany is always Baptism of Jesus Sunday. Since we have hardly any stories of Jesus’ early life, we do some time travel and jump from baby Jesus in the manger visited by the magi – last week – to this week – Jesus’ first public appearance as a grown man, as one of the masses being baptized by the charismatic John in the Jordan River. It’s a Sunday we’re invited to remember not only Jesus’ baptism, but also our own baptismal identity. What does it look like, and what does it sound like for Holy Spirit to be on and within us?
In our secular calendar, we’re ten days into a new year and I’m still doing double takes every time I write and date a check, ending in 2016. How did that happen? The present...