Sunday January 11, 2009 The Baptism of the Lord

Whoa...It's been a long time since I wrote anything here. But, during the holidays we all step back a little, don't we?
This Sunday, January 11, is the second Sunday in Epiphany and is the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. As we talked about before, the season of Epiphany (from January 6 to Ash Wednesday) is a season that is concerned with presenting Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. Events in the life of Christ that are commemorated during this season are events like the visit of the Magi (Ephiphany proper--January 6), the baptism of Jesus, the wedding at Cana (the first miracle), and the Transfiguration.
This Sunday is the Baptism of the Lord. We will examine four aspects of this subject: the implications of Jesus' baptism, the baptism of Jesus and our baptism, the significance and meaning of our baptism, and a brief service of reaffirmation of baptism.

The Scripture for this Sunday is Mark 1.4-11.

Here are some links on the subject:
Methodists: Means of Grace by Rev. Gregory S. Neal
A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism by Mark C. Trotter
By Water and the Spirit The official United Methodist document on baptism

This week's worship bulletin is here.