Worship Service for January 9, 2022
I've tried all week to get the YouTube video to upload without success.
Prelude
Announcements:
·
You can join us for in-person worship at Olivet
Presbyterian Church in West Elizabeth, PA at 9:45 or at Bethesda United
Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth, PA at 11:15.
·
Sabbatical Information
Call to Worship
L: Our God is a God of power and strength!
P: God has created each of us with tender
care.
L: Our God is a God of majesty and awe!
P: God walks with each of us every step of
the way.
L: Our God is a God of glory and wonder!
P: God loves each of us with tenderness and
passion.
L: Our God calls us each by name.
P: God calls each of us to unite in worship
together!
Opening Hymn – Take My Life #391/597 verses 1,5,6
Prayer of Confession
and Renewal of Baptismal Vows/Assurance of Pardon
Gloria Patri
Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’
Creed
I believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the
third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the
resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN
Choir: Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing
Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s
Prayer
O God, Your word of
light and hope floods into our lives. We
have lived in darkness, in despair and fear, doubt and strife. But on this day of Sunday celebration, You
remind us that we are marked by You to be witnesses to Your light of new hope. As the heavens opened at Jesus' baptism, so is
Your love poured out on us.
We have brought before You
names and situations which concern us, people who face illness and grief, whose
lives are precious to us as we know they are to You. We especially pray today for….
We ask for your loving
mercy on them, O Lord. Heal them and
bind up their wounds. Help us to be
people who are ready to be involved in ministries of health and healing, as
well as peace and justice, bringing the light of Your hope to those who dwell
in loneliness, darkness, and despair. Hear
now also the prayers of our hearts as we pray in silence…
We’ve lifted our
personal petitions to You, now we speak with one voice, saying…
Our Father who art in
heaven, Hallowed by Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Hymn – Baptized
by Water #492/465
Scripture Reading(s):
OT – Isaiah 43:1-7
NT – Luke 3:15-22
Sermon – “Pleased
by God”
Baptism
is one of our oldest Christian rituals. In
our various traditions based on whether you are Baptism, Catholic, Presbyterian
or any other tradition, baptism is performed by either sprinkling, pouring or
dunking. In the our Presbyterian
tradition, Holy Baptism is one of only two sacraments, the other being
Communion. And in Baptism, we
acknowledge that God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ’s
Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God. Through Baptism we are united with Christ in
his death and resurrection. This
Sacrament, along with Communion are at the heart of our Christian faith and
practice.
Our
Gospel reading for today from Luke, makes it obvious that the practice of
baptism preceded the development of the Christian Church. In Jewish tradition ritual baths of religious
cleansing were common among both men and women. However, the baptism that was being performed
by John the Baptist in the Jordan River was not your typical cleansing ritual. The people of Israel were coming to John for
the “baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” John was preparing the way for the coming
Messiah and getting the people ready for the Kingdom of God, although many of
the people believed that he might be the Messiah. Assuring the people that he was not the
Messiah but only the messenger, he admonished the people to turn away from
their sinful lives and as a sign of their commitment to a new life to be
baptized in water.
In Matthew and Mark’s account of the
Baptism of Christ, Jesus comes to John asking to receive baptism and John is
reluctant. He insists that Jesus should
be the one baptizing him. Jesus however
tells John that this baptism is proper for Jesus to fulfill all righteousness.
For
centuries Christian scholars have pondered and debated as to why it was
necessary for the sinless one of God to be baptized if this was only a rite as an
expression of repentance and done for the remission of sins. Jesus’ simple explanation that it was the
righteous thing to do at the time doesn’t really clear this up. Some theologians suggest that in submitting
himself to baptism Jesus was identifying himself with sinners… as he later
became the sacrifice on the Cross for the sins of all humanity. And other theologians have suggested that it
was an example for those who would follow him. In his own baptism, he established the way for
all who would become his disciples. His
last comments before his ascension in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus linked these
two ideas together when he told his followers “Therefore go and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit,”
Whatever
Jesus’ personal reasons for baptism, it is obvious from what followed that his
actions pleased God. We read that when
Jesus came up from the water the Holy Spirit as a dove descended upon him and a
voice from heaven declared “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well
pleased.” This occurrence is celebrated
in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the first appearance of the Holy Trinity…God
the Father in the voice from heaven, God the Son as he came out of the water
and God the Holy Spirit as a dove descending upon Christ.
For
Jesus, this moment in history and in his own story marked the beginning of his
public ministry. From his baptism, he
will be driven by the Holy Spirit into the desert to confront the devil. We usually talk about that event when we begin
Lent, although it happens shortly after Christ’s baptism. I suspect that having the assurance of his
Father’s approval was a source of strength in the spiritual ordeal he
experienced in his temptation.
In our
baptism, each new Christian follows in the path of our Lord. Most of us were probably baptized as infants,
but we completed those vows taken by our parents or grandparents when we became
a member of the church. Some of us may
have been baptized as children, young adults, or maybe even later on in
life. But all of us who were baptized,
were buried with him under the sacred water and rose to a new life….as new creatures….completely
forgiven…reborn by the Holy Spirit in the image of the Christ we serve. If we allow it, this baptism is not only in that
one special moment but continues throughout our lives as we are being
continually remade, each and every day, into the likeness of Christ.
In our
baptismal covenant we enter into a sacred relationship with God through Christ
Jesus. We promise to continue in the
Apostle’s teaching, that we will persist in resisting evil not only for
ourselves, but as beacons of life to the world, that we will proclaim the
Gospel message in our words and our actions and we commit ourselves to seeking
and serving Christ in all persons. These
promises are not to be taken lightly. They are life-changing, in fact, they are
world-changing. If all Christians truly
lived by this we should see the effect it has on and in the world. The presence of Christ in our lives should be
evident and the Kingdom of God should become present not just to us but to
everyone we encounter. These vows are not
just words we say but are the blueprint for the Christian life.
In his
own baptism our Lord Jesus Christ gave us an example of humble obedience. He himself did not need to repent but in the
ritual cleansing he laid down a path for us to follow and made sacred the
beginning of His earthly ministry which would come to its fruition in his death
and resurrection. At the same time, God
announced his approval of his chosen and gave evidence of the power of God
working in and through Jesus.
When
we live into our own baptism we too receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and the
approval of God who through Christ will be with us. We too are called to earthly ministry and this
sacred rite of passage marks the beginning of our new life in Christ.
Today, as we renewed our baptism vows
this morning and think about the vows we made at our baptism or later as we
completed our baptismal vows when we became a member of the church if we were
baptized as infants, let us recommit ourselves to living into those sacred
promises. Let us repent of our own
failure to follow in the way of love and rededicate ourselves to becoming like Christ
to the world. We have been given a
sacred calling…all of us are members of the priesthood of believers…..the
disciples of Christ. Let us not be
afraid to proclaim the Gospel message of love in our words and our actions and
may the Holy Spirit pouring down upon us from God the Father give us the grace
and the strength to be the lights of Christ in our generation.
Thanks
be to God. AMEN.
Offertory
Doxology
Prayer of Dedication
Gracious
God, we come today with joy for our baptism and gratitude for Your love. As we offer these gifts to You, send Your
Spirit upon us, that our hands and hearts may do Your work in the world. Amen.
Closing Hymn – I Surrender All #596
Brown Hymnal
Benediction
You are each precious in God’s
sight. Go from this place, claiming your
identity as a child of God. He has
called you by name. You are God’s. Go into the world to answer’s God’s call to
service and gratitude.
Postlude
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