January 9, 2011

Scriptures for January 9th: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17 Theme: The Baptism of the Lord and our call to be the church. Song: I’m Goin’ a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing – UMH 333

Acts: The book of Acts is the story of the disciples as they went out into the world to be witnesses to what Christ has done for the world. It is amazing how they spoke and others listened, and the church grew by leaps and bounds. May the Lord give us the same power in the world today. Peter was sent to a soldier, Cornelius’ house to tell the gospel story and the whole household was baptized. This is Peter telling that story. This is Peter explaining where he got his power and how that power is to be used. It is to be used to complete Jesus mission of saving the world. But before people can be saved, they have to know the story. How do we tell the story?

Matthew : We have heard the story of the relationship of John the Baptist and Jesus before. This time we are listening to it, not to hear about them, but to hear about ourselves. Why did we follow Jesus into the baptism waters? What is the expectation of us now that we have been baptized. This was Jesus chance to enter into a life of service to God. the same is expected of us. Jesus has a mission that started at the beginning of his life to save his people. But not everyone agreed about what that meant, not even John the Baptist. We have a mission to save the world – but what does that mean, and how do we go about doing that? We need to pray and ask God and follow God’s leading in our lives.

Questions: What is God calling you to do in your community? What issues of justice are present that need to be addressed? Who is there to address those issues? Are they really called by God to do their work? How do we minister to people who make us nervous, or are different from us? How can we learn from Peter as he goes out among strangers? What power does the Gospel story give you in your life? Have you ever been used to bring someone to Christ? How does that feel?