Thursday, 14 January 2010

Baptism of Christ - Identity & Obedience (Matt.3:13-17)

So the “faithful few fought bravely”; and although we only had a small number at our service, it was a very inspiring and warm time together. It’s just as well that it was “warm” because we had all had to walk in the snow and ice!

We focused today on Christ’s identification with us and our humanity, and his obedience to the Father’s will. Fr. David’s presence greatly enriched our worship with his insights and learning. He produced a power-point presentation; identity was portrayed by a patient bus queue; obedience was seen in a musician having to practice patiently in order to become proficient; a large cloud, touching the tops of trees, indicating God’s interaction with us, and even a picture of a loudspeaker which told us that we too have our call to carry out God’s will in the world.. We moved on to images of the crucifixion; what would happen to Jesus and his ultimate sacrifice for us. Throughout, we had a very lively and interesting discussion and it was a good opportunity for learning together.

This was all accompanied by the songs, All creatures of our God and King, Peace is flowing like a River, Seek ye first (which we managed to sign in the Round – very nice!), O Jesus I have promised, and closed with Shine, Jesus, Shine; all very appropriate especially as we are continuing to light all our Advent Candles up to Candlemas!

Thank you to all who took part and especially to Peter Ewen who had to step in at the last moment and of course to Fr. David.

Deacon Olivia

Some Thoughts for Reflection

What does it mean to you to be baptised (if you are) ?

What does baptism mean to you (if you are not) ?

Does it matter if we are baptised or not ?

What have been the key influences and factors which have formed our own sense of identity ?

You are invited to continue the discussion below ...

Peter K


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