<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18999">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=4>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Reasons for Jesus submitting to Baptism</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1. To fulfill all Righteousness: To be
consecrated to God and approved by God.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">2. The public announcement of the arrival of the
Messiah and the inception of His ministry.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">3. Identification with human sin and
identification of himself with the people's movement toward God.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">4. To be an example to his followers.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Brett Blair, <A
href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=aelnpceab&t=88bfjleab.0.nj8gaieab.aelnpceab.45429&ts=S0577&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.esermons.com%2F"
shape=rect target=_blank>www.eSermons.com</A> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">______________________</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Welcome To a Journey</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The story is told of a pastor's words to a baby
shortly after he had baptized her. No doubt, the minister was speaking as much
to the congregation as to the infant. "Little sister, by this act of baptism, we
welcome you to a journey that will take your whole life. This isn't the end.
It's the beginning of God's experiment with your life. What God will make of
you, we know not. Where God will take you, surprise you, we cannot say. This we
do know and this we say -- God is with you."</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">And God will be with us as we live out our
baptism. </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">William B. Kincaid, III,<SPAN> </SPAN>And
then Came the Angel, CSS Publishing Company </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_____________________</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Unconditional Love</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I don't remember the first time I walked, but I
imagine it went something like this: I stood at one end of the room with my
mother and my father was a full three steps away. Before that day I could
probably do the kind of creative dangling that almost looks like walking, when
somebody held me by the hands and shifted me from side to side as my feet barely
touched the floor. But this is the day when I will try a real honest walk on my
own - all holds barred - with just two eager parents, miles apart, there to
cheer me on. So I set out, wobbling at first, stumbling at second, but
unmistakably making it on my own from one set of arms to the other. And then I
imagine that my father lifted me high in the air with an exultant shout as if no
one in human history had ever walked before. Then, after numerous kisses and
exclamations, I probably felt like the most loved, most marvelous boy in all the
world.<BR><BR>After a time I could walk with more assurance but, for some
reason, I didn't receive so much praise. In fact, I can't remember the last time
that anyone praised me for walking across a room. So I had to do other things.
Simply walking just wasn't good enough anymore. I had to strive to make a splash
in other ways, just to get back to that feeling, that feeling of being noticed,
of being picked up with a shout of delight, of being valued.<BR><BR>For the most
part, we don't have much experience with unconditional love, so we try to create
conditions in which we will feel worthy of love. We do not entirely trust love
without reasons, so we strive to create reasons for the love
received.<BR><BR>And in all that striving, it's easy to lose sight of the fact
that my parents did not praise me because of my accomplishments. Rather, they
praised my accomplishments because they loved me, and would have loved me if
there were no accomplishments to praise.<BR><BR>If parents sometimes have
something like unconditional love, a love without reasons, for their children,
how much more so does God love God's children? All of our striving to try to win
something that is ours already. God values you, not because you have
distinguished yourself in some way, but because you are God's
beloved.<BR><BR>Martin Copenhaver, Whispered in Your Ear
<BR>___________________________________<BR><BR></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Jesus' Consecration</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Some years ago, a Scottish minister told his
congregation about dreaming he had died. When he came to the pearly gates, to
his dismay, he would be denied entrance until he presented his credentials.
Proudly the Pastor articulated the number of sermons preached and the prominent
pulpits occupied. But Saint Peter said no one had heard them in heaven. The
discouraged servant enumerated his community involvement. He was told they were
not recorded. Sorrowfully, the pastor turned to leave, when Peter said, "Stay a
moment, and tell me, are you the man who fed the sparrows?"</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Yes," the Scotsman replied, "but what does that
have to do with it?"</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Come in," said Saint Peter, "the Master of the
sparrows wants to thank you."</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Here is the pertinent, though often overlooked,
point: great and prominent positions indicate skill and capacity, but small
services suggest the depth of one's consecration.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">And so it is with Jesus' Baptism. He submits to
John's baptism of repentance even though he himself was perfect and had no need
to repent. Jesus identified with our sins by being baptized. He joined in the
popular movement of his day. It was a grass roots movement started by a desert
monk named John the Baptist. John was calling for the repentance of Israel.
Jesus chose to be baptized because he wanted to participate with the people in
their desires to be close to God.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com. Adapted from G.
Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, Nashville:
Broadman, p. 241.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_____________________</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Meaning of Baptism</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Those who are baptized in Jesus do not need to
strive after a new life. They have already attained new life through dying with
Christ. But they do need to nurture that new life so it can grow and mature.
That's what church is for. That's what Bible study is for. That's what prayer is
for. It is like the Parable of the Sower. Many of those seeds sprouted up, but
only a few grew into maturity. The rest withered and died.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">A wealthy businessman was horrified to see a
fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Why aren't you out fishing?" asked the
businessman.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Because I caught enough fish for one day,"
replied the fisherman.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Why don't you catch some more?"</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"What would I do with them?"</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"You could earn more money," said the
businessman. "Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat, go into
deeper waters, and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy
nylon nets. With the nets, you could catch even more fish and make more money.
With that money you could own two boats, maybe three boats. Eventually you could
have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me."</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Then what would I do?" asked the fisherman.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Then," said the businessman, "you could really
enjoy life."</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The fisherman looked at the businessman
quizzically and asked, "What do you think I am doing now?"</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The baptism of Jesus is dying to our
self-centered endeavors and being resurrected into a life marked by grace and
love. When we live in the baptism of Jesus, we touch the hearts of others and
help open them to the Holy Spirit and new life in Christ. Are you living and
growing in the new life you have been given?</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Paul Peterson, The Waters of Death </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_____________________</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">We Draw the Circle Too Small</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Roy Lloyd, a Lutheran minister, once interviewed
Mother Teresa. He said that one of his questions and one of her answers stands
out in his mind as "a bright sun burning in my mind." He asked her, "What's the
biggest problem in the world today?" And she answered, without hesitation, "The
biggest problem in the world today is that we draw the circle of our family too
small. We need to draw it larger every day."</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">With all that is evil and wrong in this world
today it would be easy to answer that question with a hundred different events.
That's what makes Mother Teresa's response so jilting. She is saying that the
problem is not so much with the world as it is with us. We need to see more
people as our neighbor than we are currently doing.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I see Jesus doing this in his baptism. In his
baptism he included us in his righteousness. He identified with humanity, with
our need to be cleansed, and our need to be made pure. If you have been baptized
you have been drawn, by Jesus' baptism, into the circle of God's family.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">____________________</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">What Will You Do with Your Gift?</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">There is a folk tale from India that summarizes
our thoughts this morning. It seems that there was a good king who ruled wisely
and who ruled well. One day the king called his three daughters together and
told them he was leaving on a long journey. "I wish to learn about God, so I
will need to go away and spend a long time in prayer. In my absence I will leave
the three of you in charge. Before I leave I would like to leave each of you
with a gift; a gift I pray will help you learn how to wisely use your power to
rule." Then he placed in each of their hands a single grain of rice.<BR><BR>The
first daughter tied a long golden thread around her grain of rice and placed it
in a beautiful crystal box. Every day she looked at it and reminded herself that
she was powerful. The second daughter took one look at the common grain of rice,
and threw it away, thus squandering her father's mysterious gift. The third
daughter just looked at her grain of rice for a long, long time - until she
finally understood what to do with it...</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The conclusion to this illustration and many
additional illustrations and sermons for the Baptism of Our Lord can be accessed
at <A href="http://www.Sermons.com" shape=rect
target=_blank>www.Sermons.com</A>. </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>