CLAIMED

Image result for baptism of jesusLuke 3:15-1, 21-22

 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.   (Isaiah 43:1)








Remember your baptism and be thankful.
The people of Israel had been watching and waiting for generation upon generation.

When John the Baptist came preaching repentance, they watched and “questioned in their hearts” if John was the Messiah, the Savior promised by God that they had been waiting for, longing for.

Our hearts long for many things:

      The captive dreams of freedom, and the broken-hearted long for comfort,

The person afflicted by illness yearns for health and wholeness and those who mourn grieve for those they have lost.

The stranger and the out cast hunger for community and acceptance, and the wandering soul seeks meaning and purpose.

The things of this world cannot supply the unconditional love, mercy and forgiveness that results in new life and new beginnings.  Material wealth, drugs, alcohol, over committed schedules and anything else we think might fill our emptiness cannodt redeem us, cannot make us whole and cannot give our lives meaning and purpose.  Only a relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior which is God’s gift of grace freely offerered to each and every person can satisfy our deepest longings.

As God gave the people a visible sign that Christ was His Son, the promised Messiah, so the sacrament of baptism is a visible sign through which God proclaims, as it says in Isaiah 43:1, “I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

Baptism is not just washing us up for a fresh start. It also involves putting on Christ life and maturing in faith as joint-heirs with Christ.  And because we are part of Christ’s family, we are also heirs of the promise to Abraham to be a blessing to all people.   (cf Galatians 3:27-29)

Remember your baptism and be glad.  We have been claimed by God for salvation as his sons and daughters and are heirs to God’s promises to be blessings of love, hope and transformation.








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