God says, “I Love You”
Sunday 7 January 2024
Freedom! To See The Light
Clearly, Brightly
Through All Obstacles!
Exodus 14:13
But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again.
Acts of the Apostles 26:29
Paul replied, ‘Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am—except for these chains.’
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Words of Grace For Today
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John Baptizes Jesus with water, God enters the event, forever to be remembered as Jesus “was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Such it is spectacular when God reveals to all whose Jesus is, and who that makes him: God’s Son, and Our Saviour come as a human to teach, heal, and sacrifice himself to save the world and demonstrate God’s love for the world.
So also God sends the Holy Spirit in our baptism to claim us, cleanse us, renew us, and equip us to be God’s workers on earth for all people.
In the fall of 2002 Minnesota’s respected senior senator, Paul Wellstone, died in a plane crash along with his wife, daughter, three campaign workers, and the two pilots. Out of that came an example of a wonder: Shortly after the crash, someone hung a banner of a well-known quote of one of the deceased aides, Mary McEvoy, over the entrance to the building where she had worked. Her words challenged, “What would you do if anything were possible and you knew you could not fail?”
McEvoy’s question evokes a freedom for living in the face of chaos, a freedom we receive in baptism, when God’s Voice claims us as beloved children.
Never free from sin, but always forgiven and renewed for life as God’s workers in creation, we can choose to life out of the freedom the Holy Spirit offers us each day,
or not?
What will it be today?