Baptism

Can you believe it is only one month (31 days) before Easter?  Time goes by so quickly.  Between now and Easter Sunday, I'd like to look at the book of Matthew.  Specifically, I want to look at the ministry of Jesus leading up to his persecution, crucifixion, death, and resurrection.  We're going to start with the baptism of Jesus by John at the river Jordan.


John the Baptist was preaching in the wilderness in Judea telling his followers that they needed to “repent”.  He wasn’t talking to merely feel sorry for their sins, but to change directions, to turn away from them.  He was also preaching a message that the “Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  The main message being that the Messiah is coming.  Charles Spurgeon said “Men’s hearts were like a wilderness, wherein there is no way; but as loyal subjects throw up roads for the approach of beloved princes, so were men to welcome the Lord, with their hearts made right and ready to receive him.”  We, too, need to prepare our hearts, to make our paths straight for the coming of the Messiah. 

Many were being baptized by John.  John would completely immerse those he baptized.  As John was baptizing those in Judea, Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized. 

Matthew 3:13-17 says,

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  14 John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?"  15 Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he allowed him.  16 After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him.  17 And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

We often ask ourselves, why would Jesus need to be baptized.  Isn't He the Messiah?  If He never sinned, why would he need to be baptized?  John was even hesitant to baptize Jesus.  John recognized that Jesus was without sin and had no reason to repent.  But, Jesus wanted to be baptized to "fulfill righteousness".  He knew that this was part of the fulfillment of God's plan. 

There were three things that happened at the moment that Jesus came up out of the water:  the heavens opened up, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and the Father's voice was heard from heaven.  Jesus' baptism became the anointing of Jesus as the Messiah.  

As believers, we too, must submit ourselves to baptism.  For a long time, I struggled with baptism.  I am of a firm belief that baptism is not what brings about your relationship with Christ, nor does it guarantee our entrance into heaven.  Our salvation does not rest on baptism, it our hearts and attitudes of submission, as well as repentance that brings about salvation.  Baptism is an outward symbol to others that you've submitted your life to Christ.  It's obedience to the will of the Father.

If you, like I did myself, are struggling with baptism, go ahead and do it.  You will not regret it.   

Prophesy Foretold

This past Sunday was the second Sunday of Advent.  The trees and decorations are up.  Celebrations are about to begin, if they haven't already.  This is truly the "Most Wonderful Time of Year", don't you think?  

If we're going to celebrate the coming of Christ this season, we must go deep into scripture to figure some things out.  Specifically, what I want to look at, is the prophesy of Jesus' coming.  God tells us all throughout the Old Testament about Jesus if we only look.  

First, I want to look at the prophesies regarding the lineage of the Messiah.  Genesis 17:19 says this, "God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him."  Then in Genesis 49:10, God tells us 

"The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."  
    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
    from ancient of days,
     and they shall call his name Immanuel”


Then in Jeremiah 23:5, we are told “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land."  

So, by those three passages, ranging from Genesis to Jeremiah, we can determine the lineage of the Christ child.  First, he is from the line of Abraham.  He will come from the Tribe of Judah and from the lineage of King David.  Now, let's look at the scripture in which those prophesies were fulfilled.  Matthew 1:1-2 tells us that " The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers".  Matthew tells us plainly that Jesus came from David, Abraham, and the tribe of Judah.  Then Luke 3:33 tells us that Jesus was a descendant of Judah.  

The second prophesy that I want to look at is that the Messiah would come forth from a virgin in the city of Bethlehem.  Isaiah 7:14 says, " Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."  Then Micah 5:2 says, 

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Now lets look at where these prophesies came to pass.  Matthew 1:18-23 says, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, andyou shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
(which means, God with us)."  

Luke 2:1-7 says, "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." 

Old Testament prophesies and New Testament realizations.  To me, there is no doubt about the birth of Christ.  We were told he would come.  It was a promise.  God sent His son, Jesus, to be born in a manger, in the little town called Bethlehem, to a virgin mother named Mary.  Love came down at Christmas.

Jesus also tells us that he will return one day.  It was also a promise.  We should look toward the eastern sky for his return.  If he promised it, you better believe it will come to pass.


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It's Shoe Box Time

This past Saturday, our church had our first ever Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Packing Party.  What is Operation Christmas Child, you ask?  Well, let me try to explain.  Operation Christmas Child is a mission of Samaritan’s Purse International Relief.  Samaritan’s Purse provides spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world.  Their mission is to follow the example of Christ by helping those in need and proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel. 

Operation Christmas Child provides shoeboxes full of goodies to children around the world.  “A small shoebox can teach a child about the love of God, lead him or her to faith in Christ, inspire pastors, and plant new churches.  What goes into the box is fun, but what comes out is eternal.” - http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

We’ve been collecting items to go into these shoeboxes for the last few months.  The idea is to get items that are fun, like toys, bracelets, and stuffed animals.  But, we also wanted to include in our boxes hygiene items such as soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and deodorant.  We included socks, mittens, hair bows, and hair brushes.  And, let’s not forget, candy!  We had a great turnout for our Packing Party. 

This year we had a record of 159 shoe boxes filled.  That’s amazing, especially if you consider the size of our church.  We’re pretty small.  We normally have around 80 people, which include children, in our Sunday School classes.  We may have around 100 during worship service. 

On a personal note, there were several times during the packing party that I felt the tears well up.  I kept thinking of the children that might get one of our boxes.  What kind of living conditions they face?  Are they loved at home?  Do they have parents?  There are so many questions that I thought of while witnessing the packing of the shoe boxes.  I packed a few boxes, but I mainly focused on taking photographs to share with our congregation, as well as trying to keep the boxes sorted (boys/girls by age group). 

A few years ago, I went with our church to the distribution center in Boone, NC to help pack the boxes into larger shipping boxes so that they could be taken to their destination.  It’s a humbling experience.  There were so many boxes, and in some cases you can tell that people spent a lot of time preparing for these gifts.  There were homemade toboggans and mittens.  This makes me think, what can I do next year to let the child that receives my box know that they are loved.  Not just by me, but by God Himself. 

I hope that you and your church participate in Operation Christmas Child.  It doesn’t just bring a child joy, but it also brings joy to the giver. 

Here are a few photos from our Packing Party...

Activity books, crayons, school supplies

We ordered the boxes from Samaritan's Purse

Bagged candy

Yo-yo's

Packing the boxes

Making sure lots of love is added

Homemade bracelets

More love with stuffed animals

Thank you to all that came out

HA!