Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
In our baptism we are marked by the Cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit. God claims us as His beloved children. It brings about forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe it, as the Word and promise of God declare. Usually, we are baptized as an infant or child in the Lutheran church; and the parents, Godparents, and the congregation make a promise to that child and to God, that they will support and pray for that child.
When that child becomes a teenager, they get to reaffirm that baptism by going through classes and be confirmed. They make a promise or covenant by making public profession of their faith. That they intend to continue in the covenant God made with them in their Holy Baptism: to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the Word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper, to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ through Word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. And again, the congregation makes a promise to support this young adult.
As God’s children, we need to reaffirm our baptism every day. To remember the promise/covenant that we made to God. We need to take every day that God has given us to go out and be bold witnesses to His love for us and this world.
At the April council meeting I half-jokingly reported that in March I was an extra for a movie that was being filmed here in Door County. That I was doing some evangelizing, and honestly, I was talking about the love of God with some of the other extras in the movie. You never know how the Holy Spirit is at work in you. In May, this lady comes walking up the sidewalk to church on Sunday morning. She looked familiar, but I could not place her. She asked if I remembered her and I told her she looked familiar, but I didn’t remember her. She told me that I was talking to her about Jesus when we were filming the movie. Then I remembered her and our conversation. She explained how she was intrigued and that I wasn’t overbearing about my conversation with her about my love of Jesus. That is how we fulfill are baptismal promise/covenant to God. To go out and share the love of God. To go and make a difference.
My prayer for you is to stir up in you the gift of the Holy Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence, both now and forever. Amen.
God’s Blessings,
Pastor Gary
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” – Matthew 28:19