Embracing Unity and Sacrificial Love Through Baptism
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1. "Baptism is God at work, making us his children, bringing us into his family, sharing with us his grace. And so I invite to the baptism, all parties to please come forward, as well as the godparents. Would you please come up here? on over here, Chandler. Yeah, good. St. Paul writes in Romans chapter 6, Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried, therefore, with him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, that we also may live a new life." [16:32] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "The word baptize simply means to apply water. Throughout the Bible, water conveys messages of life and of death. It's impossible to have life without water. Therefore, God uses simple, ordinary water, includes his word and promise, and creates in us new life. Holy God, gracious Father, we give you thanks, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the water and you created heaven and earth. By the gift of water, you nourish and sustain us and all living things." [18:53] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "We light the Christ candle at certain times of the church year. The Jesus candle. Certainly when he was born, Jesus, the light of the world, came into the world cast out darkness. We light it also at Easter because Jesus, it seemed like death had won the day on Good Friday. But on Easter, he rose from the dead. The light continues on. So while he's the light of the world, Jesus also said that we are lights. We are to shine the light of his love into the dark places of this world." [24:54] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "I believe we only need a cursory glance at the news headlines, news apps, evening news, to see that our world is broken, divided, and fractured. Nations, ethnic groups, political parties, communities, neighborhoods, workplaces, churches, homes. What's the answer? What are we to do? Well, the world in which Saint Paul lived, he also faced a broken world. and divided and fractured world, and in the letter to the Ephesians, he seeks to address the lofty and noble theme of unity and oneness." [35:08] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace. Hear it again. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace. He is saying, God has given us the ability to keep it. He has given us unity. Make every effort to maintain it and to keep it. He is saying, we can't create unity, but we can let it slip away. We can destroy it." [36:47] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "Jesus is both the model and the power for unity and oneness in families, but in all, all relationships. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes, Jesus has broken down the dividing wall of sin, and there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. You and I, we are called upon to see each and every person as one who has, like us, been created in the image of God, created with dignity and value, and worth and in reverence for Christ, we see them as children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, and we lovingly yield ourselves in service to them." [45:37] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "It's a mystery, but as we sacrificially and willfully, in humility, give ourselves in loving service to others, the unity that Christ brought, it begins to shape marriages and families and homes and churches and workplaces and neighborhoods, and communities and political parties and ethnic groups and nations. In actual fact, the sacrificial love of Jesus that was carried out by the early church changed and transformed the Roman Empire." [46:14] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "For me, a highlight of my week is Sunday morning, gathering together in worship. I'm always in awe of the variety, the mix of people that God brings and gathers together. We come from different ethnic backgrounds, roots in various countries around the world. Some of you are immigrants, some of you are first, second, third generation, fourth. We cover the age spectrum from infants all the way to people who are in their 90s, and one of our shut-ins who's over 100. We have multiple generations in our gatherings. We are male and female, single and married, employers and employees, retired and employed, blue-collar, gray-collar, white-collar, people with PhDs, and some with high school diplomas. We are all one in Christ Jesus." [47:00] (67 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9. "He was here working in the baptism, but he will be inviting us. He's inviting us to come forward, to come to his table, where he's going to feed us. And as we hear the words, given and shed for you, it's the assurance of his loving forgiveness for us, the power of his sacrificial love that shapes our hearts and lives, so that in turn we will be able to willingly and sacrificially, in humility, submit to others. That is, we will be able to voluntarily give ourselves in service to others." [48:25] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10. "In the scriptures, Father, you have a lot to say about unity, a lot to say about the way we as your children relate to one another. You say how good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity. You say, above all, put on love which binds everything together in perfect unity. You say, maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. We acknowledge that unity is very important to you and very difficult for us. Therefore we pray that you would bind us together with cords that can't be broken, that you would bind us together with love." [51:32] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2. "The word baptize simply means to apply water. Throughout the Bible, water conveys messages of life and of death. It's impossible to have life without water. Therefore, God uses simple, ordinary water, includes his word and promise, and creates in us new life. Holy God, gracious Father, we give you thanks, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the water and you created heaven and earth. By the gift of water, you nourish and sustain us and all living things." [18:53] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "We light the Christ candle at certain times of the church year. The Jesus candle. Certainly when he was born, Jesus, the light of the world, came into the world cast out darkness. We light it also at Easter because Jesus, it seemed like death had won the day on Good Friday. But on Easter, he rose from the dead. The light continues on. So while he's the light of the world, Jesus also said that we are lights. We are to shine the light of his love into the dark places of this world." [24:54] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "I believe we only need a cursory glance at the news headlines, news apps, evening news, to see that our world is broken, divided, and fractured. Nations, ethnic groups, political parties, communities, neighborhoods, workplaces, churches, homes. What's the answer? What are we to do? Well, the world in which Saint Paul lived, he also faced a broken world. and divided and fractured world, and in the letter to the Ephesians, he seeks to address the lofty and noble theme of unity and oneness." [35:08] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace. Hear it again. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace. He is saying, God has given us the ability to keep it. He has given us unity. Make every effort to maintain it and to keep it. He is saying, we can't create unity, but we can let it slip away. We can destroy it." [36:47] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "Jesus is both the model and the power for unity and oneness in families, but in all, all relationships. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes, Jesus has broken down the dividing wall of sin, and there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. You and I, we are called upon to see each and every person as one who has, like us, been created in the image of God, created with dignity and value, and worth and in reverence for Christ, we see them as children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, and we lovingly yield ourselves in service to them." [45:37] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "It's a mystery, but as we sacrificially and willfully, in humility, give ourselves in loving service to others, the unity that Christ brought, it begins to shape marriages and families and homes and churches and workplaces and neighborhoods, and communities and political parties and ethnic groups and nations. In actual fact, the sacrificial love of Jesus that was carried out by the early church changed and transformed the Roman Empire." [46:14] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "For me, a highlight of my week is Sunday morning, gathering together in worship. I'm always in awe of the variety, the mix of people that God brings and gathers together. We come from different ethnic backgrounds, roots in various countries around the world. Some of you are immigrants, some of you are first, second, third generation, fourth. We cover the age spectrum from infants all the way to people who are in their 90s, and one of our shut-ins who's over 100. We have multiple generations in our gatherings. We are male and female, single and married, employers and employees, retired and employed, blue-collar, gray-collar, white-collar, people with PhDs, and some with high school diplomas. We are all one in Christ Jesus." [47:00] (67 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9. "He was here working in the baptism, but he will be inviting us. He's inviting us to come forward, to come to his table, where he's going to feed us. And as we hear the words, given and shed for you, it's the assurance of his loving forgiveness for us, the power of his sacrificial love that shapes our hearts and lives, so that in turn we will be able to willingly and sacrificially, in humility, submit to others. That is, we will be able to voluntarily give ourselves in service to others." [48:25] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10. "In the scriptures, Father, you have a lot to say about unity, a lot to say about the way we as your children relate to one another. You say how good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity. You say, above all, put on love which binds everything together in perfect unity. You say, maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. We acknowledge that unity is very important to you and very difficult for us. Therefore we pray that you would bind us together with cords that can't be broken, that you would bind us together with love." [51:32] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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