Yesterday, our pastor's sermon focused on the word beloved, the word that God uses at the baptism of Jesus. Our pastor reminded us that we are beloved of/by God too, and we pondered what that meant, that intimacy.
Yesterday was a day of lots of water. The day began with the children at the baptismal font with palm branches. They dipped the palm branches in the font and sprinkled water over the congregation. Several times, our pastor dipped his hands in the water.
At the end of the sermon, our pastor went to the font and held up his soaked hands again. "Miracle stuff," he said.
He reminded us that there is nothing we can do that will make God love us any more than God already does. And there's nothing that we can do that will make God love us any less.
Good tidings of great joy!
but bestows favor on the humble
1 year ago
2 comments:
Kristin, as I was reflecting on a meditation about Jesus' baptism, I was struck by God's being well pleased with the beloved Son... before the miracles and the healing and the preaching. Jesus was sent out as the Beloved, not just awarded Beloved status for his service. Somehow, that made being beloved more accessible to me.
Great points--important for me to remember, as a person who always feels like I don't accomplish enough, that I'm not living up to my full potential. I need to frequently remind myself that the voice of my inner guidance counselor is NOT the voice of God.
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