Reflections for

Baptism of the Lord, Jan 11, 2015

Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11

Blogging Toward Sunday

Let's back up

Genesis 1:1-5; Mark 1:4-11; Acts 19:1-7

Jan 05, 2009 by Thomas R. Steagald

"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you were baptized?" Paul asks the believers in Ephesus.

"Uh, what's the Holy Spirit?" they reply.

If you are Paul, what do you ask now?

"So tell me, into what, exactly, were you baptized?"

"Well, water. Yes, that's right, we were baptized in water."

"That's not exactly what I meant," Paul says.

Living by the Word

In the waters

Genesis 1:1-5, Mark 1:4-11

Dec 30, 2008 by Frank M. Yamada

“I am haunted by waters.” These are the last words of Norman Maclean’s novella A River Runs Through It. Waters haunt all of us who profess the Christian faith. The human imagination is consumed with images of water, and rightly so. Our bodies are made up of water. If we fail to drink, or if we are prevented from drinking, we will expire.

Living by the Word

Power and delight

Psalm 29; Mark 1:4-11

Jan 10, 2006 by Christine D. Pohl

In Psalm 29, the writer proclaims with majestic confidence that God is greater and stronger than every form of chaos, and by implication, than every idol through which we imagine we can control the manifestations of chaos. God is victorious over the wildness of water, storms and wind. Even mountains and trees appear unstable in the presence of God’s strength.

Living by the Word

A watery solution

Mark 1:4-11; Genesis 1:1-5

Dec 18, 2002 by Barbara Sholis

From the first instant of creation, water has played midwife to God’s creation story. After the flood, God set a rainbow in the clouds. God saw your people as slaves in Egypt, and led them to freedom through the sea. God brought their children through the Jordan to a promised land. And in the fullness of time, God sent Jesus, nurtured in the water of a womb.

Living by the Word

Holiness: Baptism

Mark 1: 9-15

Mar 01, 2000 by Samuel Wells

Lent is about preparation. Forty days: time for catechumens to prepare for baptism. Time to be ready for what is to come at the Easter vigil.

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Revised Common Lectionary © 1992 the Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission.