1.3 In All Matters Pertaining to Faith and Practice

How are we to understand the relationship between ‘faith’ and ‘practice’? When we read the Gospel accounts we see that, for Jesus, faith is always expressed through our attitudes and actions. Faith appears as a response to revelation that leads to a spoken confession, an appropriation of healing, an act of obedience, of compassion or of mercy. Above all, faith is focussed as a response to the person and ministry of Jesus. In this, we might describe Christian faith as ‘purposeful participation in the life, ministry and victory of Jesus Christ’.

An emphasis on ‘Jesus Christ as the sole and absolute authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice’, reminds us that the focus of our faith is to be Jesus Christ and all that He conveys to us, in and through His life, death and resurrection. The focus of faith is not introspective searching for surety. The focus of faith is Jesus Christ Himself and all that He calls us into, in our participation in His life. Our focus is to be on a faith that issues in practices in our life that conform to Christ; and not simply statements of belief or opinion.

Faith

This distinction, between a Christ-centred faith and mere belief, is important. Belief on any matter, in today’s culture, has become privatised and thereby made socially impotent. Shrouded in a secular philosophy that can be both relativistic and nihilistic, belief has become an opinion or perspective hidden in the mind of each person. This fits well where, in the public sphere, acquiescence to political correctness and conformity to the dictates of those in power is demanded of all. Such an anodyne perspective on faith was not always the norm. The earliest extra-biblical accounts of interaction between Christians and political authorities show that it was the refusal of Christians to conform to societal norms, when these norms demanded expression of allegiance that contradicted the authority of Jesus Christ in their lives, that led to the persecution of early Christians. It was seeing the distinctiveness in the lives of Christians, however, that also led to the conversion of many to Christianity. Such was the nature of faith. As the Apostle James states, ‘show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do’ (James 2.8).

It is necessary for us, in our day, to redeem the word ‘faith’ for its full, Biblical usage. We need to separate it from the popular term, ‘belief’. Yes, people may believe what they like; because belief, in the end of the day, is whimsical and fanciful. But faith? Faith is a declaration of conviction and commitment to action. The seeds of faith lead to the fruit of practices expressed in our deeds. This was clear in the thinking of the first Christians where we see, from the book of Acts, how their faith – as with that of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself - caused them to speak and act in a way that brought them into conflict with the dominating powers and principalities, the forces that exercised spiritual, social and economic oppression over the culture and context in which they lived.

Faith in Jesus Christ is found in an offering of all that we are to God our Father, to be empowered and enabled by the Holy Spirit, that we might be conformed (2 Corinthians 3.18) to the likeness of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Hebrews 1.2). Christian faith, as the Bible understands it, is captured in the acronym, ‘Forsaking All I Take Him’. It is a self-conscious response to the embrace of God our Father’s unfathomable, holy love. As He sweeps us up into His arms, through the workings of the Holy Spirit, He prepares and positions us for our deeper participation in the ministry of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Practice

‘Practice’, as our Declaration of Principle speaks of: what does it entail? Practice is what is expressed out of our faith. Practice springs from convictions formed and rooted within us, through the teaching and promptings of the Holy Spirit. It is what is born in worship, not only in song, but in the expression of the Hebrew Shema in the life of God’s people: that the One God is our God and that we ‘love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and strength’ (Deuteronomy 6.4). Such a ‘practice’ is what arises out of our being engrafted into participation in the life, ministry and victory of Jesus Christ (John 15).

It is important, in all of this, that we distinguish between the necessary evidencing of ‘practice’, as the fruit of faith, from what are termed, ‘works of the Law’. As the Apostle Paul makes clear, when we focus on our own deeds rather than upon Christ’s authority over our lives, we do not make ourselves acceptable to God: works of the law, in terms of our conforming to our own, modified interpretation of God’s will, are futile (Romans 3.27, 9.23; Galatians 2.16, 3.19). Faith that is rooted in Jesus Christ, on the other hand, leads to our participation and fruitfulness in ministry (Galatians 3.5). True faith is moulded in Christ as modelled by Abraham who, as our forefather in faith, invested in God’s covenantal faithfulness. Abraham trusted in what God declared, concerning what would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Romans 4). Faith focusses on the fullness that comes in Jesus Christ.

In All Matters

What of the expression, ‘In all matters’? This tells us that God is interested in what we invest in, participate in and do with our lives. When it comes to the development and exercise of our faith, in the manner of our living, there is no area of our life that is to be outside the jurisdiction of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the essence of our calling, as God’s children. God is moulding and maturing within each one of us an identity that will carry us forward into the New Heavens and New Earth, where we live and minister as the children of God. We will serve Him, as He holds and fashions the Cosmos, in a way He designed us for, as He intended for the first men and women (Genesis 1.26-27).

Moreover, this expression reminds us that there are some matters essential to faith; and others that can be viewed and treated as incidental to our living, within our culture and context. God is interested in honing and cultivating our faith and life-practices into conformity to Christ, whatever the particular culture or context that we find ourselves in. Whether we catch a bus or drive a car, whether we are poor or rich, God is interested in how we engage with our society.

God’s primary interest lies neither in validating nor negating the structures of the society you find yourself embedded in. God is interested in the spread of His Kingdom rule, come in and through Jesus Christ (Mark 1.14-15). God wants you to bring the presence and ministry of Jesus Christ to savour society around you. This is why the Creator Spirit, the Holy Spirit, would comes to you in intensified power, to enable (Luke 4.18-19) you to live in a way that declares and demonstrates the glory of God (Acts 2.11).

Questions for reflection:

·         Is there a difference, in your understanding, between ‘faith’ and ‘belief’?

·         What practices are most important to you, in your Christian life?

·         Which, of your practices, most need further development?

1.2 Is the Sole and Absolute Authority

Before I became a Christian, I viewed authority, in the exercise of it or submission to it, as a means to an end. That changed, once I had began to travel on the path of submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord. Travelling? Yes, for it is not an easy journey for independent-minded people, like me, to make. Authority, in our context and culture, is not a popular word. Where greater democracy is advocated, it is often falsely assumed that the road advocates anarchy: individual self-resolution and personal independence. Rather than building a society where constructive, social responsibility towards others is cultivated, we can find ourselves immersed in increased isolation and trapped by autonomy.

The Bible, throughout its literary breadth and span, recognises authority as a necessary fabric that is woven into life itself. The question it brings to us is, ‘whose authority do we come under?’ The Biblical narratives do not allow us, contrary to the European Enlightenment’s influence on our way of thinking, to perceive people as independent and autonomous agents. Utopian societies, full of material wealth and prosperity for all can be longed for; but there are further, hidden dimensions at work in our lives.  Experiences born out of the pursuit of escape and fantasy, suffocation by popular media, as well as dabbling in horoscopes, spiritualism, occult practices and searching after the sensation of personal enlightenment, tell another story. A society filled with people who display behaviour and demonstrate lives that are desperate to discover significance and purpose, or to numb absence and emptiness, betray the reality that there is another dimension to life that seeks to exercise a destructive authority over us, where there are spiritual entities that want to oppress and diminish us.

The Bible teaches us that there are powers and principalities that would dominate (2 Timothy 2.26) and destroy us (Ephesians 6.12); spiritual forces that both affect and infect lives (James 3.15). Although we can normally neither see nor touch them, domination by exploitative practices that demean and desecrate our humanity, engineered and manipulated by demonic powers, betray their presence. These powers and the environment they generate are an ever present reality – the default setting of life - for people in a world marinated in spiritual darkness. Jesus Christ challenges and overcomes the authority of such darkness (1 John 3.8; Hebrews 2.14-15). Through embracing us, Jesus draws us into a life under His authority. He calls and invites us to inhabit the dimensions of His life and living, that we might belong to and come under the authority of God.

What does it mean, that you and I should come under the authority of God, through Jesus Christ? First, we need to understand that Jesus Christ would liberate us from the control of demonic forces. Jesus calls us to enter into a redefined relationship with God. Through the allegiance of faith, we are able to identify with Jesus Christ as children of our heavenly Father (John 1.12-13). Secondly, it involves turning towards God and away from actions and attitudes associated with the authority of the devil (Luke 4.1-14; 1 John 3.10): an intentional renunciation of practices and perspectives that would defile and destroy us (Galatians 5.16-26; 1 John 5.18-19).

In this sense, our relationship with God is to be modelled on that of Jesus Christ’s relationship with His Heavenly Father. The Father’s love for Jesus is wonderfully expressed towards His Son, when Jesus gives Himself to His Father’s calling upon His life (Mark 1.11). Jesus subsequently makes it clear that all He does is based on His Father’s will. Jesus does only what He sees His Father doing (John 5.19). He understands that His purpose is to do His Father’s will, speaking what Father has taught Him (John 8.28).

This submission to God, as His Father, characterises the life and ministry of Jesus. God wants us to adopt, in our humanity, the same attitude as Jesus Christ (Philippians 2.5ff.). Our lives are to be given over to worship of God in looking for His rule – His Kingdom – to be expressed in and realised through our lives (Matthew 6.9-13). We are to pursue a path that leads towards our words and actions conforming to the express will of God. For this to emerge within our lives, we need to grow in our appreciation of the greatness of God our Father’s love towards us, that He should call us His children (1 John 3.1-3). This cannot simply be a mind exercise. Openness, receptivity and conformity to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit leads us to confess, Abba, Father (Romans 8.15-16; Galatians 4.6). It is a filial relationship that God intends us to experience as well as to own (Romans 5.5, 15.13), a relationship that embraces every aspect of who we are.

My observation is that many people – many Christians - are unsure about the measure of God their Father’s love for them. It is one thing to know your Father loves you. It is quite another matter to accept and embrace the fact that His other children are valued no more than you. You are not an unwanted child or an afterthought. He does not prefer others to you: you matter! For all Christians, there will be something grasped of God’s forgiveness and mercy expressed through the sacrifice of Jesus at the Cross. But the unsurpassable love of Father? An awareness and conscious experience of that love? The realisation that God’s compassion, care and concern towards you is unqualified and unlimited? God knows that a knowledge of God’s love and its purifying power will come through mentally appreciating and processing that fact; but He also wants you to have an experiential encounter with the Holy Spirit, penetrating deep within you, birthing affective awareness and appreciation of His Holy love filling you throughout. This is the birthright of every Christian. God wants it for you. And you need to look for and want it from Him (Luke 11.13).

We cannot stop even there. There is something else that needs to be noted regarding Father’s love and authority. A failure to see and understand what follows here may rob us, causing us to fall short of appreciating the full extent of Father’s love. It is simply this: God has a family of children that He loves, each and every one. For each person, God has a complete an unending love. He loves and cares for each one, each person in your life that is around you, desiring to shape us together as His people. God knows and utterly loves you and each person around you. He wants to shape and mould us as a people together to bear His presence, to be the Body of Christ on Earth.

The purposefulness of God, as narrated in the Old Testament, testifies to this. God’s concern is with the holy integrity of Israel, a people of different tribes and traits, yet with one common identity.  God calls out and shapes a people to belong to Him: to be true to Him, conformed to His Law and reflecting His character and goodness. God’s concern is not simply for single persons, living in isolation, but for the structure and wellbeing of human society. Where God’s loving authority is responded to. He sees and values each person; but He also sees and cares about the relationships that exist between us as people. His desire is for the construction and maintenance of a society that reflects His nature: that nature which is made known to us in and through the person, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God is concerned in shaping in us a life, whereby faith and practice are integrally expressed through the Body of Christ, the church.


Questions for reflection:


• How has your life-experience shaped your attitude towards ‘authority’?
• In what ways, so far, have you experienced God’s authority exercised in your life?
• In what ways might you deepen and enrich your appreciation of God’s caring authority exercised in your life?

1.1 That the Lord Jesus Christ our God and Saviour

How real is your Jesus? Coming to a realisation that Jesus Christ is a real person, with whom we can have a vital and dynamic relationship, is essential for a life of meaningful faith. This is the most significant milestone on a road marked by turning to God, repentance and willing enrolment as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Throughout a Christian’s life, enjoyment of this relationship is designed to be a fountainhead of joy and hope, awe and wonder. 

It never ceases to amaze me, however, as to how quickly I can fall out of a meaningful relationship with Jesus. How easily I can replace the real Jesus with a golden calf, called by His name. It’s not that I mean it to happen. For me, it can come about through any number of reasons: busyness or a failure to prioritise time apart with the Master; disappointments that cool my ‘first love’. Distance appears. And distance can affect any relationship badly. A numbing, a cauterising of love and longing sets in.  And the reality of love, intense and shared, becomes but a memory. Yes, still a Saviour. Yet no longer a personal, deeply known Lord. In reflecting on the opening words of the Declaration of Principle, let’s explore this relationship more fully.

God made us for intimacy with Himself. We see this in the story of God’s intended relationship with humanity, in the opening chapters of the Bible, in the Book of Genesis. It’s there in the way the great leaders of God’s people – Noah, Abram, Moses - are treated by God and relate back to God. Above all, we see God’s pursuit of a holy intimacy with humanity in His Word becoming a human Being, in Jesus Christ. It is this relationship of intimacy, lost through human sin, that Jesus Christ restores for us: a relationship of intimacy between mankind and God. And it is this relationship that God wants you and I to grow in. Jesus Christ came in our humanity to embrace everything that we are. It is because of Jesus Christ that we can see and understand what a mature and fully developed human being, in relationship with God, looks like; and how that might begin to be formed and shaped within us. So it is that the Apostle Paul, in describing Jesus Christ’s coming among us, repeats, in emphasis, both Christ’s coming ‘in the likeness of men’ and His ‘appearance as a man’ (Philippians 2.7-8), Jesus Christ meets with us as a real, human person.

Yet Jesus Christ is so much more than just a special person, with whom we can develop a relationship. Awesome and awe inspiring, He is the key to the Universe. Through Him the Cosmos came into being: for Him the Cosmos was fashioned (Colossians 1.16). He brings meaning and definition to everything. He is Supreme, the Son in whom God our heavenly Father, the source of our salvation, has fully invested Himself (Hebrews 5.9).  It is through Jesus Christ that the majesty and beauty of God, in all His holy love, compassion and mercy, is revealed to us.

In this manner our Declaration of Principle begins. It builds on the foundation of entering and possessing a deeply personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Not ideas or developed doctrines about Him. But an understanding of life that acknowledges Jesus Christ as a real person, with whom we are to enter into and develop real relationship. 

How, though, do we do this? How can we have relationship with someone we neither see nor touch? The people of Israel, in their desert wanderings, gathered around the Tabernacle. Then when settled in their land, it was to the Temple in Jerusalem, built by Solomon, that God’s people came to worship Him. Herein lies a clue to two truths we need to hold before us, in growing and developing in our relationship with and knowing of God. 

Firstly, God wants us to invite Him into our lives. It really is that simple! At a personal level, it starts when we invite Jesus to take His rightful place, at the centre of who we are. To bring our lives, His and ours, together. This is an invitation, for each of us, to personally respond to. It is also an invitation for us when we gather together, in Jesus’ name. Jesus declares that, when people gather together in His name, He is present among them (Matthew 18.20). The presence of Jesus is to be recognised when people gather in His name: mindful, focussed and seeking after Jesus Christ and what He stands for. 

Secondly, Jesus explains how this could be: that He would send another, the Holy Spirit, to be with us and guide us (John 14.16-18). The Holy Spirit, who gives life and form to God’s Creation, takes and shapes us, that we might come to bear and exhibit the distinctive mark, the imprint, of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1.14). The Holy Spirit’s presence is neither abstract nor theoretical:  His presence is to be experienced by us (John 7.38-39) and found among us (Acts 1.5).

God calls us to intimacy with Jesus Christ. He reveals Himself, the source of our being, the One to whom we owe loyalty and worship. He is our basis for life and living. Through participation in a life that is fashioned from His life, ministry, death and resurrection, we grow and mature as God’s children, refashioned and refined in this life, prepared for all eternity. This means that we need to spend time, drawing apart and drawing close to Him. We need to develop perspectives and practices that will allow us convey and demonstrate His presence and love to others.  This will always be something for us to grow further into, as He grasps us in the wonder of fellowship with God. He embraces us in the holy love of God, that we might minister His presence to others. 

Pursuing such intimacy with God will challenge and change our priorities. It will shape the type and manner of relationships we establish, develop and pursue with each other, as well as with other people. As Jesus Christ draws us into deeper relationship with Himself, the types of relationship we  look to have with other people changes. Righteousness, honesty, acceptance, forgiveness and reconciliation become norms that we will be drawn to and learn to long for, as we seek to embody and enact the pleasure and purposes of God our Father.

This is the life that is rooted in Jesus Christ. This relationship will bring an ongoing change in us: the transformation of our humanity to become more holy, more like Jesus. Whilst the fullness of revelation from God comes through Jesus Christ, our comprehension of that revelation is, for now, yet incomplete. We do not each begin with the ability to comprehend all that is true: rather, we begin by apprehending the way, the truth and the life that is made known to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ’s Lordship over and in our lives is something that needs to develop and grow in us, whilst our sense of autonomy and independence from God decreases. Sin involves separation: separation from full and meaningful intimacy with God and, consequently, from other people. God does not want any of us to be isolated or marginalised. He wants us to come into life, life in all its fullness.

It is with the recognition of such awesome life and mercy, abundant in Jesus Christ, that our Declaration of Principle begins.

Questions for reflection:

• When did you first become aware that there is a real Jesus Christ, with whom you can have a personal relationship?

• When do you find the best time, to take time to be with Jesus?

• Have you ever felt your ‘love grow cold’? How did you come to know Him better, again?

A Pastoral Commentary

This week, I begin the serialisation of an offering: a pastoral commentary on our Declaration of Principle, of the Baptist Union of Scotland.This will be posted on a weekly basis and will invite thought and reflection on the foundation, in Jesus Christ, that gives our Union of Churches focus, purpose and meaning.

It follows on and can be read with a Devotional Commentary, an illustrated text of which can be downloaded from our Baptist Union of Scotland website, at https://www.scottishbaptist.com/declaration-of-principle/

The first post will appear tomorrow. I pray that you might find it useful.

3.7 ….. of the world

““And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”  
Matthew‬ ‭28:18-20‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Our Baptist Union of Scotland was born out of local churches realising that, in order to fulfil the commission that Jesus has given to His disciples, it is better to work together than labour alone. What holds us together in this vision is our acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as Lord and head of the church; and that He communicates to us, through the Holy Spirit, in directing us according to Father’s will. We hold the Bible as central to all that we say and do, through faith in Jesus Christ. We stress our dependence upon God and interdependence with one another, as we seek to work together in sharing the Gospel with people in our land of Scotland and, in fellowship with other churches that confess Jesus and share in our Principles, seek to reach out in love to all peoples, everywhere, across the world.

  The declaration of the Baptist Union of Scotland: our Principle is to be true to Jesus and to the Scriptural testimony regarding God and His ways. And when we do that, we bring an influence to bear on our Society that is more powerful that we can ever imagine.

Lord God, I thank you for our Union of Churches. I thank you for the life that you pour into us, through the Holy Spirit, that is expressed among us: the presence and purposefulness of Jesus Christ Himself. Thank you, Father, for such a privilege. Strengthen us in faithfulness. Harness us in hopefulness. Infuse us with lovingkindness. Bring glory to your name in this land of Scotland and throughout this Earth, in and through Jesus Christ and His church, Amen

3.6 In the evangelisation

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

‭John‬ ‭6:63‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

There is immense spiritual power when you, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, speak of Jesus Christ. To speak with sincerity about Jesus – who He is, what He has done and what He is doing – releases light into darkness and brings hope to the hopeless. It opens a window to the wind of heaven, that the breath of life might break in.

All the forces of darkness and evil want to silence you, to intimidate and prevent you from speaking about Jesus. Because when you do speak about your Lord Jesus, life is released (John 6.63). You have good news to share: news about Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord (Colossians 1.26-28). To declare the mystery (Colossians 4.3), the Word of life (1 John 1.1-3). Resolve to be a bearer of the good news that is Jesus Christ (Matthew 11.3-5). Speak it out!

Lord my God, I thank you that you have caught me up in the Good News of Jesus Christ. I give myself to you, afresh, as a herald of your Kingdom come in Jesus; a messenger of mercy and grace, made known through the Cross of Christ. Take me to those with whom I can have conversation and share the message, which is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Amen. 

3.5 And to take part ....

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.”

‭‭ I Corinthians‬ ‭12:7-14‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Do you recognise and confess Jesus as your Saviour and Lord? If so, you are now a child of God (John 1.12-13). You are a minister and a priest of God. You are treasured and loved by God. And you have been placed within a people (1 Peter 2.9-10). You are one part of many (1 Corinthians 12.12). And you cannot operate effectively without acknowledging that you are integrally one with them (1 Corinthians 12.21-27).

Our enemy has a simple strategy to disable us – jealousy, unforgiveness, isolation. God has a solution – unconditional and determined love. Learn to love and value those in church around you. Seek out their strengths, bear with their faults. Find your place as part of church, the body of Christ.

Lord God, I thank you that you called me to be one of your children. I want to be part of your family, the church. I know that ‘where there are people there are problems’, so help me grow in cultivating humility, patience, forgiveness and genuine love towards others, especially those I find it hard to get along with. Let me see my own faults and failings, that I might repent of them. Help me to reflect your kindness, care and compassion in dealing with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen

3.4 To the Gospel of Jesus Christ

“And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.””

Luke‬ ‭24:45-49‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Gospel = Good News. Jesus Christ is Good News. It is His atoning death and the wonder of His resurrection. It is His sending of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, working in and through us. It is the declaration of the present rule of God among us, as we live in a sin-soaked world. It is that Jesus Christ, alive and real, can and would be present in the life of every person who would come to Him, in repentance and faith, right now.

The Gospel is news about new birth (1 Peter 1.3). Fresh growth (Isaiah 11.1, Romans 15.2). A wind that releases life (John 3.6-8). A star that shines bright in the morning (2 Peter 1.19). A fragrance that blesses – and can also offend (2 Corinthians 2.14-16). It is the message of the Word made flesh – alive, active, powerful in penetrating into hearts (Hebrews 4.12). The Gospel is a powerful instrument. Use is wisely. Never forget or underestimate its ability to transform the world you live in and the people around you.

I thank you, Heavenly Father, that my Lord Jesus Christ ever seeks to enter the door of human hearts, again and again. To come in, healing lives to live more fully; transforming minds to think ore wholesomely; to save and rescue from darkness, sin, despair and hopelessness. Strengthen me in confidence and ability to handle this power of the Gospel, in releasing others from the dominion of Satan and leading them into new life in Jesus Christ. Amen.

3.3 To bear witness

“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

‭‭I Peter‬ ‭3:13-17‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

God has called you to faith in Jesus Christ, because you are born of God (John 1.13). The Word of God became flesh (John 1.14), bearing your sin in His body, that you might carry and express God’s righteousness in your life now (1 Peter 2.24). As Jesus Christ died for you, you are to live for Him.

In living for Jesus, root yourself in showing gentleness and respect towards others. Be conscious that each person you meet was fashioned by God to bear His image. You are an ambassador of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5.14-20). Seek to reflect Jesus to them, in your manner, your care and your attentiveness towards your neighbour, colleague or client. Witness does not begin with a strategy, a method or a plan. Witness begins with what is in your heart (Romans 10.8-9).

My Lord and my God, I want to carry in my body your presence, your righteousness, in a worshipful way. I want to honour you by expressing respect and love, care and compassion to people around me. In my attitudes and actions, I want my life to invite the question, ‘Why do you behave in this way?’. Help me to be this person, more and more. In Jesus name, Amen

3.2 Of every disciple

“Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.””

John‬ ‭20:19-23‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Do not be afraid, when you sense God knocking at the door of your life. Open the door to let Jesus Christ in (Revelation 3.20). Jesus wants to come and and impart to you His peace. Jesus is sending you into the world, today. Yes, you are vulnerable. Jesus knows how you feel (Hebrews 2.10-11). Your calling is to bear His presence and peace into the lives of those you meet.

You have an awesome responsibility and gift to impart. You are to show mercy and grant forgiveness to people (Matthew 16.19), just as you have been forgiven (Luke 7.47). Your duty now is to forgive and show mercy (Matthew 18.21-35). This is a basic discipline to embrace, part of your calling as a disciple of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5.18-19).

Lord Jesus, you are the Prince of Peace. You impart to people, by the Holy Spirit, a peace that is unsurpassable. Strengthen me to carry that peace into the lives of those around me. Let me be a bearer of mercy, a bringer of forgiveness. Enable me to to be a herald of hope and healing to those who are harmed and hurting. To our Father’s glory, Amen

3.1 That it is the duty ...

“And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke‬ ‭4:17-21‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Born to be formed again in Christ Jesus, you are more than a customer called to consume God’s care and compassion for you. Constrained by the Holy Spirit, you are designed for discipleship.  You are a child of God. You share, in Christ, a common discipline and duty to work for the furthering of God’s Kingdom on earth. You are destined to shine with the reflected light of God, sharing this with those whose lives are wrecked, with grief and despair deep in their hearts. For you, identity and duty now walk hand in hand. When you embrace the truth that you are God’s treasured child, your destiny changes. Now, your delight is to pursue the realisation of the purposes and pleasure of your Heavenly Father. This will happen, through the empowering of the Holy Spirit within you and upon you, in the name of Jesus Christ your Lord. 

Think on it (Galatians 3.26-29). Your life is now in Christ’s life. The Holy Spirit, dwelling within you, would also come upon you, to empower you. All that Jesus represents and engaged in is now your reason for living. Embrace your election in Christ (2 Peter 1.10). Expect more (Ephesians 3.16-21). See God do so much good, in and through you (John 14.12).

Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that you see so much more potential in me, than I see in myself. Today, I receive the revelation, afresh, that you have made me your own, precious child. You have invested the treasure and wonder of heaven into me. Father, it is my delight to offer myself to do my duty as a child of Light. Take me and expend my life on earth for the glory and honour of your name, by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within me and as a disciple of Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen

2.7 Was buried and rose again the third day

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”‭‭

Ephesians‬ ‭2.1-6‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Because of Jesus, your life is already positioned in a fuller, richer, multi-dimensioned reality, in and through the power of His bodily resurrection. At times you sense this; that you do not truly belong to this world’s ways and what many people hold dear. You are pained by financial corruption, perverted sex and mismanaged power. But remember this: God would fashion in you, by His Holy Spirit, with a different appetite. An appetite for the invasion of the New Heavens and New Earth into the present: where holiness, healing and harmonious living can begin to be manifested through your life right now.

Focus on what lies ahead, now and in the days before you. Christ is in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1.27). You are an overcomer (1 John 4.1-4). If God is with you, who can stand against you (Romans 8.31)? In all that you undertake, in Jesus’ name, you will surely succeed (John 15.14-17).

Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that my life is hidden now in you: embraced and enfolded in your healing and reconciling love, lifting me in the presence of my Heavenly Father and filling me with the presence, purpose and power of the Holy Spirit. Help me focus, my Lord, to see through the lens of your concern and care for the people I meet this day. Work in and through me, my God, that I might bear the scent and savour of the richness and love that is yours towards them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

2.6 Who died for our sins according to the Scriptures …

“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:14-21‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The Scriptures are the lens through which we can perceive both the truth about God and the truth about ourselves. As we look around at a world strained by strife and suffering, we need to stay focussed on the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, God Himself bears the pain and takes the penalty for human sin and stupidity, for all history through all time. Here is God, the ultimate peacemaker, reconciling the world to Himself.

Jesus Christ, in propitiating the wrath of God over human sin (Romans 3.23-6), bore the consequence of all our faults and failings; and also gave us a fresh pattern for our lives. Now we are called to know God in a way that conforms to Jesus Christ in His dying (1 Corinthians 2.2). As Jesus’ disciples, we are neither to deny nor seek escape from involvement in the problems and pain that surrounds us in a world ravaged by wickedness, war and rebellion against the One God (Isaiah 1.11-17). We, filled with life because we are united with Jesus Christ in His death, are called to a path of care and compassion. To identify and involve ourselves with the lives of victims and causalities of selfishness, greed and evil (Matthew 5.13-16). This is what God invites us to (Micah 6.8). This is an integral part of the journey that leads to resurrection and eternal life.

Heavenly Father, help me view the world around me through the eyes of your crucified Son, my Lord and Saviour. Even as He has born the penalty for me, taking my sin and sickness to Himself, now allow me to bear His healing presence into the lives of those around me. As He never abandoned hope in you, help me to walk faithfully and lovingly among those who feel bereft of care and compassion. In Jesus’ name, Amen

2.5 And faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

“This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.”

‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3:21-26‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The essence of Christian faith lies in personally acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord. Faith, born by the Holy Spirit out off our Heavenly Father’s love, graciously and generously calling us to be disciples of His Son. Such faith ushers us into the beauty and limitless dimensions of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. It clothes us in a new way (Ephesians 6.13-19), changing the way we see life (Matthew 5.1-10) and pointing us to an everlasting hope (Hebrews 11.1) rooted in God’s faithfulness.

You are not at the end of the road! God wants you to continue – perhaps even embark - on a path of growth, in increasing measure, into maturity in Jesus Christ. Sometimes that will attract you, sometimes it will scare you. But God’s heart of love is to continue to develop and mature you (Philippians 3.8-12). Keep the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14.12).

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your immense patience with me. Thank you that, even when I falter or fail, you do not give up on me. Your Holy Spirit stirs hope again within me: thank you so much. Now, Father, expand in me a longing and passion to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Deepen and strengthen my faith, that your care and compassion may find greater expression in a love than is in me and through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

2.4 Of those who have expressed repentance towards God …

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.””

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6:1-8‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Coming into an awareness of the presence and an experience of the One, Holy God begins to change us. Whether suddenly or slowly, an authentic visitation from God into our lives disrupts us, can even distress us, in shaking out sin (Hebrews 12.25-29) and recalibrating our awareness of God and His ways (Acts 2.1-13). When Jesus Christ came preaching, He called people to repentance: to turn around and face the reality of God (Mark 1.14-15). His acts of healing and deliverance were accompanied by a message that challenged and called people to change. God wants to meet with you; and for that to happen, there has to be repentance.

Ask God to show you the aspects in your life that need to change, the things you can begin to do something about. Attitudes. Ambitions. Relationships. A time to fast and pray? Invite the Holy Spirit to meet with you in a manner that will plunge deeply into you and expand you in the beauty of holiness (Psalm 96). There are times we all need a ‘spring-clean’ in our lives, whatever the time of year. Now may well be a good time to start again.

My God, You who are a consuming fire, purge me and purify me, that I might be better fitted to represent the family you have formed through Jesus Christ. This day, I would renounce those recurring sins that I have held onto, impeding and resisting the presence and purposefulness of the Holy Spirit in my life. Heavenly Father, enable me, in my days ahead on earth, to be for your glory and the honour of Your Name, in Christ Jesus and His church. Amen.

2.3 of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:14-19‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

When we are called into communion with God, it is always Father, Son and Holy Spirit who meet with us in harmony together: God is One (Deuteronomy 6.4). Maybe it began for you in learning about and being drawn to Jesus, His life, ministry and atoning death; perhaps you first felt confronted or touched by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit;  or you began by appreciating the might and majesty of our heavenly Father, reflected in the marvel of Creation. However it happened, it is a revelation come from the One God: from the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit.

When we come into a relationship with God, where He reveals Himself to us as He truly is, we begin to realise that we have a heavenly Father who cares intimately about every aspect of our life (Matthew 5.25-33); a Saviour who will always be there to inspire and journey with us through the rough and smooth (Hebrews 13.5-8); and the Holy Spirit who will enter us and enable us (John 14.16-20). God wants us to come to know Him more fully as He is, so that our joy and hope may overflow in abundance. One God, who is eternally Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 Thank you, loving God, that you have drawn me, not only to wonder at your grace and compassion, but to embraced into eternal communion with you. I thank you that I, together with all your people, are caught up into an eternal, ceaseless communion with you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in Your creativity, goodness, justice and love. For such a gift, such a quality of living that knows no end, I would ever praise and worship Your Holy Name. Amen.

2.2 Into the name ....

“Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭3:13-15‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Our God has called us to exhibit the power and wonder of who He is (Exodus 9.16), to enter deeper into a journey of understanding and ownership of His Name; this God who calls into being a people who receive His promises, His deliverance and His transforming presence into their lives (Numbers 6.22-27).

As you grow in your understanding of the Name, you will journey into a new perspective on life (Zechariah 13.9) and into an awareness of unseen dimensions to your relationships (Luke 9.48). As you, born to bear the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1.26), overcome denial and degradation through entering deeper into communion with Christ, you will more clearly hear His voice (John 10.25-30). You will come to a keener awareness and richer experience of the sovereign God at work in you and through you (John 14.26-27; 15.24).

I acknowledge, Sovereign God, that you are beyond my human  comprehension. Yet I delight that you have apprehended me by the Holy Spirit, drawing me to a place of wonder upon and faith in Jesus Christ. I thank you that you are showing me, more and more, what it means to come under the care and command of the loving, Heavenly Father that you are. You, Holy God, are One. And I treasure the wonder and the power of Your Name. Amen.

2.1 That Christian Baptism is the immersion in water

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:1-4‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Baptism by immersion in water represents and enacts what it means to be Christian. You have been called to be one with Jesus Christ. To die to what you were, before Jesus came into your life; and to come alive to the whole and complete person God planned for you to be, because Jesus is now in your life (Galatians 2.20). This is not something you can do by yourself; but Jesus Christ makes it possible. He died for you. He rose from death for you. He makes you a new you (Galatians 2.26-27)!

In baptism, having been plunged deep, you were lifted up from the depths of the water, longing and praying that the Holy Spirit come upon you (Acts 19.2-6). You embarked upon a journey to be shaped into the person God always purposed you to be (2 Corinthians 3.16-18). You have been liberated from being less than who you truly are. You have entered into a new freedom, through surrendering to the presence and purpose of God in your life. This is what your baptism by immersion is all about.

Heavenly Father, thank you for all that baptism, by immersion in water, communicates and conveys. I thank you that, because of Jesus, I can turn away from all that is dark and destructive in my past with confidence, that I might be born again to new life in Jesus Christ. As I died with Jesus Christ in entering the waters of baptism, I thank you that I can live a new life with Jesus as my Saviour and Lord, raised up to eternal life in Him, in the company of the saints of God and by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.