Scripture: Mark 1:4
John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins.
Thought for the Day: In some translations, the wording makes it sound as if the forgiveness of sin is entirely dependent upon the baptism. People read as if the Gospel writer was saying, “I will be baptized SO God will forgive me.” In the above translation (Common English Bible), baptism is more about us wanting to show God how we are changing and wish to be in right relationship. That is an interesting thought, but my less than scholar Greek would translate it more like: John the Baptist was in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of transformation that moves the people toward an acceptance of God’s forgiveness. As you will hear in Sunday’s sermon, our denominational founders believed baptism was the means by which we come to enjoy God’s grace and forgiveness. It was not a means by which we procured grace or earned forgiveness. These are God’s gifts, and anything that would suggest otherwise would reduce God’s work to something other than grace.
Prayer: With thankfulness for your grace that pours over us, O Lord, we seek to live the transformed life. Amen.
