Into the wilderness
By Melissa Hurley
We are approaching the season of Lent, a time where we follow Jesus into the darker and more difficult parts of his life. This includes his time being tempted in the Wilderness, as described to us in Mark 1:12-15.
This particular passage will be the focus of our worship experience for the next five weeks, engaging with what it means to exist in difficult times, using Biblical examples to shape our modern context and understanding of this Lenten journey.
The reality of our lives is that we have all been in seasons of life where things are difficult. Where life feels overwhelming and way too hard, where it does not seem like anything is going right. What do we do in those moments? How do we use our faith to heal from the seasons of life that are really challenging?
In the Kelseyville and Middletown United Methodist Churches, we will take this time to move from the completion of our Rise Up Sermon Series, into a Series focused on Lent and the Wilderness. This transition allows us to be able to reflect once again on the spaces that we are being called to action, and also take a step back to reflect and process the times in our lives that are difficult. This is when we engage fully with the difficult times, the times of hardship and grief, we can find strength in the Wild, we can find God in the Wilderness.
We will open our Lenten sermon series with talking about the ways that we are going to shape this five-week sermon series focused on the Wilderness. We will talk about what it means to be in the wilderness, have each church set their definition. We will talk about the urgency in which Jesus went to the wilderness after he was baptized and how it sets up the course of his ministry.
This sermon is going to be about setting the framework, with an ask focused on “What does it mean to you to be in the wilderness?”
Melissa Hurley is Pastor at Kelseyville United Methodist Church and Middletown Community United Methodist Church. Please join us in Kelseyville at 9 a.m. or Middletown at 11 a.m. as we explore what it means to be in the Wilderness during this Lenten season. All are welcome.
Living in grace through Baptism
By Chris DelCol
During the earthly ministry of Jesus, there were two things He considered important enough to command us to do. Holy Communion and Baptism. They are vital to our walk as believers in Christ and both are sacraments. And a Sacrament means Christ’s real presence in the celebration. Both are a Means of Grace allowing us to Live in Grace. The Means of Grace point to not only Christ present but also sin forgiven and it is through Baptism we are truly wiped clean of our sin as God claims us His own for eternity. That is why Luther was so intent on making sure we understood the importance of dying and being reborn in our baptism every single day. This rebirth in baptism keeps us reassured of God’s spiritual presence in our life and our sin forgiven for eternity. Our Gospel lesson today talks about the baptism of Jesus with God saying “You are my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”
Just as God reached down to Jesus the day He was baptized, so too He is present in Baptism to this day proclaiming to the one being baptized, and to the world, that He is claiming this child, this youth, this adult as a member of the kingdom of God forever and in God’s eyes, with this person, He is well pleased.
So, how can we live in Grace through Baptism? Very easy, it is Grace abound between the bookends of baptism. Jesus baptism in the Jordan as the beginning of His ministry which is bookend one, and His final words to His disciples, the Great Commission, at the end with His amazing Grace everywhere in between.
Join us this Sunday at First Lutheran Church, 3863 Country Club Drive, as we begin our sermon series entitled, “Living in Grace” focusing this week on Baptism. Sunday is also our monthly Food Cupboard, so join us for Bible study at 9:30am, worship at 11:00am, a hot lunch following the service, and the Food Cupboard from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Chris DelCol is Pastor at First Lutheran Church, 3863 Country Club Drive, P.O. Box 458 Lucerne, Ca 95458.
