Elements from this morning’s gathering

Call to Worship

Holy God,
creator of light and herald of goodness,
at the waters of his baptism
you proclaimed Jesus your beloved Son.

With the baptized of every time and generation,
may we say yes to your call to repentance
and be led to the abundant life you offer us as citizens of God’s Kingdom.

For there is one Body and one Spirit;
there is one hope in God’s call to us;
One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism;
One God and Father of all.
Amen.

Scripture Reading

A Reading from Romans
Romans 6:1-11

So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving?

I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there?

Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!

That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country. Could it be any clearer?
Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer captive to sin’s demands!

What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.

From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. 
That’s what Jesus did.”