Contributed by David Delaney, Salem, VA

 

Warm-up Questions

•  What is your favorite place to just sit and relax?  Think about a place where, once you get there, you are so comfortable that you just do not want to get up.  Is it the couch in front of your TV?  Or the inflatable float you lie on at the neighborhood pool in summer?  Or a chair that could be anywhere, but because it’s at your best friend’s house, it’s your favorite spot in the world?  Or the rock ledge on the hiking trail that overlooks the neighboring valley?  Or the bed in your own room?
• What if the answer to the question had to be a person you love to be with rather than a place you like to be?  Some people are at their most relaxed when they’re alone, but for others there are best friends who put them at ease and in whose presence they can be most completely themselves, wherever they are.
• Another way of asking the same question:  To whom do you go to be renewed in energy, or to obtain trusted and wise advice, or to share very private secrets?

All of the feelings associated with such places and people contribute to the idea of what it means to “abide” in the sense that Jesus means it in John 15.

Grapes and Vines

In early 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that California’s 2011 grape harvest was down more than 7% overall and as much as 17% in some key places like Sonoma Valley.  That may not mean much until we realize that this represents between 250,000 and 500,000 tons of grapes – not pounds, tons.  The reasons growers gave for the decreased yield were, as we might guess, things over which they had no control, primarily weather.  There were a series of unexpected freezes in the early spring and an unusual amount of rain in late spring that weighed vines down and knocked the blooms off of their vines.  That was followed by a cool summer and then more heavy rain during the harvest months of October and November, which caused entire fields of grapes to rot before they could be picked.

One has to wonder just how delicate grape branches, blossoms, and fruits are if simple changes in weather can have such a dramatic effect on whether the fruit actually gets produced or not.  Apparently they’re very delicate!

Did Jesus have this in mind when he compared us to grapevine branches?  Are we really that susceptible to being robbed of abundant life because of the changing conditions around us, things over which we have no control?  That is undoubtedly a part of the story:  For many of us, faith thrives when we are living and working in ideal conditions – a loving and gracious family, like-minded friends in school and in the church’s youth group, sturdy and lively worship with a generous dose of solid preaching, fulfilling opportunities to serve, and support during times of crisis.  Who wouldn’t thrive in such an environment?  And yet, if those factors change, are we destined to decline in our spiritual health?  Can we still bear good fruit?

There’s another side to the image of the vine and the branches.  Not all of California’s grape crop was negatively affected by the 2011 weather patterns.  Some growers of heartier varieties of grapes reported that the fruit was actually some of the best they’ve ever had!  Evidently the variety and quality of the vine make a huge difference.  There is an important lesson.  In California, some grape branches attached to more vulnerable types of vines lost their fruit-bearing capabilities and in some cases died altogether.  But those attached to more resilient varieties of vines not only survived the weather but bore better fruit than expected.

We are not like grape branches in one important sense: we can self-detach from a vine and latch on to something else that we suspect might provide a better home.  This is the reason Jesus could give the unusual instruction to his disciples to remain attached to him like a branch is connected to a vine.  He wanted to make sure we understood how vulnerable we can be to the changes and challenges going on around us.  So there is a difference between just attaching to any vine that may be out there promising to sustain us through rough weather and staying attached to Jesus, who is not just any vine, but the sturdiest and heartiest of all vines, the true life-giver.

Discussion Questions

• What does it mean to “bear fruit”?  What kind of fruit are we, the branches of the vine, expected to bear?
• Outside of this section, the word “fruit” only occurs twice in the Gospel of John, but students of scripture over the centuries have often connected this passage with one from another New Testament writer, Paul, who speaks of “the fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23.  What do we learn from that passage that helps us understand the experience that Jesus intends for us?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 6, 2012 (Fifth Sunday of Easter)

 Acts 8:26-40

1 John 4:7-21

John 15:1-8

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

 

Gospel Reflection

Whenever we come across passages of scripture that set up scenarios of success and failure in the life of faith, we always run the risk of turning the good news of God’s saving love for us back into a law that discourages and depresses us or a system that supposedly lays out a formula for making God happy and assuring our salvation.  In this passage that tendency is enhanced by the starkness with which the consequences of failing to abide are described:  “He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit … Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers;  such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

It sounds rather judgmental and threatening.  If we are of a fearful conscience, this verse can leave us in terror that we will do it wrong and end up discarded.  If on the other hand we trust in our own righteousness, the task of abiding just becomes one more goal that we check off our list of things we do to make God like us.  In fact, however, this passage allows neither of those conclusions.

To abide means to remain connected to Jesus over time.  It is being in relationship with him.  It is not a matter of doing it right or wrong, but just being aware of how dearly he, the vine, is holding onto us, the branches.  Furthermore, we must remember that the life that is promised does not flow from branches to the vine, but the other way – from the vine (Jesus) to the branches (us).  All of these words about abiding in the vine do not describe a hoop we must jump through or a spiritual state for which we must strive, but a reality that is already true as he declares it – “you have already been cleansed (or pruned) by the word that I have spoken to you.”  Perhaps we need to hang on to our list of synonyms for “abide” that was suggested above – “relax with me,” “dwell with me,” “remain with me,”  “be still with me” – as a way of hearing the good news in this passage.

Discussion Questions

•  Try to think of some words that could mean the same thing as “abide.”  Some possibilities:  remain, stay, live, relax, dwell, connect, rely on, stay close to, and others.  So how does one “abide” in the Christ the vine?  What faith practices do you engage in that help keep that relationship alive and flowing?
• What does Jesus mean by verse 7? – “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”  That sounds like a pretty outlandish promise, given that I could wish for all kinds of crazy things.  But this is the second time he has said it (see 14:13-14)!  How does this work then?  Can it be that if we are abiding in Jesus, our lives and words, including our very wishes and desires, are so completely transformed by him that we can indeed ask for whatever we wish because our wishes will at that point be so aligned with his own?
• In chapters 13 and 14, the disciples interrupt Jesus quite a bit with their questions.  What question would you ask Jesus if you could interrupt him in the middle of this chapter?
• This instruction of Jesus to his disciples comes in the very middle of a much longer conversation during The Last Supper that runs all the way from chapter 13 through chapter 17, covers a huge number of topics and even includes a lengthy prayer.  If you skim through those five chapters (and it helps if you have a Bible with paragraph titles!), what sorts of themes do you see?  What kinds of things are repeated several times?  How do they relate to each other?
• John 15:1 is part of a set of “I am” sayings in the gospel – 6:35;  8:12;  10:9;  10:11;  11:25;  14:6;  and 15:1.  Each one says something different about who Jesus is and they culminate in one more instance of “I am” later in the gospel, 18:5.  As you look at each of these passages and the titles that Jesus gives himself, which of them strikes you as the most important for your life of faith?  What dimension of Jesus’ connection to his followers resonates the most with your life right now?

Activity Suggestions

•  Locate a piece of dried grape vine and, depending on the size, start adding names of people in your congregation or youth group, either to the leaves if they are still attached, or even on pieces of paper.  Then put the vine somewhere where it can serve as a reminder of your constant connection to Christ and your common connection to others.
• In response to verse 7, use index cards to write things down that someone abiding in the vine of Christ might ask of him.  If it’s true that someone who is so connected to Jesus will find their desires for themselves and the world closely aligned with Jesus’ desires for them and the world, what would those things be?  Use these cards as the content of your closing prayer for your study session.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your life giving and life sustaining call to abide in you.  Even as you reassure us day by day that our connection to you remains strong through your grace, feed us also on the life you give so that we may indeed bear good fruit in this world and so become your disciples.  In your holy name we pray, Amen.

Contributed by John Wertz, Blacksburg, VA

 

Warm-up Question

Can you think of something that you would describe as a miracle?

 It’s a Miracle!

On Good Friday, a Navy fighter jet lifted off from a base in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The jet suffered a severe mechanical.  The pilots tried to return to the base, but it quickly became apparent that they were in trouble.  After a short flight, the jet crashed into an apartment complex and destroyed over 40 units.  Amazingly, no one was killed.

According to witnesses and experts, several factors combined to prevent a larger tragedy.  The pilots managed to dump fuel which helped prevent a larger fire.  They waited until the last possible moment to eject from the plane so they could try and guide the plane as long as possible.  The plane hit an empty courtyard and because the accident occurred in the middle of the day, most people were not home at the time of the crash.  After the accident, people on the ground were able to pull the pilots away from the flames to prevent them from suffering further injury.  A total of seven people were hurt, but all of them were out of the hospital within two days.

The response from leaders in the area was clear.  According to the Associate Press article “Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms took to Twitter on Saturday to celebrate the fact no lives were lost, calling it a “Good Friday miracle.” Adm. John C. Harvey, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, said he was “quite surprised, to be honest”, that no one had died, calling it an “amazing miracle.”  Gov. Bob McDonnell told The Virginian-Pilot newspaper that the lack of loss of human life was “an act of divine providence.”

 

Discussion Questions

• The leaders in the area clearly viewed the fact that no one was killed as a miracle.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?
• How would you define a miracle?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 22, 2012 (Third Sunday of Easter)

 Acts 3:12-19

1 John 3:1-7

Luke 24:36b-48

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

 

Gospel Reflection

Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women returned and announced the good news.  The tomb was empty.  Jesus had risen from the dead.  Peter ran to see the empty tomb for himself, but he didn’t see the angels or risen Lord.  The disciples on the road to Emmaus returned and shared their encounter with Jesus, but hearing about something miraculous is not the same as experiencing it yourself.  So when Jesus appeared to the disciples, it should be no surprise that the disciples were startled and terrified—or that they initially believed that Jesus is a ghost.

The disciples are trying to make sense of this miraculous event.  Trying to understand how the horrible death they witnessed on Friday night could be overcome.  Trying to understand how God could accomplish something so miraculous.  Encountering Jesus’ ghost would be a little easier to believe, but after touching and seeing his wounds and sharing a meal with him, the disciples are convinced that Jesus has risen from the dead.  It’s a miracle!  Christ’s presence moves them from fear to acceptance, from confusion to clarity.

Miracles, by definition, are occurrences that defy a rational explanation, but for the disciples, the miracle of the Resurrection offered clarity and brought understanding.  Jesus’ resurrection makes it clear that God’s power is greater than the power of death.  Jesus’ resurrection makes it clear that God, through Jesus, is on a mission to love, bless and forgive the whole world.  Jesus’ resurrection makes it clear that as “witnesses of these things”(Lk 24:48), the disciples are called to go and share this miraculous good news with the world.

In this Easter season, we, like the disciples, hear the amazing, miraculous news of the Resurrection.  Like them, we may have moments of doubt and uncertainty.  This truly is an amazing story and although you and I may not be able to touch Jesus’ wounds or watch him eat a piece of fish in person, we can still encounter the risen Jesus today.  We encounter Jesus through the story of what God has done and is doing for God’s people.  We encounter Jesus as we experience God’s presence through the bread and wine of communion and as we are surrounded by the community of God’s people.  We encounter Jesus as we hear God’s Word through the story of the scriptures.  As we, like the disciples, encounter Jesus we can believe the miracle of the tomb empty, receive forgiveness of sin, and rejoice in the hope that thanks to the resurrection we have the promise of eternal life with God.

Discussion Questions

•  How do you think you would have reacted if you had been in the room with the disciples?
• What is the first question you would have asked Jesus?  How do you think he would have responded?
• How can you be a witness to the resurrection in the world today?

Activity Suggestions

Jesus calls us to be witnesses to the good news of the resurrection.  Try one of the following activities this week or develop one that fits your particular community.

• Create favorite scripture passage posters and place them around the church.
• Look in the “Contact” list in your phone and text one person who doesn’t have a church home to invite them to worship or a church event
• Write a handwritten note to someone in the congregation or community who is not able to come to worship
• Give time to a service project as a way of sharing God’s love.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, we give you thanks for the empty tomb and the risen Jesus.  Fill us with the joy of your love, help us to know your presence in our lives, and inspire us to be your witnesses, sharing the story of the resurrection and your unbreakable love with those around us.  Amen.

Contributed by Bob Chell, Brookings, SD

 

Warm-up Question

What would you like to be remembered for when you die?

Remembering Lloyd

To access this week’s news item click on

http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=13724&page=80

 Discussion Questions

• What question would you want to ask Lloyd about his life?
• What in Lloyd’s life sounds challenging and rewarding?
• What in Lloyd’s life sounds boring and unimportant?
• What in your life is challenging and rewarding?
• What in your life is boring and unimportant?
• What does it mean to be saved now, today?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 18, 2012 (Fourth Sunday in Lent)

Numbers 21:4-9

Ephesians 2:1-10

John 3:14-21

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

 

Gospel Reflection

The first time I met Lloyd I had trouble understanding him. He talked quickly and his stroke made his words a mumble to me. I didn’t connect him with Pedro and Anna for months. Anna was a graduate student at the university. Pedro, and their son, Lwin, seemed to be walking every time I drove anywhere, to the school, to the park, to the store. When both our children won Radio Flyer wagons in the local radio station’s Christmas promotion they wanted to give one to Lwin. We delivered it to the apartment they shared with Lloyd. That’s when I made the connection.

The apartment was not small. It was tiny. It was clearly meant for one. I didn’t want to be nosy and never asked, but I suspect Lloyd  slept on the couch, while his long term guests had the bedroom. Whatever the arrangements, it was clear that with his meager income, Lloyd had welcomed a family into his life as well as his home.

Our gospel lesson is so familiar it sometimes seems to have lost it’s power to break through the routine of our lives to shape and change them. Someone once told me that anywhere the Bible says ‘believe’ you can substitute the word ‘trust.’ I like the truth that doing this reveals. I live in the Upper Midwest where an unusually warm winter has left the ice on lakes and rivers unsafe. You can stand on the shore and determine whether you believe the ice can hold your weight but it’s an entirely different matter to take the first step trusting it will sustain your weight.

Lloyd lived this truth, trusting in God’s promises, not only for him but for all people.  In trusting he took the hands of others, inviting them to join him in trusting God’s promises to undergird, support, and sustain them.

Discussion Questions

• The gospel also talks about being condemned. What does that mean for our lives now? Does it mean forever?
• Who is the Lloyd in your life, who quietly lives trust in God’s promises?
• When were you ‘Lloyd’ for another–listening, helping, or encouraging someone?
• How does your experience illustrate what Jesus meant when he said; “…those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:24)

Activity Suggestions

• Write a thank you note to the “Lloyd” in your life telling them why you see them as inspirational.
• Determine a time or place this week where you can be a “Lloyd” for someone. Give it a try and talk next week about how that experience went (and what it means if it went terribly, as some are bound to)!
• If you are reading and discussing this in a group, determine how you can be a “Lloyd” in your congregation, school or other setting

Closing Prayer

God, you have gifted us with many things and we take your greatest gifts for granted, the gifts of life and loving friends and family. Thank you for those people who “get us” and understand what it means to struggle with pain and problems. Turn us away from our own struggles so that we recognize the pain of others and reach out to them in encouraging support.  We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

Contributed by Lindean Barnett Christenson, Bozeman, MT

 

Warm-up Questions

Has a parent, teacher or coach ever expected too much, or too little, from you? What was that experience like?  Have you ever expected too much, or too little, from a parent, teacher or coach? What was that like?

Not What Anyone Expected

Jeremy Lin is becoming a household name for basketball fans and for anyone who pays attention to sports media.  Now playing for the New York Knicks, Lin was captain of his high school basketball team his senior year. That team (Palo Alto High School) finished the 2005-2006 season with a 32-1 record, upsetting a nationally ranked school for the California Interscholastic Federation Division II state title.

Lin was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year.  Yet at 6 feet, 3 inches tall, and with a high school GPA of 4.2, Lin was offered no college basketball scholarships. He chose to attend Harvard University and had a great college basketball career there.

No one selected him in the NBA draft and before becoming a star for the Knicks, Lin was cut by two other NBA teams. Now “Lin-sanity” has swept across, not just New York, but the sports world and regular news media as well. Why? Opinions vary. Lin is the first NBA player to put up the kind of numbers he did in his first five starts – at least 20 points and seven assists per game. He is also the only NBA player who is an American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.

Jeremy Lin has defied expectations and stereotypes and many do not know what to do when someone defies expectations in such a grand manner. From ESPN (which fired one reporter after he used a racist word in a headline) to Saturday Night Live, Lin’s skill on the court and the media’s reaction to it are ongoing topics of conversation.

 

Discussion Questions

•  How would you account for all the media hype about Jeremy Lin?
• Which is the bigger story – Lin’s basketball skills and recent performance or the media’s reaction to it? Why?
• What is the difference between a stereotype and an expectation?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 4, 2012 (Second Sunday in Lent

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Romans 4:13-25

Mark 8:31-38

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

 

Gospel Reflection

Jesus’ response to Peter was more than Peter expected.  In our reading from the eighth chapter of Mark, Jesus predicts for the first time his impending betrayal, trial, execution, and resurrection. That prediction proves more than Peter can handle, so Peter pulls Jesus aside to try to set him straight, “No way! That’s not how things are supposed to go!”

But it is, and Jesus sugar-coats nothing in telling Peter how it must be. Jesus’ passion prediction was not what Peter expected of a Messiah, of a Savior, even after so much time spent learning from and watching Jesus. And certainly it’s not what Peter was hoping would happen to his friend. Even all these years later, when we stop to think about it, death on a criminal’s cross seems an unlikely ending for the Son of God. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised when the life of faith turns out not to be easy all the time–when we are faced with difficult choices or put in uncomfortable situations because we strive to follow Jesus.

Our Lord hits us point blank, just as he did with his disciples and the crowd: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” As Deitrich Bonhoeffer put it, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

If this was all we knew of the story it might make us wonder why anyone would ever want to become a follower of Jesus in the first place. Jesus doesn’t just say we should deny ourselves something, like giving up chocolate for Lent. He says we should deny, or disown, our selves, meaning that his followers don’t belong to themselves anymore.  We belong to him.

Jesus knows something about us, that on our own we will strive to gain the world and lose our souls in the process. We will set our minds on human things, not divine things. We prefer strength and comfort and security, over weakness, suffering, and trust.

Life with Jesus is not always what we expect it will be, unless we expect our sinful selves to be surprised, over and over again, by grace, forgiveness, and the presence of God in the most unlikely places.

Discussion Questions

•  If someone were to ask you what it’s like to follow Jesus, what would you say?
• On a day to day basis, what do you expect God to do?
• When/how have you experienced God at work in situations of weakness, loss or suffering?

Activity Suggestions

• If appropriate in your context, watch the opening sketch from Saturday Night Live on February 18^th together. Keep track of all the stereotypes named. Ask: which stereotypes are offensive? Are there any that are not? What makes the difference? How do stereotypes get handled at school? In your congregation?
• Invite an experienced saint from your congregation to join your conversation, and ask about times they have been  surprised in following Jesus.

Closing Prayer

O God, it is not always easy to follow Jesus. Give us strong hearts and bold spirits to lose our lives in his life and death, that we may find our lives in his death and life. Bless us during this season of Lent, with faith to trust and follow your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Contributed by Scott Moore, Erfurt, Germany

Warm-up Question

What would you undo in your life if you could?

De-baptism?

Rene LeBouvier (71) has become the symbol for a number of dissatisfied Christians throughout Europe, Great Britain, and North America. LeBouvier has one seemingly simple request: he would like to have his baptism undone. He wants to be de-baptized.

As a young man, LeBouvier found himself and his beliefs to be further and further away from that of his Christian upbringing as a Roman Catholic in rural France. In 2000, he asked the Catholic Church to be “un-baptized”. He was informed that his request to leave the church had been noted but he could not be de-baptized. A few years later, he tried again only to be informed that a de-baptism was not possible. So, he took the church to court.

In October, 2011, the French court in Normandy ruled in his favor citing any person’s rights to revoke his or her membership from any organization. The Catholic church has appealed the decision on the grounds that baptism cannot be undone in God’s eyes as well as the church’s. The case has yet to be finally decided.

Discussion Questions

• When do you think a de-baptism might be necessary?
• What should the requirements be for someone to be de-baptized, in such a case?
• What effect would there be on someone if they could be de-baptized?
• What would a de-baptism look like?
• If someone said, they had been de-baptized and wanted to participate in a congregation’s life (worship, Communion, etc.) should they be re-baptized?
• What should the Church do/say to people who request this? (In 2010 there were a reported 2,000 requests for de-baptism in Belgium).

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, February 26, 2012 (First Sunday in Lent)

Genesis 9:8-17

1 Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:9-15
(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)
For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

This Sunday’s Gospel text has three parts: The baptism of Jesus, Jesus’ time in the wilderness, and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. Looking closely at the flow of these events in Jesus life, it seems to be a pretty tough life to be loved by God in the way that Jesus is loved. (This goes for those of us who are baptized, too.) Jesus comes and does what many others were doing. They were responding to the preaching of John the Baptizer to repent and think again about their lives. He called them to be washed anew in the Jordan River. He called them to a new life. Jesus gets baptized, Jesus gets a heavenly show, Jesus gets the Holy Spirit as a dove coming down on him, and Jesus gets the voice of God saying, “You are my beloved Son. With you I am well pleased.” Now one would think that everything gets better after that. Well, think again.

Immediately, Jesus is driven out into the desert—by the Holy Spirit! Forty days and forty nights. Satan, wild beasts, angels. After he survives that, Jesus returns to Galilee and picks up where John the Baptizer left off. “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near; Repent, and believe in the good news.” Certain people didn’t like John’s message. He ended up with his head on a platter. Certain people didn’t like Jesus’ message either. Jesus ended up on the cross. Jesus died and was buried. And…and this is a big “and.” And, Jesus was raised again.

Holy Baptism joins us to Jesus’ destiny—to his life, death, and resurrection. In this seemingly simple bath, we are made a part of the mystical Body of Christ. We are united with Christ. We are made one with him. That’s serious business.

This first Sunday of Lent is the beginning of a time in the church year that was originally created as an intensive time of preparation for those who were going to be baptized at Easter. It was the final stretch of a longer process where the seriousness of baptism into Christ starts to sink in. It was a time of deep questioning of the baptismal candidates, a time of uncovering all that needs spiritual healing.

The gift of Holy Baptism is a powerful one. It is a mystical and mysterious one. It is about membership, but not membership in a club or organization. It is membership in the Body of Christ. It is here that we hear in a particular way, “We are God’s beloved. In us God is well pleased.”

Discussion Questions

Share with the group the particulars of your baptism:

• Where? When? Who was the pastor that baptized you?
• Who were your sponsors/Godparents?
• What do you remember?
• Are there any special stories?
• Did you get a baptismal verse?  What was it?  What does it mean to you?
• How do you celebrate your baptismal birthday?

What are the pros and cons of being baptized as a baby versus being baptized at an age where you remember it?

What are the implications of being united with Christ in baptism? What does that mean for you?

Activity Suggestions

• As a devotional exercise use “Thanksgiving for Baptism” in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 97 or the order below.  This can be done either in the worship space of your congregation or in your classroom. If you do it in your classroom, you will want to make sure you have things you need for the rite (bowl with water, ELWs, etc).

Evangelical Lutheran Worship–Thanksgiving for Baptism

Those present may make the sign of the cross, the sign marked at baptism, as the leader begins.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

or

Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, the fountain of living water, the rock who gave us birth, our light and our salvation.

Amen.

One of the following or another appropriate scripture passage is read.

A reading from the Psalms: The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the LORD is upon the mighty waters. O LORD, give strength to your people; give them, O LORD, the blessings of peace.  (Psalm 29:3, 11)

A reading from the Psalms: Let the sea roar, and all that fills it, the world and those who dwell therein. Let the rivers clap their hands, and let the hills ring out with joy before the LORD. (Psalm 98:7-8)

A reading from Romans: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  (Romans 6:3-5)

A reading from Second Corinthians: If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

A reading from Revelation: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)

The leader addresses those who are gathered.

Joined to Christ in the waters of baptism, we are clothed with God’s mercy and forgiveness. Let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.

The leader gives thanks with these or similar words.

Holy God, holy and merciful, holy and mighty, you are the river of life, you are the everlasting wellspring, you are the fire of rebirth.

Glory to you for oceans and lakes, for rivers and streams.

Here particular bodies or sources of water may be named.

Honor to you for cloud and rain, for dew and snow. Your waters are below us, around us, above us: our life is born in you. You are the fountain of resurrection.

Praise to you for your saving waters: Noah and the animals survive the flood, Hagar discovers your well. The Israelites escape through the sea, and they drink from your gushing rock. Naaman washes his leprosy away, and the Samaritan woman will never be thirsty again.

Praise to you for the water of baptism and for your Word that saves us in this sacrament. Breathe your Spirit into all who are gathered here and into all creation. Illumine our days. Enliven our bones. Dry our tears. Wash away the sin within us, and drown the evil around us.

Satisfy all our thirst with your living water, Jesus Christ, our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

Assembly singing may follow, especially song related to baptism. As a reminder of the gift of baptism, those present may be sprinkled with water during this time.

The order concludes with this or another suitable blessing.

Almighty God, who gives us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit and forgives us all our sins, strengthen us in all goodness and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Thanksgiving for Baptism from Evangelical Lutheran Worship copyright © 2006 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America admin Augsburg Fortress. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without the written permission of the Publisher.

• If you prefer, consider composing your own brief liturgy to remember and give thanks for baptism.

 

Closing Prayer

Almighty God, by our baptism into the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, you turn us from the old life of sin. Grant that we who are reborn to new life in him may live in righteousness and holiness all our days, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (“Daily Renewal,” Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p.86)