Jesus Baptism

Luke 3:15-17,21-22

Illustrations

 
 

His name is Tommy, and Tommy was going to the local amusement park with his family.
With joy, he anticipated the little boats with bells, the happy carousel and the carnival
games. But what Tommy really wanted to do was to ride the big one, the roller coaster!
What a thrill!
He could share it with his friends and it would prove that he was no longer a little boy.
So the big day came, and he rode the little boats, cars and carousel.
He threw darts at the balloons and baseballs at the bowling pins--and all the while--in the
back of his mind was the thought: "Today I'm going to ride the big one!"
Finally, they got in line for the coaster, a line that appeared to be infinite.
Eventually they worked their way to the front, and Tommy was ready to board his
dream ride.
Just as he was about to step down, the gate keeper pulled him back and over to a
measuring post--explaining that he had to be a certain height; it was the regulation.
You guessed it.
Tommy was three inches too short.
He didn't measure up.
But thank God that in Christ we are acceptable to God--because of God's amazing
grace!
The world might tell us that we are not good enough.
We might tell ourselves that we are not good enough.
And it's true. We don't measure up.
But God loves us anyway....and when we accept what God has done for us through Jesus
Christ--God's grace shines so bright--that we find that we do indeed measure up. We
measure up to God.
 
from a sermon by  Kenneth Emerson Sauer,
Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport
News, VA
from SermonCentral

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Humor - Who Will You Listen To?

An old fable that has been passed down for generations tells about an elderly man who was traveling with a boy and a donkey. As they walked through a village, the man was leading the donkey and the boy was walking behind. The townspeople said the old man was a fool for not riding, so to please them he climbed up on the animal's back.

When they came to the next village, the people said the old man was cruel to let the child walk while he enjoyed the ride. So, to please them, he got off and set the boy on the animal's back and continued on his way.

In the third village, people accused the child of being lazy for making the old man walk, and the suggestion was made that they both ride. So the man climbed on and they set off again.

In the fourth village, the townspeople were indignant at the cruelty to the donkey because he was made to carry two people. The frustrated man was last seen carrying the donkey down the road.

Traditional

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One author says this about baptism, "Whether an infant or adult, the person baptized answers from that moment to the name Christian. No other loyalty comes before this and being a Christian should be the baptized person's most distinctive characteristic."

 

Conrad Thompson formerly of Lutheran Vespers tells this story: "An artist was standing along a beautiful river in France where he was painting a picture of the landscape. A group of children came by and watched the artist as he caught the beauty of the clouds, the river and the trees with his brushes. Finally, one of the girls in the group could not contain her enthusiasm any longer and asked, 'Mister, can you get us into that picture?"


"In a stately church a noticeably untidy man visited the church for the first time. He was met by one of the smartly-dressed ushers who immediately ushered him to a back pew so that his unkept appearance and foul odor would not upset the decorum of the church.

Another first time visitor stood in the foyer. He was neatly groomed and made a striking appearance in his dark pinned stripped suit. One of the ushers strode proudly down the aisle with him and seated him in the front of the church.

Following the service, the president or the congregation invited the man to dinner at his home.

As they were seated around the table, the food was passed. The visitor helped himself to the delicious looking potatoes placing them on his plate. But then he did a strange thing, he scooped the potatoes into his suit coat pocket. The family watched as he proceeded to do the same with the carrots and the meat. Unable to keep silent any longer the father asked, "Why are you pouring the food into your coat pocket?"

The visitor smiled and answered politely, "Judging from where you seated the visitor who came in before me I gather that you invited my suit to lunch so I'm feeding it."


Do you know what is in here? (drop bag of crushed aluminum cans)
 
            They are Coke cans filled with ice old diet coke
 
Sitting on my refrigerator shelf
 
Beading drops of cold water when I take them out
 
                                    Ready to supply the "pause that refreshes"
 
                                    Whenever I am thirsty.
 
            They are aluminum siding or parts to any automobile
 
                        Not yet - but soon
 
                        As soon as they become new all over again.
 
            Recycling make old things new again.
 
                        You can turn old clothes and cloth that can't be worn
 
                        Into brand new quilts that provide beauty and warmth.
 
            You can take the plastic communion cups & made decorations
 
                        Or all the plastic bottles and containers we buy
 
                        Can be cut up, melted, and turned into park benches.
 
            There are all kinds of things
 
                        That given the chance they could be new again
 
                        And begin to live a whole new life.
from a sermon by Mark Whittaker
Homosassa First UMC
Rosemary and I enjoy watching "how-to" television shows. One night we were watching "This Old House" and were amazed to see the beginning of a remodeling project in San Francisco. What was so neat about it was that the home-owners were remodeling a church into their private home. Now Rosemary has known a few folks who have done that and usually it has been ministers who have been quirky enough to want a home-church. And there is a tremendous amount of work in such a conversion. [Pardon the pun.]

What struck me about this church in San Francisco, however, was that when the crew went into the basement they found the central beam of the building sitting on a one foot block of wood, that sat on a 6 inch block of concrete, that sat on a half-wall along the foundation.

Do you know what that means? Any kind of significant tremor, if any major type of earthquake were to hit San Francisco that church would fall like a house of cards. That church - which closed it's doors and sold off its property failed to have a solid Foundation. Seems ironic doesn't it?

My mind jumps to the hymn: The Church's One Foundation... and I wonder....

Contributor: Gregory Dawson SermonCentralJesus Baptism

Luke 3:15-17,21-22

Illustrations

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

His name is Tommy, and Tommy was going to the local amusement park with his family.
With joy, he anticipated the little boats with bells, the happy carousel and the carnival
games. But what Tommy really wanted to do was to ride the big one, the roller coaster!
What a thrill!
He could share it with his friends and it would prove that he was no longer a little boy.
So the big day came, and he rode the little boats, cars and carousel.
He threw darts at the balloons and baseballs at the bowling pins--and all the while--in the
back of his mind was the thought: "Today I'm going to ride the big one!"
Finally, they got in line for the coaster, a line that appeared to be infinite.
Eventually they worked their way to the front, and Tommy was ready to board his
dream ride.
Just as he was about to step down, the gate keeper pulled him back and over to a
measuring post--explaining that he had to be a certain height; it was the regulation.
You guessed it.
Tommy was three inches too short.
He didn't measure up.
But thank God that in Christ we are acceptable to God--because of God's amazing
grace!
The world might tell us that we are not good enough.
We might tell ourselves that we are not good enough.
And it's true. We don't measure up.
But God loves us anyway....and when we accept what God has done for us through Jesus
Christ--God's grace shines so bright--that we find that we do indeed measure up. We
measure up to God.
 
from a sermon by  Kenneth Emerson Sauer,
Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport
News, VA
from SermonCentral

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Humor - Who Will You Listen To?

An old fable that has been passed down for generations tells about an elderly man who was traveling with a boy and a donkey. As they walked through a village, the man was leading the donkey and the boy was walking behind. The townspeople said the old man was a fool for not riding, so to please them he climbed up on the animal's back.

When they came to the next village, the people said the old man was cruel to let the child walk while he enjoyed the ride. So, to please them, he got off and set the boy on the animal's back and continued on his way.

In the third village, people accused the child of being lazy for making the old man walk, and the suggestion was made that they both ride. So the man climbed on and they set off again.

In the fourth village, the townspeople were indignant at the cruelty to the donkey because he was made to carry two people. The frustrated man was last seen carrying the donkey down the road.

Traditional

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One author says this about baptism, "Whether an infant or adult, the person baptized answers from that moment to the name Christian. No other loyalty comes before this and being a Christian should be the baptized person's most distinctive characteristic."

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conrad Thompson formerly of Lutheran Vespers tells this story: "An artist was standing along a beautiful river in France where he was painting a picture of the landscape. A group of children came by and watched the artist as he caught the beauty of the clouds, the river and the trees with his brushes. Finally, one of the girls in the group could not contain her enthusiasm any longer and asked, 'Mister, can you get us into that picture?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"In a stately church a noticeably untidy man visited the church for the first time. He was met by one of the smartly-dressed ushers who immediately ushered him to a back pew so that his unkept appearance and foul odor would not upset the decorum of the church.

Another first time visitor stood in the foyer. He was neatly groomed and made a striking appearance in his dark pinned stripped suit. One of the ushers strode proudly down the aisle with him and seated him in the front of the church.

Following the service, the president or the congregation invited the man to dinner at his home.

As they were seated around the table, the food was passed. The visitor helped himself to the delicious looking potatoes placing them on his plate. But then he did a strange thing, he scooped the potatoes into his suit coat pocket. The family watched as he proceeded to do the same with the carrots and the meat. Unable to keep silent any longer the father asked, "Why are you pouring the food into your coat pocket?"

The visitor smiled and answered politely, "Judging from where you seated the visitor who came in before me I gather that you invited my suit to lunch so I'm feeding it."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you know what is in here? (drop bag of crushed aluminum cans)
 
            They are Coke cans filled with ice old diet coke
 
Sitting on my refrigerator shelf
 
Beading drops of cold water when I take them out
 
                                    Ready to supply the "pause that refreshes"
 
                                    Whenever I am thirsty.
 
            They are aluminum siding or parts to any automobile
 
                        Not yet - but soon
 
                        As soon as they become new all over again.
 
            Recycling make old things new again.
 
                        You can turn old clothes and cloth that can't be worn
 
                        Into brand new quilts that provide beauty and warmth.
 
            You can take the plastic communion cups & made decorations
 
                        Or all the plastic bottles and containers we buy
 
                        Can be cut up, melted, and turned into park benches.
 
            There are all kinds of things
 
                        That given the chance they could be new again
 
                        And begin to live a whole new life.

from a sermon by Mark Whittaker
Homosassa First UMC

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rosemary and I enjoy watching "how-to" television shows. One night we were watching "This Old House" and were amazed to see the beginning of a remodeling project in San Francisco. What was so neat about it was that the home-owners were remodeling a church into their private home. Now Rosemary has known a few folks who have done that and usually it has been ministers who have been quirky enough to want a home-church. And there is a tremendous amount of work in such a conversion. [Pardon the pun.]

What struck me about this church in San Francisco, however, was that when the crew went into the basement they found the central beam of the building sitting on a one foot block of wood, that sat on a 6 inch block of concrete, that sat on a half-wall along the foundation.

Do you know what that means? Any kind of significant tremor, if any major type of earthquake were to hit San Francisco that church would fall like a house of cards. That church - which closed it's doors and sold off its property failed to have a solid Foundation. Seems ironic doesn't it?

My mind jumps to the hymn: The Church's One Foundation... and I wonder....

Contributor: Gregory Dawson SermonCentral