06/14/2026
Greetings in Christ,
Today is Charles' baptism, today we are welcoming Charles to our church family. To have baptism, we need to have water and water has been with us since the beginning of time as we look at Genesis:
Genesis 1:2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
But our relationship with water does not stop there as we look at the story of Noah and the flood as well as the story of the Israelites passing through the water of the Red Sea into freedom, we see how God uses water. I see similarities in both stories of Noah and the Israelites in the Red Sea, water in both cases was destructive for those outside of Noah's Ark and for the Egyptians. At the same time, water was also not destructive to Noah because of his ark, and for the Israelites because they were liberated through the waters of the Red Sea to freedom.
God's use of water does not stop in the Old Testament. As we go to the New Testament, we have John the Baptist as in his words found in Matthew: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” this near can be quite frustrating but we can be assured of our Lord’s return. God uses water and John the Baptist to baptize those who submit to God. God uses water to welcome those who do not reject God.
I love the description of Jesús’ baptism found in Mathew 3:16
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Jesús’s baptism puts things in perspective, Jesús sets an example to all of us and our need to be baptized. We are baptized because we are sinners, which is not Jesús’s case but Jesús is teaching us by example and connecting to humanity on a personal level of our need to be baptized, for our need to come closer to God, for our need to surrender to God.
Baptism is not just water or just the word of God, baptism is water with the word of God. In baptism, we participate in Jesús’ death and resurrection. Baptism is a gift from God, it is not something that we need to work on, and it does not depend on the holiness of the baptized or my holiness as the one who is administering the baptism. Baptism is a gift from God, baptism is God’s gift to humanity, and we must accept this gift.
Today we welcome Charles to our church family. We as a church have responsibilities, and we cannot pass the buck, we must welcome, pray, and nurture Charles and it is not for a little while but for the rest of his life, it is a lifetime commitment to all of us. God is Love Pastor Ricardo
