Lent, John the Baptist, and the Asbury Revival

February 22, 2023February 22, 2023 PastorPartridge Blogs Asbury, baptism, Baptist, John, John Partridge, John the Baptist, Lent, repent, repentance, repentence, revival, university

Lent, John the Baptist, and the Asbury Revival

February 22, 2023

by John Partridge

Regardless of whether you watched the unfolding events at the chapel on the campus of Asbury University, particularly during this season of Lent, I have been struck by the similarities between the events unfolding at Asbury and the ministry of John the Baptist. As the weekly chapel worship service at Asbury continued well beyond its scheduled ending, the students stayed because, whether they could put a name to it or not, they didn’t want to leave the presence that they felt in that place. In Christian circles, we would say that they felt the presence of God. Reports say that they were called to a closeness with God, they felt the call of God upon their lives, and they felt a call and a need for repentance.

That chapel service continued for the rest of that day, on into the night, and for more than a week beyond its scheduled time. Students arranged to lead worship in shifts of sorts, not with an official schedule, but by choosing small groups of worship leaders from among those present as the Spirit led them. The names of the worship leaders weren’t given to the press because they wanted God to get the credit. If you knew who they were, you could find PhD’s bringing water to thirsty people in line, pushing wheelchairs, and guiding visitors to the nearest restroom.

Students and adults from nearby towns came first, then folks from out of state, and brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world. They came to see, and to feel, this thing that God was doing and, by the accounts that I have read, they were deeply moved and came away changed, even if their visit was brief. But of course, they weren’t the only ones that came. Asbury’s campus was also visited by the media, the curious, by academics who had written about an earlier Asbury revival in the 1970’s, by “ministry professionals” with decades of experience, and some who were openly skeptical.

Within days, the academics, the skeptics, and the “ministry professionals” could be found online, critiquing Asbury, its students, the worship leaders, and everything about that event. Whether you want to call it a revival or something else, it reminded me a lot of Jesus’ baptism. John was admittedly more than a little odd. He dressed in camel hair, ate locusts and wild honey, and wandered the countryside preaching a message of repentance. But as odd as he was, people felt something in his presence. People from across the entire region flocked to hear him, to repent of their sin, recommit their lives to following God, and be baptized as an outward sign of their repentance.

But mixed in among those whose lives were changed were the curious, the academics, the skeptics, and the “ministry professionals.” The Pharisees then, as the modern equivalents are doing even now, insisted that this isn’t how God works, that John was doing it wrong, that the people were being deceived, and that certainly, as professionals, they knew better. And yet, God didn’t choose to work through them. God has always chosen unexpected, under-prepared, and often unqualified people, in unexpected places, to do unexpected things, and following paths that surprise us.

So, what was really happening at Asbury University? I won’t pretend to have all the answers, but it seems safe to say that God was doing something, even if we can’t put a name to it, or explain exactly what it was. After all, scholars and skeptics are still trying to explain what John the Baptist’s ministry was about, what he accomplished, and what God was doing through him. I’m certain that books and countless internet articles will debate what happened at Asbury for decades to come. But from my perspective, I think that we can all find comfort, reassurance, and a timely message for Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent.

We are both comforted and reassured as we see God engaged in human affairs. God has not abandoned us. God still walks the earth and is still calling us to follow him. But particularly in this season of Lent, just as we heard from the ministry of John the Baptist, we are reminded that God is calling us to repent of our sins and to recommit our lives to following God. I’m certain that as you read about what happened in Kentucky on the campus of Asbury University, that you will hear the voices of the skeptics, the critics, and the “ministry professionals” proclaiming that they know better. But I also hope that you will hear the quiet voice of God in these remarkable events as he says, “Follow me, and I will give you rest.”

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The Ghost of Baptism Past

January 15, 2023 PastorPartridge Sermon A Christmas Carol, Alliance, baptism, Baptist, Broadway, Charles Dickens, Christ, church, Dickens, Ebeneezer, fulfill, future, God, Isaiah, Jesus, John, Messiah, Methodist, Ohio, Partridge, past, Paul, present, prophecy, Scrooge, Street, transformation, United

The Ghost of Baptism Past

January 15, 2023*

(Baptism of the Lord)

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 42:1-9 Matthew 3:13-17 Acts 10:34-43

In Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited by three spirits over the course of an evening. These visits, by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, serve to remind Mr. Scrooge about the real meaning of Christmas, and of life, rather than his miserly devotion to the accumulation of wealth at all costs. In a way, today’s message borrows from that format as we visit scriptures from before, during, and after the life of Jesus Christ, that tell us something about the deeper meanings of baptism in our past, our present, and in our future. We begin with God’s promise of his spirit, eight centuries before Jesus’ birth, found in Isaiah 42:1-9.

^42:1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
    and he will bring justice to the nations.
²He will not shout or cry out,
    or raise his voice in the streets.
³A bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
⁴    he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
    In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

⁵This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
    who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
    who gives breath to its people,
    and life to those who walk on it:
⁶“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles,
⁷to open eyes that are blind,
    to free captives from prison
    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

⁸“I am the Lord; that is my name!
    I will not yield my glory to another
    or my praise to idols.
⁹See, the former things have taken place,
    and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
    I announce them to you.”

Isaiah says that the coming messiah will be filled with God’s spirit and bring justice to the world but will be so gentle that he will not do any further damage the most fragile among us. Moreover, God will not only call his people to right living, but will hold their hands, call the Gentiles to become a part of his family, and will rescue those who are imprisoned by jailers or by their infirmities.

Last week we talked about how God would use the Messiah to open the doors of his kingdom to the Gentiles, but for our purposes this morning, take a moment to notice how Isaiah declares the promise to put God’s spirit in and upon the Messiah that he would send. And with that in mind, we move forward to the moment of Jesus’ baptism, and the moment when God fulfills that promise in Matthew 3:13-17.

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Jesus tells John that he has chosen to be baptized even though he, as the perfect messiah, had no actual need of baptism. Rather, Jesus chooses to be baptized because it is necessary to fulfill God’s promises that the Messiah would be called to righteousness and to model obedience to God for all who would follow him. And the moment that he rises out of the waters of the Jordan River, the heavens open, the Spirit of God descends, lands upon Jesus, and God audibly proclaims this love for, and his satisfaction with, Jesus and the work that he is doing.

But if the words of Isaiah speak about the spirit of baptism past, and the Spirit of God at the Jordan River appears as the spirit of baptism in Jesus’ present, then what does that leave us for the spirit of baptism future? For that, let us jump ahead another few years to a month or two after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, and we find Peter as he speaks to a gathering international crowd, Jews, and Gentiles from across the known world, on the day of Pentecost in Acts 10:34-43.

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. ³⁶You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

³⁹“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, ⁴⁰but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Paul’s point is that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and then appointed us to follow in his footsteps. When we choose to follow Jesus, are baptized, and join God’s family as the brothers and sisters of Jesus, we, like Jesus, are baptized and filled with the Spirit of God. We are therefore empowered by God, to go out into the world and do the work of Jesus Christ and the work of God’s kingdom. Jesus commands us to preach to the people his future, and of our present, to tell them that Jesus is the one whom they will face on the day of judgement, that it is Jesus about whom the prophets were writing, and that forgiveness comes to everyone who believes in him and puts their faith in him.

In the story, A Christmas Carol, the overnight experience with the three spirits of Christmas past, present, and future, transformed Ebeneezer Scrooge and changed the direction of his entire life. As the followers of Jesus Christ, our experience with the Spirit of God through baptism, past, present, and future, is similarly transformational. Just as the spirits did in A Christmas Carol, God does not intend to leave us in the same sorry state in which he found us. Baptism is a transformational moment when we receive the anointing and the presence of the Spirit of God, and we are commanded by Jesus Christ to be his witnesses, to share the good news with the people around us so that they too can be rescued and adopted into God’s family.

Ebeneezer Scrooge wasn’t visited by the spirits of Christmas so that he could stay the same miserable creature that he always was. Likewise, we were not baptized to that we could stay the same as we were and do the things we had always done. Our baptism is transformational.

God does not intend for us to stay the same.

God intends for us to change the world.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

The Promise of Power

May 14, 2021 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, ascend, ascention, baptism, Biden, Broadway, Castro, Christ, church, control, freedom, Hitler, holy, Holy Spirit, hope, Jesus, leader, love, Methodist, mission, Ohio, Paul, politics, power, spirit, Street, Truman, Trump, United, wealth, witness, witnesses

The Promise of Power

May 16, 2021*

(Ascension Day)

By Pastor John Partridge

Luke 24:44-53 Acts 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:15-23

Whether it’s Jesus or Adolf Hitler, Harry Truman or Fidel Castro, Donald Trump or Joe Biden, there is a common theme that revolves around many of their followers and closest associates. And that theme is often the promise, explicitly stated or dubiously implied, that those followers and associates will be given some sort of power and authority because of their association with the person they are following. While many of those followers may be there because of their idealism, there are always some that are there because of the promise of power.

Of course, we know that Jesus was nothing like any earthly leader, but even so, scripture tells us that many of Jesus’ followers were expecting him to pursue earthly power and for them to benefit from it in some way. Or at least they did so untihol Jesus told them otherwise, but even then, they didn’t really understand what he was trying to tell them. It is at least in part, for that reason that they were so despondent after Jesus’ crucifixion. Any dreams they had of gaining earthly, political power died with Jesus on the cross.

But just because their dreams of political power died, doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t have power to give them. There’s no question that Jesus wielded incredible power, it just that the disciples had to understand that power, and the purpose of that power, in an entirely different way than they had before. Luke tells us that Jesus began to prepare the disciples for a transfer of power after his resurrection, and shortly before his return to heaven. First, we read this story in Luke 24:44-53 where Jesus gives his disciples some last-minute instructions:

⁴⁴He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

⁵⁰When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. ⁵¹While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. ⁵²Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

The next to the last thing that Jesus did before he left this earth and returned to heaven, was to promise his disciples that he was “going to send you what my Father has promised.” And so, they stayed in town, they stayed together, and they continued to worship daily in the temple. Clearly, Jesus was reminding them of a promise of God that they had discussed before and it must have been a discussion that they all remembered. But since we didn’t live with them for the three years of Jesus’ ministry, we aren’t quite as clear about which promise Jesus was referring. But the good news for us, is that Luke knew that. Luke knew that when he was describing these events to people who were less intimately familiar with the disciples that more details would be needed. And that is exactly what he does when he writes to his friend Theophilus and describes these same events in Acts 1:1-11 where he says:

^1:1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach ²until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. ⁴On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵For John baptized withwater, but in a few days, you will be baptized withthe Holy Spirit.”

⁶Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

And in this retelling, we can see details about that earlier conversation. It is here that we see Jesus tell his disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the gift that God had promised and Jesus says that if they wait, as he instructed, in a few days God would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and, when that spirit came, they would receive power so that, as witnesses, they could carry the message of what they had seen to their city, their state, their nation, and to the ends of the earth.

But still, what does that mean. What does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit? And what does it mean to receive power when that happens? And what does any of that have to do with us twenty centuries later? And again, Paul provides some of those answers as he writes to the church in Ephesus where he says (Ephesians 1:15-23):

¹⁵For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spiritof wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²²And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

According to Paul, the presence of the Spirit of God in our lives grants us wisdom, revelation, the ability to know God better, to know hope, and to have the power and mighty strength that God used in raising Jesus from the dead. The promise of power that we have as the followers of Jesus Christ is nothing like the power of politics, earthly kingdoms, and military might. It is far greater than any of those but pointed in an entirely different direction. Earthly power is the power to control and to enslave, but the power promised to us by Jesus is the power to rescue and free the lost and the enslaved. Moments before his ascension into heaven, Jesus told the disciples that the purpose of God’s power, given to us by his Spirit, was to give us the tools that we need to carry his message of freedom, rescue, hope, and love to our city, our state, our nation, and to the ends of the earth.

This is the real promise of power.

Not control, but freedom. Not earthly wealth, but spiritual wealth. Not for personal benefit, but to give hope to the world.

It was this power that allowed the message of a small, largely uneducated group of followers, in a tiny country that was occupied by a hostile superpower, to grow and spread all over the known world. That power wasn’t limited to a handful of disciples but is given to every follower who puts their faith and trust in Jesus. And it is that same power which is given to us today.

The mission of the church has not changed.

The only question, is if we will use the power that we have been given.

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/2OgDGwhgWv0

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

The Mark of the Feast

May 8, 2021 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, baptism, belong, belonging, blood, born, Broadway, Christ, church, Day, everyone, family, Feast, Jesus, joy, love, Mark, Methodist, Mother, Mother's Day, mothers, Ohio, outsiders, screw-ups, Street, United, water

The Mark of the Feast

May 09, 2021*

(Mothers’ Day)

By Pastor John Partridge

John 15:9-17 Acts 10:44-48 1 John 5:1-6

With today being Mother’s Day, I thought that I would start by thinking about what it is that many of our Mother’s taught us. But right up front, I want to recognize that not everyone has had a positive experience with their mothers. Some of the people we know, and some of you who are reading this, experienced verbal, mental, or physical abuse and for that, or other reasons, you do not have a positive association with Mother’s Day. Similarly, I want to recognize that Mother’s Day is a source of pain for some of you who wanted children, but either couldn’t have them, or lost them. I get it. We made friends with many people who shared these kinds of experiences and walked with us, and encouraged us, along our adoption journey. But for all of you for whom Mothers’ Day is a day to be avoided, as well as for all of you who have fond and loving associations with this day, I hope that you will bear with me and not avoid today’s message because while a loving mother is a human ideal, it is just part of our human experience that God uses to point to something better.

When mothers do their jobs well, we remember them for teaching us how to dress ourselves, for our sense of fashion and style, for teaching us values, and although it takes a while for us to realize it, for demonstrating the value of sacrificing ourselves to meet the needs of others. Our mothers taught us how to cook, how to clean, how to count, how to share, how to be nice, and a host of other things that we learned by demonstration, rote learning, osmosis, and sometimes mind-numbing repetition, but when motherhood is done well, one of the things we remember most… is love.

And that leads us to the first of today’s scriptures where, in John 15:9-17, Jesus explains why demonstrating love to others is important:

⁹“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.

Jesus says that God loved him, and because of God’s love for him, Jesus showed his love to us. But just to be sure that we know what love is, Jesus offers us a block of instruction. First, we are encouraged to stay inside of Jesus’ love and the requirement to do that, is to obey the commands of Jesus. That seems straightforward, but to be sure that we understand, Jesus explains further saying that our obedience isn’t intended to make us slaves, but to bring us joy. And the command that we are supposed to obey, is this: Love each other in the way that Jesus loved us. Jesus says that he chose us and appointed us to go out into the world and bear fruit that will last for eternity. And finally, Jesus repeats his definition and his instruction for clarity and for emphasis, “This is my command: Love each other.”

Out of all the commands of God, and all the teachings of scripture, that Jesus could have highlighted, and out of all the things to which our relationship with God might have been connected, Jesus doesn’t choose anything that we could judge to be oppressive, or onerous, or burdensome but instead summarizes all the commands of God necessary for our rescue as salvation as simply, “love each other.”

At some point, someone in our lives showed us what love looked like. For many of us, it was our mothers, but even if it wasn’t, Jesus says that love is something that we learn from experience, and something that we pass on to others. God loved him, so Jesus loved us, and now it’s our job to pass that love on to the people, and to the world, around us.

But as simple as that is, the disciples had a problem understanding what it meant to love the people around them. The Jewish tradition, at that time, was that the promises of God, and virtually all of God’s instructions, were intended for the Jews, and for the Jews alone. When God said to love your neighbor, the traditional understanding of many people was that God meant that you should love your Jewish neighbor, that while it was important to love the person that belonged to your church, or that belonged to your religion, it wasn’t necessary to love the people that didn’t go to church, or that belonged to a different religion. But that wasn’t what Jesus taught, and although it took a while for it to sink in, the disciples began to understand what that meant. In Acts 10:44-48, Peter is preaching to a group of people who are both Jewish and non-Jewish and as he does, something unexpected happens…

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. ⁴⁵The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. ⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in tonguesand praising God.

Then Peter said, ⁴⁷“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” ⁴⁸So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

When Peter is speaking, the Jewish believers witness the Holy Spirit of God as it enters into everyone, both Jew and Gentile, the insiders, and the outsiders, and they were astounded. They were sure that the Gentiles didn’t count. For their entire lives they had been taught by their church leaders that the rules and God’s promises only applied to them and not to the outsiders. But their eyes told them something different. It was clear that when God said everyone, God meant… everyone, and so Peter invites the Gentiles to be baptized. This is an important point. Because that was a big deal. While circumcision was the mark that said a man belonged to God’s people, the people of Israel, the Jews, baptism was the mark, the symbol, that signified that people belonged to Jesus, and to his church, and to the people that would become known as Christians. Baptism was the mark of belonging, and the mark of being invited. Rather than calling it the mark of the beast, it was the mark of the feast, because it revealed to the world that you belonged to Jesus.

And if that wasn’t clear enough, John amplifies and clarifies that message in his letter to the church in Asia in 1 John 5:1-6 where he says:

^5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ²This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies because the Spirit is the truth.

John says that everyone (there’s that word again) that believes that Jesus is the savior and rescuer of the world is a child of God and the way that we show our love for God is to carry out his commands and love his children. But John wants to be even clearer. He says that Jesus was born into the world both by water and by blood. Both “by water” and “by blood” are metaphors. Saying that Jesus came by water is a reference to Jesus being born as a human being to a human mother and that makes Jesus like us. But John also reminds us that Jesus came into the world “by blood” which is saying that Jesus was born into the world through death. While we generally think of death as how we leave this world, Jesus rose from the dead and lives for eternity, so John is saying that just as we are born to our mothers in this life, Jesus was born into a new life by passing through death.

But what does that mean, and what difference does it make?

What it means, is that when we are born to a mother, we are born into a family and born into this earthly life. But when we meet Jesus and accept him as the savior and rescuer of the world, we are born into something bigger than our earthly family.

And it makes a difference because while the example of sacrificial love that good mothers demonstrate for their families is important, it is only part of the story. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus and accept him as the savior and rescuer of the world, we are born into a new, bigger, and more important family that will last forever. As much as good mothers might model sacrificial love, Jesus is the better example of real and perfect love.

Everyone is invited to belong, the insiders, the outsiders, the imperfect, the screw-ups, the loving, the unloving, the church people, the people that have never set foot in a church, and everyone that ever needed a second chance. Everyone means everyone.

We are all invited to belong, to receive the “Mark of the Feast” if you will, and to be baptized and demonstrate to the world that you belong to Jesus.

Jesus chose you and has given you the task of going out into the world and bearing eternal fruit.

And along the way Jesus commands us to do one thing…

Love each other.

Because everyone means… everyone.

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/GolLW9LrWsQ

Did you enjoy reading this?

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Sign of Rescue and Belonging

February 20, 2021 PastorPartridge Sermon ark, baptism, Christ, Christ United Methodist, Christian, church, flood, follower, Gospel, Jesus, Methodist, Noah, ramp, rescue, runaway, sign, symbol, truck, United

Signs of Rescue and Belonging

February 21, 2021*

By Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 9:8-17 Mark 1:9-15 1 Peter 3:18-22

Imagine that you are driving a fifty-three foot long, fully loaded, tractor trailer, weighing thirty-five thousand pounds empty, loaded with forty-five thousand pounds of cargo, for a total of eighty-thousand pounds. Now imagine that, as you are driving over the mountains of West Virginia, constantly shifting through ten to eighteen gears as you ascend and descend the various mountain ridges along the turnpike, that some critical component of your braking systems fail, and as you steadily gain speed going down one of the biggest and steepest grades on the highway, you now have no ability to slow down.

Quickly your speed passes the posted legal limit, and you move to the passing lane to avoid crushing a family in a minivan. You try downshifting but your speed is already too great and still your speed increases. First eighty, then ninety miles per hour, and now you are desperately flashing your lights, honking your horn, and shouting on your CB radio for other trucks to get out of your way as, despite attempting everything that you can think of, your speed continues to increase. You do everything that you can to keep your mind on the task at hand and not to think about how this will inevitably end.

Still your imagination easily pictures mangled cars and a long plummet down the side of forested mountain valley… and then you see it. A sign along the far side of the road announcing that only a mile away, is a runaway truck ramp. You see it in the distance and quickly shift your truck back into the right lane as you race towards it… and almost before you think about what will happen, you leave the highway, race up and impossibly steep slope and feel your truck sink into the loose sand as it tears away at the tires and undercarriage. Small plants, bushes, briars, and grass fly as you plow up the hillside but… finally… your slow… and come to a stop. Your truck is probably totaled, and it will almost certainly take several wreckers, and maybe a bulldozer and a crane to get your truck off the side of this mountain… but you are alive.

Your day might have ended very differently if it hadn’t been for that small sign at the side of the highway. That small sign gave you the warning that you needed to be. That small sign was the symbol of the rescue that waited silently at the side of the road. It saved your life.

It was the sign of your rescue.

For the rest of your life, whenever you see that sign, or one like it, you will remember. And you will give thanks, not just for the sign, but for your life that you live, and the rescue that it represents.

Sometimes signs are more than just symbols.

Keep that in mind as we read the conclusion of the story of Noah in Genesis 9:8-17 where it says…

⁸Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: ⁹“I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ¹⁰and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. ¹¹I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹²And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: ¹³I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

¹⁷So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

As God prepared to destroy a corrupt civilization, he warned the righteous and offered a way in which they might be rescued from the coming flood. Today, although we argue whether that flood was truly a global event, nearly every culture, on every continent, has tales about a flood that destroyed the world. But just as God provided a way for Noah and his family to survive, he also promised that there would never be another flood with the same destructive power. And you can be sure, that every time that Noah and his family saw the sign of God’s rainbow in the sky above them, it was more than just a symbol. They remembered their rescue… and gave thanks.

But years passed… first decades, then centuries, then millennia, and people forgot. They forgot the flood, they forgot the ark, they forgot the rescue, and they forgot the promise. Eventually, a rainbow was just a rainbow. And then, Jesus began his ministry by submitting to his baptism with John in the Jordan river. We read that story in Mark 1:9-15.

⁹At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

¹²At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, ¹³and he was in the wilderness forty days, being temptedby Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

⁴After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Jesus didn’t need repentance or forgiveness, but he submits to baptism as a sign of his ministry, and as a sign of God’s rescue, to the people of Israel and to the world. The baptism of Jesus is a sign to the world that God was keeping his promises and that, as he had done for Noah and for his family, God was making a way for us to be rescued from the judgement that was coming. The Apostle Peter describes it this way in 1 Peter 3:18-22:

¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. ¹⁹After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— ²⁰to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him.

And so, the disciples themselves understood the connection between the sign of Noah’s rescue and the sign of our rescue with the arrival of the Good News of Jesus Christ and his baptism. Just as Noah and his family passed safely through the waters of the flood, God promises to bring us safely through our life in this strange, difficult, and sometimes hostile world in which we live. Just as the ark carried Noah through the flood to the dry land that eventually followed, the gospel message, and our rescue through our baptism into a new life as a part of God’s family is a sign and a symbol of God’s promise to carry us safely through to the other side through the power of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As God prepared to bring judgment upon a corrupt civilization in the time of Noah, he warned the righteous and offered a way in which they might be rescued from the coming flood. And now, as God prepares to bring final judgement upon all of humanity, he once again brings a warning to anyone who will listen and offers a way in which we might be rescued. We remember that long ago, when Noah and his family looked into the sky and saw the sign of the rainbow above them, it was more than just a symbol. They remembered their rescue… and gave thanks. Like them, as we remember our baptism, while it is a sign and a symbol, it is also so much more than that because we see that sign, and we remember our rescue… and give thanks.

As humanity hurtles down the side of the mountain toward certain doom, there is in baptism, a sign at the side of the road pointing toward one last chance to see tomorrow. It may not be the most impressive, amazing, or artistic sign, but it is a sign of rescue, a sign of belonging… and a sign of hope.

Let us remember our rescue and give thanks but let us also point as many others toward that sign as we possibly can so that they too can find Jesus, find rescue, find hope, and arrive, with us, on the shores of a new life on the other side.

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/0nqL1PsPKp4

Did you enjoy reading this?

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Baptism: Not About Water

January 9, 2021January 9, 2021 PastorPartridge Sermon Alliance, baptism, Christ, Christ Church, church, Father, focus, God, hangry, Holy Spirit, Jesus, spirit, Trinity, United Methodist, water

Baptism: Not About Water

January 10, 2021*

by Pastor John Partridge

Genesis 1:1-5 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11

If you have watched any of the Snickers candy bar commercials for the last few years, you almost certainly remember some of the dramatic transformations that people make when they are “hangry” and then, get better after eating a Snickers. The way in which the advertisers portray this human metamorphosis is intended to be funny, and it often is. But it’s funny because many of us already have experience with family, friends, or ourselves, being a little (or more than a little) cranky, or “hangry” when we haven’t had anything to eat. I remember a number of times when, as loving as we knew him to be, my mother would send me to my room and caution me not to bother my father until after he had eaten dinner. Our children can testify that similar things have happened in our household as well. In all these cases, we recognize that our irritability, crankiness, or “hanger” really doesn’t have anything to do with noisy children, or anything else. The real cause is simply that we are hungry. Likewise, I watched a television show yesterday as on of the main characters argued with his mother about doing a mother-son dance at his wedding. Many excuses were thrown out including the choice of music, and her inability to dance, but in the end, all her excuses weren’t about any of those things, but were entirely based upon her fear of looking foolish and being mocked by her new in-laws. Often, the thing on the surface that everyone is talking about, isn’t really the root of what’s important.

And that’s exactly what’s going on today as we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. The baptism of Jesus, and the subsequent tradition, and sacramental theology, as well as our many interpretations and denominational differences that revolve around the act of baptism, despite often disagreeing about how the water is to be applied, are all, in the end, not about water. To explain what I mean, let me begin in the beginning. The very beginning, at the time of creation, where we read this description in Genesis 1:1-5:

^1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

In the beginning… God. Right up front, that’s the important bit. The earth was formless and void, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. You will notice that water is a part of the story. And water may even be an important part of the story. But water is not what the story is about. The story is about the Spirit of God, the miraculous work of God, and the transformation of darkness into light. And the light, we are told… was good.

And if we keep that example in mind as we read the story of Jesus baptism, we will see more clearly, that it is a story about something much more important than the immersion in, or the pouring of, water. The story in the gospel of Mark 1:4-11, says this:

⁴And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁶John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

As we did in the Genesis creation story, we must watch for who is doing the action. It may remind us of English class where we were asked to identify the nouns and the verbs, but it is important that we separate the players and actors from one another in the story. We must ask ourselves, what is the story about, and who is doing the most important action? And, in this case, it is God, once again, who is the one that we must watch. In this case, although they are all important to the story, John the Baptist, the Jordan River, and even the entire Judean countryside and the all the people of Jerusalem, are only set dressing for the important action. Jesus comes to the river, is baptized by John, and God shows up. As Jesus was coming out of the water, heaven itself is torn open, and the Spirit of God descends upon him and God the Father speaks from his throne in heaven saying, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Yes, Jesus was baptized, with water, by John, but that is not the important part of the story. The important part that is central to understanding the story, is that the Spirit of God is the principal participant who is doing the important action of the story. This is a story from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and it is only after this anointing, or baptism, of the Spirit that Jesus performs miracles and does all the other things that we read about in the gospel stories. And so, we see that while baptism is vitally important to the story, it is the baptism of the Spirit that is central to the story, and not the immersion, or the pouring, of water.

But, if you want to double check and make sure that description is correct, look at Luke’s story about baptism in Acts 19:1-7 where he says:

^19:1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. ⁷There were about twelve men in all.

The men that Paul met in Ephesus knew about John the Baptist, and had been baptized with water, but Paul says that, as important as water baptism was, it was not the most important part. The most important part wasn’t to be baptized with water but to be baptized with the Spirit of God. And then, without using water, Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they received abilities that they had never had before, and this was illustrated for us when they spoke in foreign languages and prophesied about the future.

Paul’s explanation is that our being baptized with water is a two part action, our part is to repent of our sins and be baptized with water as an outward symbol of our repentance, but God’s part is to enter into us, at the time of baptism, in an act of transformation and empowerment, so that we are spiritually changed from the inside out and given the ability to do things through God’s strength, and through God’s Spirit, that now lives within us, that we could never do alone.

So, you see, the reason that we return to the story of Jesus’ baptism every year, isn’t just that water baptism is important, or that it is one of our few sacraments, means of grace, or moments when we can personally encounter the living God, although all those things are important. The most important reason that we return to this story every year, is that it reminds us of the work that God began at creation, the work of transforming darkness into light. The story of Jesus baptism reminds us that this was the moment of God’s empowerment of Jesus, as Jesus received the anointing of God’s Spirit and it reminds us that our baptism represents something far greater than our repentance and our interaction, by immersion, pouring, sprinkling, or otherwise, with water. The story of Jesus’ baptism reminds us that we are the actors and the players in God’s work, that because of our baptism, we are baptized, anointed, and filled with, and completely transformed by, God’s Spirit who has taken up residence within us. And, not only because of our actions in consenting to, and being baptized, but most importantly because of God’s actions at the time of our baptism, we are now equipped to do whatever amazing, and even miraculous thing that God calls us to do, through the power of the Spirit that lives within us.

As much as our denominations might argue about it, baptism was never about water.

Baptism has always been about transforming darkness into light, transforming evil into good, healing the broken, sharing the Good News of God’s rescue, and doing the work of God in the world.

Baptism was never about water.

It has always been about God transforming and equipping us to do his miraculous work in the world.

Let us remember our baptism…

…and get to work.

You can find the video of this worship service here: https://youtu.be/_kNHAqSfq90

Did you enjoy reading this?

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

Are You Fireproof?

January 13, 2019January 28, 2019 PastorPartridge Sermon baptism, followers of Jesus, hope, Jesus Christ, Messiah, rescue

Are You Fireproof?

January 13, 2019*

Baptism of Jesus

By Pastor John Partridge

Isaiah 43:1-7 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Acts 8:14-17

For those of you old enough to remember, from 1981 to 1986, actor Lee Majors starred as a stuntman in a successful television show called, “The Fall Guy.” A number to times, that show featured stuntmen doing fire stunts. And if you have ever watched action movies, like James Bond, or something with Arnold Schwarzenegger, you have probably also seen the same sort of thing. Fire has a way of capturing our imagination like few other things can. And so, our question for today, “Are you fireproof?” probably also stirs our curiosity. But that title isn’t just marketing, it’s a real question that’s asked by today’s look into scripture.

At the same time, while you may not know it, this is another special Sunday. It is lesser known than Christmas or Easter, and even lesser known than Epiphany, but this is the week that we traditionally set aside to read and remember the baptism of Jesus. There are several reasons for this, but primarily our need for a regular remembrance is because, like many other things, we are forgetful and need to remind ourselves why this event is important, and what it means to us.

We begin, once again, in the book of Isaiah where we hear more about the messiah that is to come (Isaiah 43:1-7.)

^43:1 But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
³For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.
⁴Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.
⁵Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
⁶I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
⁷everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Isaiah describes a messiah who would redeem and bring back the children of Israel that had been carried away into slavery, or forced from the land by famine, pestilence, warfare, or poverty. But he also talks of how God will be with them, and protect them, they will pass through the water in safety, they will walk through the fire and not be burned, and the flames will not set them ablaze. God is saying, at least allegorically, that they will be fireproof.

Clearly, in the near term, God is promising that there was hope. This was a promise that the people who had been (or soon would be) carried into captivity, or their children, would eventually return to Israel. God was promising that despite the chaos and warfare that surrounded them, that he would watch over them and protect them, and bring them home.

But in the longer term, Israel understood that this scripture also applied to the messiah that was to come. This was a promise that one day there would be an even bigger return of God’s people to the nation of Israel and that throughout the centuries, and even millennia, God would continue to watch over his people, protect them, and love them.

That expectation for the coming messiah endured. It was passed on from generation to generation and to each generation it brought the hope that God cared, that God was watching over them, that God had a plan for them, and that there would, eventually, be a rescuer. Filled with this hope, the people continued to keep watch and we see that expectation as we read Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.

¹⁵The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. ¹⁶John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

²¹When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened ²²and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

The people saw John, they saw that he was dressed the way that some of the Old Testament prophets had dressed, he lived in the wilderness as some of them had, and he preached with an intensity and a passion that hadn’t been seen in Israel for generations. And when they saw these things, combined with their continued expectation and hope for a rescuer, redeemer, and messiah, they wondered if John was the one. But John answers and explains that he is not the messiah but had been sent to announce the arrival of the messiah.

While baptism had become symbolic of purification and reminded the people of their passing from slavery in Egypt to freedom through the waters at the Red Sea and crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Israel, John proclaims that his baptism was only to prepare the people for the arrival of the God’s messiah. The coming messiah would not only baptize with water but would also baptize with fire. And John warned that the messiah would come not only to harvest God’s people, but to burn up the useless chaff with fire.

But the coming of the messiah meant more than the rescue of the Israelites two-thousand years ago. In Acts 8:14-17, we hear the story of how baptism spreads beyond the borders of Israel into Samaria.

¹⁴When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. ¹⁵When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Remember that Samaria was not Israel but was almost a country within a country and sat between Jerusalem and Galilee. But the Samaritans were not, strictly speaking, Jewish. They had intermarried with outsiders and foreigners during Israel’s seventy years in captivity and were despised by the Jews as “half-breeds.” But we also remember that Jesus stopped in Samaria as he passed through, met a woman at a well, and stayed to preach and to teach his message to the entire village. And so here, in the book of Acts, the disciples hear that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God and had already been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus but had not yet received the Holy Spirit. Peter and John, despite the hostility that they had once had for the Samaritans, went to Samaria, laid hands on those who had believed in Jesus Christ, and the people received the Holy Spirit.

Like the story of Epiphany, this story reminds us that the message of Jesus Christ, as well as the baptism of both water and of the Spirit, wasn’t something old fashioned that only happened two thousand years ago, and it wasn’t something that was exclusively reserved for the Jews or the people of Israel, the baptism of Jesus Christ and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is open to all who believe, and that means that it was open to the hated Samaritan half-breeds in the first century as well as to gentiles of the twenty-first century like us.

Our baptism symbolically welcomes us into God’s family and represents our death to sin and resurrection with Christ into a new life in him. We become fireproof in the same sense that Isaiah taught, that now, through Christ, we have hope and we know that God watches over us, cares for us, and loves us. But we also know that through the influence, guidance, and help of the Holy Spirit received at our baptism, we are drawn, daily, closer to Jesus Christ so that we will be fruitful and not become useless chaff that is burned in the fire. We are also comforted as we remember the story of Jesus’ baptism when we notice God’s words of blessing, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” We are comforted when we realize that at the moment of his baptism, Jesus had not yet begun his ministry. He had not yet called all his disciples, and he had not yet done much of anything at all to earn God’s favor or his love. And yet, this was the moment that God chose to publicly state his love for Jesus. We are comforted because this reminds us once again, that there is no need for us to try to earn God’s love. God loves us, and has always loved us, long before we were able to anything to please him.

Doesn’t it feel good to be fireproof?

But, if you haven’t yet been baptized, and you would like to have this confidence and this hope, please come and see me.

Because the people of God should be… fireproof.

Did you enjoy reading this?

Click here if you would like to subscribe to Pastor John’s weekly messages.

Click here to subscribe to Pastor John’s blog.

Click here to visit Pastor John’s YouTube channel.

*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

A Bigger Baptism

January 21, 2018January 21, 2018 PastorPartridge Sermon baptism, followers of Jesus, Jesus Christ, spirit, Trinity

“A Bigger Baptism”

January 21, 2018

By John Partridge*

Genesis 1:1-5 Mark 1:4-11 Acts 19:1-7

As you probably know by now, I am a fan of science fiction and franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek. In the Star Trek original series, as well as in the Next Generation, we would occasionally see a technologically advanced civilization with starships encounter a far more primitive one. The Federation of Planets had rules about such encounters. There were rules because if a primitive society would see Starfleet crew members using their technology they would attribute those abilities to magic or believe that the members of Star Fleet were gods. Starfleet understood that just the act of seeing something could change the course of history forever. Simply knowing that something was possible could change the direction of science and culture forever.

Now, imagine with me a world where fire fighters were stuck in the previous century. No new technology has been developed for a hundred years. There are no fire trucks, or hoses, or pressurized fire hydrants, or internal building sprinkling systems. In this world, the world of firefighting is essentially one of prevention and rescue. Buildings would have buckets of sand that could be used to fight fires and possibly some sort of bucket brigade, but the primary role of a firefighter in the event of a major fire was to try to rescue those unfortunate souls who were still inside the building or otherwise endangered by the fire.

This seems ridiculous to us because while fire prevention and rescue are important roles of a fire fighter, we understand that fighting the fire itself with water and whatever tools we can place at their disposal, is a critical and vital part of what firefighters do. Firefighting is bigger than simply working at prevention and rescue. With that in mind, we begin this morning by reading from Genesis 1:1-5, where we hear these words:
^1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

While this passage is probably familiar to all of us, I want to point out that in it we see two persons of the Trinity. In verse one, we hear “In the beginning God…” and in verse two, “…and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Similarly, as we read the story of Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River in Mark 1:4-11, we see in it all three persons of the Trinity.

As Jesus (who is the Son) comes up out of the water, the Spirit of God descends from heaven like a dove, and the voice of God the Father declares his love for Jesus and declares that he is pleased with his Son. I know that understanding the Trinity can sometimes be difficult, but it is because of passages like these that we know that it is real and we are compelled to wrestle with it.

But then in Acts 19:1-7, the Apostle Paul meets some disciples of Jesus who knew about God, who knew about Jesus, and who knew about baptism, but were missing a vital piece of the puzzle.

^19:1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

The believers and disciples that Paul met in Ephesus had been baptized by John, but they had not heard the Good News of Jesus Christ or at least had not heard all of it. Perhaps they had not heard the story about Jesus’ death and resurrection. All they knew was what John had preached, that you had to repent of your sins. They were missing a vital piece of the puzzle. It was as if they were trying to fight fires without a knowledge of water, or without fire trucks, hoses, pumps, and pressurized water systems. They had been baptized by John the Baptist as a symbol of their repentance from sin, but they had never been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and they had never received the Holy Spirit. Perhaps like a primitive society that had been exposed to advanced technology, simply knowing that things could be different, changed the course of their lives forever. Knowing about Jesus, and knowing about a bigger baptism, they were filled with the Spirit, spoke in foreign languages they had never learned, and were given the gift of prophecy.

What these believers had known was true but their knowledge was missing a critical and vital component. Yes, baptism is about repenting from our sins. And yes, baptism is an outward sign that for us, takes the place of circumcision. But while those things are both true, these things alone are missing a critical and vital component and that is the participation of the Spirit of God in our baptism. Ever since the day of Pentecost, whenever we are baptized we invite the Holy Spirit to descend upon us, fill us, work within us and through us to do the work of Jesus Christ in our world. John’s baptism was big, and it was important, but this is the bigger baptism.

Being filled with the Spirit of God is life changing. It is such a powerful thing that simply knowing about it can change the lives and the futures of others. And so, unlike the officers and crew of a starship in Star Trek, we must not hide ourselves from people who haven’t heard the good news of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Instead, we must do all that we can to tell as many people as we can so that lives can be changed, people can hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, be baptized themselves, and receive the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

You have it within your power to change the course of history forever.

All that you have to do is to trust God and share what you know with the people around you.

What you have within you is life altering, world changing stuff because it is fueled and powered by nothing less than the Spirit of the holy creator God.

We can’t hide out in the church.

We musts go out from this place… and change the world.

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^* You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.wordpress.com/. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

What Power is Within You?

January 10, 2016January 10, 2016 PastorPartridge Sermon baptism, followers of Jesus, God, Jesus Christ, spirit, strength

“What Power is Within You?”

January 10, 2016

(Baptism of Jesus)

By John PartridgeU

Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-7 Acts 8:14-17 Luke 3:15-22

Here is a question that might seem odd at first.

Where does strength come from?

Certainly we get physical strength from the food we eat and mental or moral strength from the way that we were raised, the life experiences that we have had, and the struggles we have survived. But what else is there?

Clark Kent was able to be Superman because he came from a planet with stronger gravity and a different sun. Billy Batson was able to become Captain Marvel because of the magic word that he had been taught. Dr. Donald Blake was able to become the Mighty Thor because tapping his cane caused it to transform into the enchanted hammer Mjolnir. And lately, if you watch the show Limitless on CBS, Brian Finch (played by Jake Dorman) becomes the smartest man on the planet whenever he takes the mysterious drug NZT.

But that’s all just comic books, fiction, and storytelling isn’t it?

Or is it?

In the summer of 1984 (or thereabouts), I entered the United States Army and reported to Fort Dix, New Jersey for basic training. While there we were regularly pushed to our limits physically as well as emotionally in all sorts of ways. We did things that we had never done before and we discovered that we were able to do things that we never thought we could do before. But one afternoon, I experienced something spiritual that opened my mind and my heart to a whole new set of possibilities.

After weeks of training and uncountable numbers of push-ups and sit-ups, I had grown to understand what my body could do and had become much better at listening to what it had to say when it was tired, hurt, or just getting warmed up. But one afternoon, after several nights of little or no sleep and, again, an almost uncountable number of push-ups, we were, once again, pulled out of class because too many of us were falling asleep. When we were pulled out of class for sleeping, our drill sergeants would form us up in ranks outside and we would do calisthenics for as long as they thought necessary to wake us up.

They seemed to last forever.

And at some point, I ran out of whatever I had that kept me going. In the middle of doing a set of push-ups, I collapsed. I had done enough push-ups, and had felt enough pain, and knew enough about listening to my body, that I knew I did not have another push-up in me. I was at the end of myself. I was so frustrated that I almost wept. I knew that my failure would cost my friends even more push-up and even more pain.

And, laying there on the ground, at some point, I began to pray.

I prayed for myself, but I also prayed for my friends. And although it might sound strange to those who haven’t been in that kind of a place, I prayed that God would give me strength to do more push-ups. I prayed for strength so that I wouldn’t get yelled at and so that I wouldn’t be a target for the drill instructors because I was the one who had failed. But I also prayed because I didn’t want to let my buddies down. I didn’t want it to be me that caused them to endure even more than what we already had.

And something happened.

I struggle to find the words to describe it. The word that I want really isn’t “unexpected,” or “unexplainable,” or “amazing,” even though all of those adjectives hold a piece of the truth. But all of a sudden I had the strength to go on. Suddenly I began doing more push-ups, first one, then another, then five, ten, and on and on. I don’t remember how many more there were, but I remember, clear as day, that I marveled at how many it became. I was sure that I could do no more push-ups with the strength that I had left, but even allowing that I had a short break of several seconds, I thought that a short rest might allow me to do a few more, but our set of push-up went far beyond what I would have ever called a few, and I kept up. I knew that I had been filled with strength that I didn’t have, strength that didn’t come from me but seemed to come from somewhere outside of myself.

For one brief moment in time, I felt God’s strength flow through me in a way that I previously could have never imagined.

So what does all of that have to do with everyone here? Let’s begin once again by reading from Isaiah 43:1-7 as God reminds his people what he has done for them and why their relationship to him matters.

^43:1 But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
²When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
³For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead.
⁴Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
⁵Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.
⁶I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
⁷everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

God reminds his people that he is powerful, but also that each of them are not alone, that they are each known by God, protected by God, valuable to God, loved by God and will, ultimately, be reunited with their sons, daughters, and all of the family of God.

That was then, and remains today, an important message and it is one worth remembering about our own relationship with God. But then, 800 years later, with the coming of Jesus, our relationship with God grew even closer. In Luke 3:15-22, we read these words…

¹⁹But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, ²⁰Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

In this short picture, John tells the crowds that the Messiah will baptize the people with the Holy Spirit and with fire and then moments later he describes for us a moment when all three members of the trinity appear together, Jesus in the water with John, the Spirit descending like a dove, and the Father speaking, “You are my Son, whom I love.” And once again, we have an image of a God is powerful, but also a promise that Jesus will baptize his people in the Spirit of God.

What exactly does that mean?

To find out, let’s keep going and look at Acts 8:14-17 where Luke describes this scene:

I want you to hear that again.

Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

After the coming of Jesus Christ, God is no longer a god who is far away. Instead, God becomes a god in whom we are baptized, dipped, immersed, and who becomes a part of who we are. After the coming of Jesus, the followers of God receive the Holy Spirit. And while I cannot tell exactly how that happens, what it means is that the creator of the universe, in some way, takes up residence inside of each one of his followers and that means a lot more than just giving us the strength to do more push-ups.

This isn’t just the stuff of comic books, stories, and legends.

Because we are baptized by, and filled with, the Spirit of God, we are able to do far more than we ever could by ourselves. I consider myself blessed because, for one brief moment during Army Basic Training, I was able to feel the presence and strength of God and know that what was happening wasn’t me. But being filled with the Spirit of God is bigger than that. Being filled with the Spirit of God means that, through his strength, we are given the power to do what we could never do alone.

Because we are filled with the Spirit of God, we are able to do the work of God, according to the will of God.

When you receive the power of the Spirit of God, then you will, through his power, do the things that God does. You will do the things that Isaiah saw. You will help others to know that they are known by God. You will help others to know that they are not alone, that they are valuable, protected, and loved, and that one day, we will all be reunited with brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, and all those who have been adopted into God’s family.

That power lives and breathes inside of each one of you.

Use it wisely, use it well, but be certain that you use it.

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U You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted on the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry Heights in Massillon, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to anyone regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. To subscribe to the electronic version sign up at http://eepurl.com/vAlYn. These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.