Daily Scripture: Romans 6:1 So then, are we to say, “Let’s keep on sinning, so that there can be more grace”? 2 Heaven forbid! How can we, who have died to sin, still live in it? 3 Don’t you know that those of us who have been immersed into the Messiah Yeshua have been immersed into his death? 4 Through immersion into his death we were buried with him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life.
Reflection Questions:
The New Testament Christians, and the Christians who wrote the Apostles’ Creed, believed that Jesus' death was not just personal. The apostle Paul said baptism includes us in Jesus’ death, that in some way he died for all of us. In a later epistle he wrote to living people, with reference to the same idea, “You died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:4).
- To those who said, “Let’s sin more so that there can be more grace,” Paul replied that we can’t truly accept God’s grace without dying to our old way of living. Our baptism, he said, is the acted out, symbolic way we show that we’re serious about that. In what ways have you seen Christ’s gift of new life break the ruling power of sin in your life? What are your ongoing areas of struggle? (If you’ve never been baptized, but want to be, you can find information at www.cor.org/baptism.)
- Review Paul’s list of life’s obstacles—“trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword.” Which of those most often make you feel overwhelmed? When you face something it seems beyond your power to handle, what difference can it make to your frame of mind to know that God’s steady, unfailing love continues to enfold you at those times?
Today’s Prayer:
Lord, free me more and more from the habits and ways of thinking that keep me enslaved. Guide me so that I may “walk in newness of life” with you. Amen.
Insights from Brandi Bates
Brandi Bates was an intern with Adult Discipleship at The Church of the Resurrection last summer. She is a sophomore at Loyola University Chicago studying Human Services and serving as a Resident Assistant. Brandi likes people, animals, and plants–in other words, most of life!
These verses made me think a lot about my own baptism.
For 15 years I thought that my parents had me baptized, so I never paid it much attention. When I found out I wasn’t baptized, my first reaction was, “Take me to the church and spray me with holy water!” Then it hit me that I would be doing it because I thought it was the “next step,” “the right thing to do.” God wasn’t in my decision.
After I realized God was missing in my idea of baptism, I knew I wasn’t ready. It made me look at my faith again. That’s when I decided I would never get baptized for two reasons:
1) I was afraid that after I was baptized, I would stop striving for a better relationship with God.
2) I didn’t deserve it.
Fast forward to my freshman year of college. I was talking with a new friend about baptism and my faith when he pointed out that if people truly love God, then they continuously strive to learn more and have a relationship with Him. Some days it may take priority, sometimes it may fall between the cracks, but the thirst and the desire to know God would always be there. He also pointed out that there is no way to earn Christ’s gift of new life, but there is hope and promise in accepting the gift.
Last April I was dipped into the (freezing cold) water of Lake Michigan, and I gasped a breath of new life. It is a beautiful gift which holds hope and promise, and one that I do not deserve. It took me four years, but I would not change the journey in the slightest. I strive to know God, love Him, and serve Him. I sometimes face-plant on this path, but I know Christ’s love and grace will always pick me up, dust me off, and hold my hand as we continue our journey.
Brandi Bates was an intern with Adult Discipleship at The Church of the Resurrection last summer. She is a sophomore at Loyola University Chicago studying Human Services and serving as a Resident Assistant. Brandi likes people, animals, and plants–in other words, most of life!
These verses made me think a lot about my own baptism.
For 15 years I thought that my parents had me baptized, so I never paid it much attention. When I found out I wasn’t baptized, my first reaction was, “Take me to the church and spray me with holy water!” Then it hit me that I would be doing it because I thought it was the “next step,” “the right thing to do.” God wasn’t in my decision.
After I realized God was missing in my idea of baptism, I knew I wasn’t ready. It made me look at my faith again. That’s when I decided I would never get baptized for two reasons:
1) I was afraid that after I was baptized, I would stop striving for a better relationship with God.
2) I didn’t deserve it.
Fast forward to my freshman year of college. I was talking with a new friend about baptism and my faith when he pointed out that if people truly love God, then they continuously strive to learn more and have a relationship with Him. Some days it may take priority, sometimes it may fall between the cracks, but the thirst and the desire to know God would always be there. He also pointed out that there is no way to earn Christ’s gift of new life, but there is hope and promise in accepting the gift.
Last April I was dipped into the (freezing cold) water of Lake Michigan, and I gasped a breath of new life. It is a beautiful gift which holds hope and promise, and one that I do not deserve. It took me four years, but I would not change the journey in the slightest. I strive to know God, love Him, and serve Him. I sometimes face-plant on this path, but I know Christ’s love and grace will always pick me up, dust me off, and hold my hand as we continue our journey.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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