On Friday Debra and I headed out to Michigan for our grandson Joshua Luke's baptism. We made it to Toledo OH for the night without any snow. It was snowing in the morning but we did well and were to Ben and Emily's by noon on Saturday.
By the time we got out to Holland MI there was lots of snow. I was priviledged to be able to be able to participate in the baptism with Ben and Emilies Pastor. What a gift to be able to celebrate God's covenant promises and for a child to have the gift of Christian parents and a Christian community to vow to help disciple them to follow Jesus.
I was also able to preach this Sunday at Graafschap CRC. The title of my sermon was Joshua: Pointing to Jesus: The text was from Joshua 1 and Hebrews 4 that makes the point that one greater than Joshua will finally brings God's people to REST. Some of the sermon points were that Joshua's OT name and Jesus NT name are the same name and mean The LORD saves or is salvation. We also saw how Joshua led the people of Israel across the Jordan to REST in the promised land as Jesus was baptized in the Jordan as a sign for us of the forgiveness of our sins. It was an occasion for us to "remember our baptism" and the significance of dying and rising with Christ. It was also a time to remember that being in Christ we are able to hear the words God said to Jesus at his baptism be said to each one of us. "You are my beloved sons & daughters, whome I love, with you I am well pleased." What a message each one of us crave from our heavenly Father. Last week at the monastery each even prayer time ended with a "rite of sprinkling" when the priest sprinkled water over all of us. The meaning of this rite is to "remember your baptism". Just as we did today. We had a wonderful time together with Emily's family and Gloria and Randy afterward. We were very grateful for this time together with our family.
As you can see Michigan has alot of snow. We will be driving home tomorrow hopefully without to much weather. We will be leaving on Wednesday for a week of Silence & Solitude on the top of East Haven Mt. in northern Vermont. The picture at the heading of my blog was taken from this cabin when Rev. Miller and I went to visit it in October. Its basically a 12 ft x 16ft cabin with a wood stove, fuel for cooking and passive solar for limited electricity. It sits 1300 ft on top of East Haven Mt and is accessible only though snowshoeing up a 2 mile trail. I will use this time for prayer, Bible reading, reflection, meditation and for reading some of the desert fathers. I have wanted to see if I could do an entire week alone with the Lord. I guess I'll find out.
I was also able to preach this Sunday at Graafschap CRC. The title of my sermon was Joshua: Pointing to Jesus: The text was from Joshua 1 and Hebrews 4 that makes the point that one greater than Joshua will finally brings God's people to REST. Some of the sermon points were that Joshua's OT name and Jesus NT name are the same name and mean The LORD saves or is salvation. We also saw how Joshua led the people of Israel across the Jordan to REST in the promised land as Jesus was baptized in the Jordan as a sign for us of the forgiveness of our sins. It was an occasion for us to "remember our baptism" and the significance of dying and rising with Christ. It was also a time to remember that being in Christ we are able to hear the words God said to Jesus at his baptism be said to each one of us. "You are my beloved sons & daughters, whome I love, with you I am well pleased." What a message each one of us crave from our heavenly Father. Last week at the monastery each even prayer time ended with a "rite of sprinkling" when the priest sprinkled water over all of us. The meaning of this rite is to "remember your baptism". Just as we did today. We had a wonderful time together with Emily's family and Gloria and Randy afterward. We were very grateful for this time together with our family.
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