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Mini-Worship
Jan. 9-14, 2024
Take a few deep breaths and center yourself and quiet down
Entering the presence of God
(M) The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
(W)The LORD is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
(All) Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever. (from psalm 28:7-9)
Confession :
God of grace and mercy, we confess that our new holiday gifts do not make us newer. Our materialism and worldliness take away your place in our lives and our hearts. Now we return to you. May you reign our hearts and minds and lead us into the newness only found in you. Amen.
Scripture Reading
Romans 6: 1-11(NIV)
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Thoughts to share and to ponder
We live in an era with amazingly advanced technologies and prosperous phenomena. All kinds of new things come out every day to wipe away the old ones quickly. Yet, there is one thing that is still difficult to change into something new. That is: how to clean our sinful and worldly hearts and change us into new persons. Sin or our old self, like a person, actively keeps ruling, enslaving and directing our hearts in our everyday existence.
Jesus invites all people into baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That is to say, The triune God will be active in our baptism. God wants to rescue us from the ruling, enslaving and directing of sin. He wants to forgive and wash away our sin. He further wants to ensure us to have a new life springing from him. Through baptism, our sin and our old self are crucified with Christ and are buried with him. And when we rise with Christ, we receive a new heart glowing with glorious holiness and righteousness of God. Sin no longer has power to grip on us. Our old self gives away to a new self. Baptism effectively changes our center from sin to God. The change is possible because Jesus bore our sins on the cross and he went into death, the curse of sin, and he was raised up from death, overcoming the power of sin and death. It is possible also because God the Father promised to give the Holy Spirit to every believer in order to enable him/her to live to God and not to sin. This is the divine prescription of changing a sinful heart to a new heart and an old person into a new person.
As a matter of fact, baptism is not a one-time only act. It is just the beginning of our walking into the newness in God. Paul reminds us that to die to our old ways with Christ Jesus and to rise with him is a continuous act of believers. It is both the most basic and the highest Christian walk. Our Bible both reveals our old ways to die and points us to new ways of living. The triune God works with his own word. Through our continuous union with Christ, we are continuously renewed and transformed into a newer and newer person.
We stand in the new beginning of a new year. Our new plans and dreams require a new heart and a new person to accomplish them. The only way leading us to experience such a kind of newness is returning to God and uniting with God in Jesus Christ. That means, to die to our old self with Christ, to bury it with Christ, and to rise with Christ. May the first union with Christ in our baptism remind us of the source and ways of newness for our lives. Let us not forget that lesson: to die to sin and our old self is indeed to live in peace, life, happiness and success.
Prayer Suggestions:
Do a self exam. Do I have any old and rebellious ways of thinking, feeling and behaving which need to put in death and burial? Do I need new way of thinking, feeling, and behaving to rise? Come to unite with Jesus Christ and to experience a glorious renewal.Lord our Savior, thank you for the first saving love in my baptism. Thank you for your marvelous way to save me. Please continuously show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth. Transform me in the union with Christ. Let your newness in me become the foundation of my work and life in this new year. In name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Benediction
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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