Fellowship – Snacks or a Meal (10 minutes with snacks; longer, obviously, if there is a meal).
Gathering Time (5-10 minutes). In pairs or groups of three, have participants answer, “What memory from a baptism you witnessed lingers with you?”
Group Dialogue (Approximately 30 minutes). Read Isaiah 42:1-9 and Matthew 3:13-17.
In Matthew 3:5-6, we read, “Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins” (NRSVUE). What did John say when Jesus came to the River Jordan to be baptized? [John said, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:13-14 NRSVUE)]
- What word would you use to describe John’s response to Jesus?
- How would you explain this reaction?
The preaching notes for January 11 say: “Maybe John, and most of us, think of repentance as turning away. When we repent, we turn away from our sins and our life of sin . . . But what if Jesus understood repentance to be turning toward? What if the gesture that Jesus was making was one of inclusion, acceptance, or entrance? This was a beginning moment for the ministry that Jesus would perform.”
- How might this understanding of repentance account for Jesus’ reply to John?
Read the description of God’s servant in Isaiah 42:1 and the description of Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3:16-17. What similarities do you see? [God calls the servant “my chosen in whom my soul delights” and calls Jesus his son, “the beloved with whom I am well pleased.” In Isaiah, God put his spirit upon the servant. In Matthew, when Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened and God’s spirit descended on Jesus like a dove.]
- What do these common threads suggest about the power of the presence of God in baptism?
- What do you discover—or rediscover—about your baptism through your comparison of these scriptures?
What difference has God called the servant to make in the world? [To bring forth justice, bring sight to the blind, and freedom to the imprisoned (Isaiah 42:1, 3, 4, 7).]
As the community of the baptized, what difference will you make through the power of your presence?
Prayer (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.
Sending Forth (2 minutes). End with the following prayer, a similar prayer, or the Lord’s Prayer: God, help us to remember our baptisms and be thankful—thankful that we are your Beloved, thankful that we carry your Holy Spirit. May we, as a community of the baptized, go forth, sharing the power of your presence for the healing and freeing of your people. Amen.
Click here to find out more about baptism: The Meaning of Baptism in the United Methodist Church. Explore baptism as an act of incorporation into God’s family and the connection to discipleship.
Rev. Sherry Bryant-Johnson, a United Methodist deacon, served extension ministries in the Mississippi Annual Conference for nearly three decades. Now retired, she teaches “Abiding in Christ Together: Creating Gospel-Centric Retreats” as well as Lay Servant Ministries courses online at www.BeaDisciple.com. An author and a spiritual director, she is an editor and essayist for the anthology, Embodied Spirits: Stories of Spiritual Directors of Color (Morehouse, 2014).
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