Lutheran Church of the Savior Sermon Audio, 1/12/14

Baptism of Our Lord, Lectionary Year AMatthew 3:13-17Every year we celebrate Jesus' baptism by John at the Jordan River because we need to hear anew that God's words for Jesus are for us also: we are beloved children of God. To make this point, I used one of my one-year-old son's favorite books, Water, Come Down! by Walter Wangerin Jr as the basis for the entire sermon, and afterwards everyone came to the font to remember God's promise to them baptism. Though the book plus the ritual took longer than I had planned, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and the book is rocketing to the top of the congregation's best-seller list (or it would if such a list existed).