May 10, 2024
Hello, Village Church Family,
And a Good Friday to you. It's great to see you. Thank you for clicking on this eNote and having a conversation with me just for a few moments.
This Sunday we conclude our sermon series on "The Ways We Worship." We will explore baptism, one of the two sacraments in the Presbyterian church. The Lord's Supper is one and baptism is the other. So we'll talk about what it means to be baptized.
We Presbyterians, not all of us, but most Presbyterians, practice infant baptism, just like the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches, Lutherans, Episcopalians, all of us engage in the baptism of infants. Other traditions baptize what they call in the believers tradition, which means that the young person or the child or the adult decides and then they're baptized.
And little known fact, my dad, who ended up being a Presbyterian pastor for much of his life, he grew up as an American Baptist. And so he struggled with infant baptism. He loves the idea that people choose. They decide when they're going to be baptized. So for all of us, his four sons, none of us were baptized as infants.
So I was baptized when I was 17 years old at the Japanese Presbyterian Church in Seattle. That's when we did our confirmation classes. And so at the end of my confirmation, I got in front of the congregation, proclaimed Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and was baptized by my dad.
Now a few months earlier, dad had baptized a woman in our congregation and when he baptized her, he named her and said, my sister in Christ, which I thought was beautiful. And he was saying, you're part of the family now. And I get that. And so I remember thinking to myself, I wonder what he's going t say to me because I'm not his brother.
And so he baptized me in the name of the Father, son and the Holy Spirit. And then he put his hand on me and said, "Rodger, my brother in Christ, and my son, I baptize you."
So friends, I look forward to having a conversation with you this Sunday, whether online or in person, talking about what it means to be baptized. And we'll remember our baptisms together, whether that's in your memory or whether it's not.
Friends, good to see you. And as always, always, always, the Lord be with you on this day and those whom you love and those who love you.
Thanks, take care. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye.
Rodger
Hello, Village Church Family,
And a Good Friday to you. It's great to see you. Thank you for clicking on this eNote and having a conversation with me just for a few moments.
This Sunday we conclude our sermon series on "The Ways We Worship." We will explore baptism, one of the two sacraments in the Presbyterian church. The Lord's Supper is one and baptism is the other. So we'll talk about what it means to be baptized.
We Presbyterians, not all of us, but most Presbyterians, practice infant baptism, just like the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches, Lutherans, Episcopalians, all of us engage in the baptism of infants. Other traditions baptize what they call in the believers tradition, which means that the young person or the child or the adult decides and then they're baptized.
And little known fact, my dad, who ended up being a Presbyterian pastor for much of his life, he grew up as an American Baptist. And so he struggled with infant baptism. He loves the idea that people choose. They decide when they're going to be baptized. So for all of us, his four sons, none of us were baptized as infants.
So I was baptized when I was 17 years old at the Japanese Presbyterian Church in Seattle. That's when we did our confirmation classes. And so at the end of my confirmation, I got in front of the congregation, proclaimed Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and was baptized by my dad.
Now a few months earlier, dad had baptized a woman in our congregation and when he baptized her, he named her and said, my sister in Christ, which I thought was beautiful. And he was saying, you're part of the family now. And I get that. And so I remember thinking to myself, I wonder what he's going t say to me because I'm not his brother.
And so he baptized me in the name of the Father, son and the Holy Spirit. And then he put his hand on me and said, "Rodger, my brother in Christ, and my son, I baptize you."
So friends, I look forward to having a conversation with you this Sunday, whether online or in person, talking about what it means to be baptized. And we'll remember our baptisms together, whether that's in your memory or whether it's not.
Friends, good to see you. And as always, always, always, the Lord be with you on this day and those whom you love and those who love you.
Thanks, take care. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye.
Rodger
We invite you to worship with us
Sundays at 9 & 11 a.m. (traditional worship) and 5 p.m. (The Gathering, alternative worship) at our Mission Campus
and 9:30 a.m. (traditional worship) at our Antioch Campus. If you can’t make it in person, you can livestream our services online.
and 9:30 a.m. (traditional worship) at our Antioch Campus. If you can’t make it in person, you can livestream our services online.