Confession of St Peter the Apostle

 The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

(Psalm 23: 1)

Promise Verse

 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted 

and saves those who are crushed in spirit

(Psalm 34:18)

Promise Verse

 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, 

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, they comfort me

(Psalm 23:4)

Promise Verse

 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, 

as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 

since you know that you will receive an 

inheritance from the Lord as a reward

(Colossians 3:23-24)

Promise Verse

 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, 

according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church 

and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen

(Ephesians 3:20-21)

Promise Verse

 May He give you the desire of your heart 

and make all your plans succeed

(Psalm 20:4)

First Sunday after the Epiphany

 

The Baptism of our Lord

Baptism of Lord Jesus is a significant event, marking the beginning of His public ministry. This moment also reveals Jesus’ identity as the Son of God.

"And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'"
— Matthew 3:16-17

God created man to be His own, His own children. But sin came between man and God and man became unholy. God chooses a people called Israel to be His chosen ones, but still they went against The Lord.

Even though God was sad regarding the sins of His people, He gave them sacrifices to have cleansing from the sin. But every sacrifice was temporary. So, He decided to provide His people an ultimate sacrifice so that the mankind can become righteous and have communion with Him. God came himself as a human and obeyed the Laws and then took all the punishments that we have done and became an ultimate sacrifice to cleanse our sins and make us righteous.

The people of Israel were rescued by God from Egypt and through supernatural miracle God helped parting the red sea to cross them on dry ground. God wanted them to leave the life in Egypt, to leave the life as a slave and be the chosen ones to possess the promised land.

God came to the world in the form of man – Jesus Christ. He was born as a child and He grew up and became an adult. He wanted to show to the world about how we need to be born again in Him.

Before Jesus’ public ministry, He studied the word, obeyed it and then He came and took baptism from John the Baptist.

This moment symbolizes that we are leaving our sins by accepting Jesus who became our saviour through the ultimate sacrifice He had done on the cross. Same way as Israel left Egypt where they were slaves, we are leaving the evil ways in which we were slaves and starting our new life. It means that we have killed our evil ways and are being resurrected as a new person in Christ, same way how Christ was resurrected from the dead.

Through baptism we are being called to life a holy life pleasing to God. We are also been called as His children, His chosen people, the New Israel.

Baptism marked the beginning of Jesus’ mission to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Similarly, our baptism is a call to live out our faith in action, to life a moral life that can influence people to Jesus.

May The Lord provide you His Spirit to accept Him and be baptised and be a blessing and an example. May The Lord bless you!