Fields United Methodist Church

Thoughts Along the Way

Pastor Tom Joyce

January 3, 2022

“You are my Son, the Beloved: with you I am well pleased.”

Luke 3:22

When someone is baptized at Fields Church, we conclude the Sacrament singing, “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry,” by John Ylvisaker. The last verse sings, “I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you grow old, I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.” Every time we sing this song, I am enveloped in God’s love, a love that was there from our beginning and will be there even to the end of the age. Baptism is our eternal membership into the love of God through Jesus. When Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan by John, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus and the ministry of Jesus for us began. Your baptism is the seal of the Holy Spirit upon your life; it is enlivening what God has placed upon your soul at the beginning of your life and now made manifest in your living. In other words, your baptism is an “outward sign of an inward grace” of God’s eternal presence with you. You are the beloved of God and the waters of your baptism is confirmation of just how much God loves you, especially you. In times of doubt, the love of God is with you. In times of joy, the love of God is with you. In times of sin, the waters of baptism cleanse you.  Your baptism is a gift from God, and just as the heavens were opened for Jesus, they are open to you. On those days when clouds hang dark and heavy, know that you have been called by name as the Lord’s hand is upon you to offer light, the Light, that shines brighter than any darkness can penetrate. Remember your baptism, remember you are loved, beloved, by God so much that “he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)