A New Day

Great is thy faithfulness
Oh God my father
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Lord unto me.

I love this song and the verses that talk about God’s faithfulness being new every morning...

The last few nights we have been very sad... Our response to Mike’s impending departure has been very hard.

But this morning Ricardo was baptized. The liturgy surrounding it, having our District Superintendent here to administer this sacrament. having great friends joining us to be his sponsor, the music, the friends.... and especially the liturgy that surrounds baptism in the United Methodist Church cannot help but inspire hope in us.

I used to not understand liturgy much -- I wasn’t in a church where we “said the same stuff all the time.” But I have really come to appreciate the deep meaning of the words we have repeated and heard over the baptism of 8 children we have been able to have baptized.

We answered “we do” to these questions:


Do you renounce the spiritual orces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?

Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?

Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord,in union with the Church which
Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?


WE answered “we will” to this question:


Will you nurture this child in Christ’s holy Church, that by your teaching and example they may be guided
to accept God’s grace for themselves, to profess theirfaith openly, and to lead a Christian life?

(pretty serious stuff)

And then he said of Ricardo:

Pour out your Holy Spirit, to bless this gift of water and he who receives it, to wash away his sin and clothe him in righteousness, throughout his life, that dying and being raised with Christ, he may share in his final victory.


And then, as the water is placed on his head, the pastor says:

The Holy Spirit work within you, that being born through water and the Spirit, you may be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

And thus hope Springs eternal!