Last Sunday, as we do every second Sunday of the year, our worship was centered upon the story of the baptism of Jesus and the reaffirmation of our baptismal vows. Now Deb Soderholm, our Children’s Ministry Coordinator, works very hard at coordinating the Sunday School lessons with what is going on in worship. And so last Sunday’s lesson was all about baptism.
After Sunday School, Deb Webster, who taught the preschoolers, shared with me two lists.The first was how preschoolers…that means kids who are about 4 or 5 years old or so answered the question: What is Baptism? at the beginning of their time together. Here are the responses:
Get wet
It’s a volcano
Water Spills
It’s a sea monster
Front of Church.
Some of these are interesting as they dispel the myth that children have lost their imaginations to video games.
Deb then showed me the second list that asked the same question, What is Baptism? after class. Although these responses were not as creative, they certainly are instructive.
Water on your head
Water on a baby’s head three times
Dad…I forgot…
Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Family gets BIGGER!
Everyone’s Family.
This list dispels the myth that preschoolers are not listening as they are running the teacher ragged.
When Deb Webster showed me the second list, and I looked at the responses and said, ”HALLILEAUAH! Somebody gets it!” Baptism is a celebration of being a part of God’s family. It is a way we tell ourselves that God has called us together in community.
For lack of a better phrase, this coming Sunday is known as our Annual Meeting. Maybe we should listen to the preschoolers and start calling it a family reunion. This coming Sunday is going to be a day to celebrate just how we have experienced God calling us together as a family in 2017 and where we are going together in 2018. And I am hoping that everyone in the family which, means everyone who is reading this, shows up.
We will introduce our theme for the year: God’s Light: Seeing in a New Way. All year we will be exploring how a relationship with Jesus changes how we understand our lives, our family, our world. Like all the family reunions I’ve been to we will: Tell some important stories from the last year, talk about how our kids are doing and where we are going and we will also have a potluck dinner.
Let’s make this family gathering something to remember.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan