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Baptism is the sign and seal of the person into the covenant community of God. It shows that the person who is being baptised has now become part of the people of God in the same way that circumcision marks the child out as part of God’s people. Just as how circumcision was a sign of God’s blessing and grace to those who are born into God’s covenant community, baptism is a sign of God’s grace and blessing as well. Whether it is an infant or an adult who has come to faith, baptism celebrates God’s grace and goodness in bringing that person into the covenant community. Baptism is one of two sacraments that God instituted for the church. They are the Gospel message proclaimed to us in a visual form. Therefore, they are God’s means of grace to us – that is, we receive God’s grace when we celebrate them because we are once again having the Gospel proclaimed to us for our hearts to take hold.

The people of God has always been set apart from their surrounding nations. Ever since God gathered his people around him, he has called his people to be different, because he has rescued and redeemed them. The New Testament continues this pattern with Jesus Christ. We are gathered around Jesus, set apart for him because of the redemption that he purchased for us. The church is a people that God has rescued through Jesus Christ. We are saved into a people, therefore our faith has never been a merely private experience, but one that is lived together with others who are in Christ. Membership in the local church is a way of expressing that reality we have in Christ. We belong to the universal church – the people saved by Christ. This is expressed by belonging to the local church. We belong to our local church family, helping each other in our discipleship to Christ, under the leadership of the elders. We all help each other in our Christian discipline, so that we grow in our love and

We are starting our new sermon series this weekend on the Rhythms of Grace. Each Sunday as Christians, we gather at the church building. In that gathering, we have different elements of the service that we go through – we sing, we pray, we give, we serve, we listen to preaching, etc. Going through all that becomes a rhythm in our lives, like a constant beat for a piece of music. It keeps our Christian lives in sync and provides a pattern for the rest of our lives. However, if we do not re-examine why we do what we do weekly, we can become complacent or lose sight of the purpose of each element. We will be going through each element, starting this weekend with preaching. As we dig into what the Scriptures, we will find that sitting under the preaching of God’s word weekly is too important to give up. In fact, this rhythm or pattern has been going on for almost all of 2000 years of church history – there has to be a good reason for that.

There are endless opinions when it comes to the singing and music in our weekend services. That is not surprising as music and songs connect to us on a deeper and emotional level. It just “feels” so much more personal than a sermon. That is why it can elicit such strong opinions. However, when you think about it, as a society, we do not actually do a lot of singing together with others. There are hardly any events that we do that. The only exception is probably concerts or birthdays. Christians, on the other hand, have been a singing people since the beginning. In fact, we sing every single week when we gather with other Christians. Why do we do that? What is so special about singing that we have musicians spending hours each week practising, so that they can lead us in singing songs? Let us explore that this coming Sunday.

The account of David and Mephibosheth is a very small one in the Old Testament. However, it presents us with a beautiful picture of our abject sinfulness and the loving heart of God. This Sunday, we will explore the character of Mephibosheth: both who he was and why he was so miserable. We will also take a closer look at David’s heart for Mephibosheth in comparison with God’s own heart for us. We will finish by unpacking the remarkable end to Mephibosheth’s story and discover how God’s undeserved favour can truly transform our hearts and minds.

Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the Bible. It is a psalm that is all about loving, celebrating, and delighting in the commands, laws, and word of God. Psalm 119 calls us to delight in God's word. It makes us wise as it teaches us about God's world and how it operates. God's word also brings us joy and delight as it tells us about God's love and heart for us. It reveals to us our sins, so that we can run to Christ, through whom our sins are forgiven. Through God's word, we know a God who has loved us and cared for us. God's word also helps us in our sufferings. We know through God's word that we are not alone - God is our refuge and shield. Ultimately, God did not just send a "letter" to us, but he sent his own Son who perfectly shows us his love for us. Through Christ, we know that God is not aloof, but he is near us and has come to us personally. We delight in God's word, Jesus Christ - the one who makes us wise, the one whom we delight us, and the one who is with us in our suff

God is speaking continuously – both through his creation and in his word. Are we listening? God is speaking through his creation. Since the beginning of creation, the whole creation is displaying God’s power and divine nature. We often leave marks of who we are in the things that we create, and it is the same with God and the whole creation. We see marks of who this Creator is by noticing and “listening” to creation. They speak of God’s immeasurable power and his unlimited creativity. God is speaking through the word that he gave us. This is the only way that we can know more about this God and what he is like. God’s word tells us about even more characteristics of this creator God. That is why David describes God’s word as perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, and firm. That is why it is important we read our Bibles. It is only through that word that we know this God who has loved us in Christ – the word that was made flesh, ultimately the greatest revelation of God.

Across the centuries, we have different kinds of rulers, from tyrannical to the incompetent. Last week, we read about Matthew declaring that the promised awaited king has come. But what kind of king is he? We will be looking at Matthew 1:18-25 this weekend, and in that passage, we see two aspects of Jesus’ kingship. This promised king will be our saviour. He has come to save “his people from their sins.” That is what a king is supposed to do – to protect, rescue, and care for his people. However, our deepest problem is our broken relationship with God, as a result of our sins. This king has come to restore our most foundational problem. This promised king will be God’s presence with us. This is a God who has come close to us, instead of staying in his “lofty” position. This is a God who knows and experiences human life through king Jesus. Jesus Christ is king of God’s saving grace, rescuing us from our sins and walks with us in our lives.

It is great to have the peace that passes understanding that, because we belong to Christ, we are comforted in life and death. That in belonging to Him, our sins are covered by His precious blood and all things must work for our good without a hair from our head falling apart from the will of our Father in Heaven. This is what we rejoiced in when last I preached in Willo. In Sunday’s service we focus on Q&A 2 which raises the question as to, what do we need to know in order to have this comfort. It is one thing to know about this comfort, it is altogether a different thing to have it. This sermon then explores how it is we come to obtain this amazing comfort for it is clear, not every possesses it.

In Romans 16, we read of Paul’s greetings to all the people that have laboured in Gospel ministry. There is a camaraderie and personal touch in Christian ministry. Paul knew many of these people personally, and they laboured together in Gospel ministry. Christian ministry involves working together with others and it is not merely the effort of an “anointed” few. One of the roles of being in Christian ministry is to watch out for those who would cause divisions within the church. These people are serving themselves, rather than God. They deceive us through smooth talk and flattery, and therefore it is important that we continue to be obedient to God and know his truth intimately. Paul ends his letter to the Romans with a wonderful benediction that once again brings our minds to focus on the Gospel of God. God has established the church based on this Gospel – that Gentiles are now eternal sharers with the Jews in the blessings of Christ – in which all glory goes to God alone.