By Rev Anna Layman
DAILY BYTE
I remember the first time in my that I was privileged with the task of baptizing a baby. This was an extremely exciting day for me, and I knew the parents of this child were also anticipating this momentous time.
Everything went well, as we went through the service and began the baptismal prayers. And then, it was time. I said something to the effect of, “And now we will baptize this child…” Only to be interrupted mid-prayer, as the baby, not even a year old, piped up with a clearly stated, “NO.”
No. The whole congregation had a good chuckle, as I did I, as I quickly interjected, “Yes!” But, I have thought often of this moment ever since. What is it that makes us say “no” to baptism? Or, if we are already baptized, what prevents us from living into that baptism and continuing on the baptismal journey of discovering more about the covenant that either we, or our parents, have made with God?
Are we afraid of the commitment? Do we think ourselves unworthy? Do we struggle to understand what the point of baptism really is?
And if we were baptized as children, do we lack a clear understanding of what took place in our baptism and why our parents or guardians made the decision they did on our behalf? Do we feel like our baptism has less meaning because we didn’t make the decision ourselves?
Are we struggling with the difficult questions that are asked at baptisms? Do we feel like we have slipped back and are no longer worthy of the vows we made? Have we simply forgotten or lost sight of the power behind this act?
Do you desire to say yes to the life-long journey of baptism, or do you feel yourself proclaiming a loud, ‘NO’?
CHALLENGE
This week we will be exploring the meaning of being baptized into the family of Christ. Take this opportunity to think back to your baptism. If you were too young and cannot remember it, take time to ask someone who might remember if they could tell you about it. If there is no one to tell you the story, or if you have not been baptized, spend time in prayer this week, asking God to reveal to you greater understandings of baptism in the name of Jesus Christ.
GUIDING SCRIPTURE
Acts 19:1-7
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied – altogether there were about twelve of them.
Monday, 11 January 2010
Friday, 8 January 2010
The spirit of the new year
By Rev Roger Scholtz
Today we bring this week’s reflections on the new year to a close with one final Calvin & Hobbes cartoon. In it, Calvin has made a snowman which depicts the spirit of the new year.
Calvin describes his snowman in glowing terms: ‘Looking ahead, he strides forward with confidence and determination. He challenges! He imagines! He invents! He calls forth the best qualities of human drive and ingenuity.’
But next to this ‘inspiring’ snowman there are others lazing about, fighting or laughing mockingly. In referring to these Calvin says, ‘This is why we’re always glad when the old year is over.’
Which of these snowmen can you more readily identify with now? As you think about that, why don’t you join in this prayer and make it your own?
PRAYER
Almighty God, in the midst of an ever-changing world you are an unchanging God who yesterday, today and tomorrow is ever the same. We take comfort in the fact that you are like a rock in our lives - solid, dependable, utterly secure. Rock of ages, thank you that our lives can be built on you with confidence.
As we acknowledge your dependability as an unchanging God, so we have to affirm that you are also the God of new things. Your unchanging nature in no way hinders your capacity to move, to stir, to refresh, to renew, to invigorate, to enliven. You are not only a rock in our lives, but also a surging stream, cleansing that which is impure, challenging that which is unyielding, refreshing that which is old and tired, carrying us on to new shores of discovery. You are the living water that quenches our souls deepest thirst, for which we thank you.
And so we come to you O God, at this the start of another year. As we consider the future, so much of it is uncertain. There is the fear that what lies in store for us might cause us to falter and fall. We long for our feet to be firmly established on the rock of your strength, that in the uncertainty of the future, your strength might become our strength. Do this for us we pray O God.
As we consider the future, so we also realise that much of it is predictable. For our lives so easily follow familiar paths, and we so quickly become entrenched in monotonous ruts of habit and routine. We long to be swept away by those life-giving waters that will lead us more deeply into that exciting life of faith that you call us to. Do this for us we pray O God.
And may this new year be for us all a season of grace. Amen.
Today we bring this week’s reflections on the new year to a close with one final Calvin & Hobbes cartoon. In it, Calvin has made a snowman which depicts the spirit of the new year.
Calvin describes his snowman in glowing terms: ‘Looking ahead, he strides forward with confidence and determination. He challenges! He imagines! He invents! He calls forth the best qualities of human drive and ingenuity.’
But next to this ‘inspiring’ snowman there are others lazing about, fighting or laughing mockingly. In referring to these Calvin says, ‘This is why we’re always glad when the old year is over.’
Which of these snowmen can you more readily identify with now? As you think about that, why don’t you join in this prayer and make it your own?
PRAYER
Almighty God, in the midst of an ever-changing world you are an unchanging God who yesterday, today and tomorrow is ever the same. We take comfort in the fact that you are like a rock in our lives - solid, dependable, utterly secure. Rock of ages, thank you that our lives can be built on you with confidence.
As we acknowledge your dependability as an unchanging God, so we have to affirm that you are also the God of new things. Your unchanging nature in no way hinders your capacity to move, to stir, to refresh, to renew, to invigorate, to enliven. You are not only a rock in our lives, but also a surging stream, cleansing that which is impure, challenging that which is unyielding, refreshing that which is old and tired, carrying us on to new shores of discovery. You are the living water that quenches our souls deepest thirst, for which we thank you.
And so we come to you O God, at this the start of another year. As we consider the future, so much of it is uncertain. There is the fear that what lies in store for us might cause us to falter and fall. We long for our feet to be firmly established on the rock of your strength, that in the uncertainty of the future, your strength might become our strength. Do this for us we pray O God.
As we consider the future, so we also realise that much of it is predictable. For our lives so easily follow familiar paths, and we so quickly become entrenched in monotonous ruts of habit and routine. We long to be swept away by those life-giving waters that will lead us more deeply into that exciting life of faith that you call us to. Do this for us we pray O God.
And may this new year be for us all a season of grace. Amen.
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Progress?
This week we’re reflecting on the new year in the light of the wisdom of Calvin & Hobbes. Our cartoon today deals with the subject of technological progress, and is very appropriate as we move into a new decade.
Hobbes says, “A new decade is coming up.”
Calvin replies by going on a big rant. He says, “Yeah. Big deal. Where are the flying cars? Where are the moon colonies? Where are the personal robots and the zero gravity boots, huh? You call this a new decade?! You call this the future?? Ha! Where are the rocket packs? Where are the disintegration rays? Where are the floating cities?”
Hobbes replies, “Frankly, I’m not sure people have got the brains to manage the technology they’ve got.”
Calvin continues, “I mean, look at this. We’ve still got weather?! Give me a break.”
Calvin’s wildly inventive 6 year-old imagination of what the future should be like is a tonic, and then his bitter disappointment that none of it has happened is really pretty funny. But there’s also a serious point to this cartoon. Technological progress needs to be carefully weighed, as it’s not always a positive thing – certainly in the way in which it’s often used.
So here’s an interesting question for you to think about today, ‘In what ways does your use of technology (for example e-mail, social networking, mobile applications) actually disconnect you from people?’
There can be no doubt that this technology has hugely increased the speed and ease with which information can be exchanged. But we must be careful not to confuse the exchange of information with authentic connection. It can, of course, lead to authentic connection, but it’s not the same thing.
And so it’s quite possible, and in fact is very common, to make great strides forward in our use of all kinds of technology that promise to better connect us with others, without realizing that in the process we are actually taking great strides backwards in our capacity for truly life-giving relationship.
Maybe it’s significant that when God wanted to connect with humanity, God didn’t send an SMS or an e-mail, but rather sent His only Son. I’m sure you’ll agree, there is a difference.
What could you do today to really connect with someone with whom you haven’t really connected in a long time?
PRAYER
Lord God, in this world of rapid technological progress it is so easy to forget what life-giving relationship requires. Guard us from the dangerous tendencies we all face in this techno-crazed world that is increasingly encouraging friendship without commitment, connection without responsibility and intimacy without truth. Amen.
Hobbes says, “A new decade is coming up.”
Calvin replies by going on a big rant. He says, “Yeah. Big deal. Where are the flying cars? Where are the moon colonies? Where are the personal robots and the zero gravity boots, huh? You call this a new decade?! You call this the future?? Ha! Where are the rocket packs? Where are the disintegration rays? Where are the floating cities?”
Hobbes replies, “Frankly, I’m not sure people have got the brains to manage the technology they’ve got.”
Calvin continues, “I mean, look at this. We’ve still got weather?! Give me a break.”
Calvin’s wildly inventive 6 year-old imagination of what the future should be like is a tonic, and then his bitter disappointment that none of it has happened is really pretty funny. But there’s also a serious point to this cartoon. Technological progress needs to be carefully weighed, as it’s not always a positive thing – certainly in the way in which it’s often used.
So here’s an interesting question for you to think about today, ‘In what ways does your use of technology (for example e-mail, social networking, mobile applications) actually disconnect you from people?’
There can be no doubt that this technology has hugely increased the speed and ease with which information can be exchanged. But we must be careful not to confuse the exchange of information with authentic connection. It can, of course, lead to authentic connection, but it’s not the same thing.
And so it’s quite possible, and in fact is very common, to make great strides forward in our use of all kinds of technology that promise to better connect us with others, without realizing that in the process we are actually taking great strides backwards in our capacity for truly life-giving relationship.
Maybe it’s significant that when God wanted to connect with humanity, God didn’t send an SMS or an e-mail, but rather sent His only Son. I’m sure you’ll agree, there is a difference.
What could you do today to really connect with someone with whom you haven’t really connected in a long time?
PRAYER
Lord God, in this world of rapid technological progress it is so easy to forget what life-giving relationship requires. Guard us from the dangerous tendencies we all face in this techno-crazed world that is increasingly encouraging friendship without commitment, connection without responsibility and intimacy without truth. Amen.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
A fresh, clean start
As we ease into this new year, for the rest of this week we will continue to allow the wisdom of Calvin & Hobbes to stimulate our reflections.
There’s a cartoon where Calvin & Hobbes are outside with their sleigh after a heavy snowfall. Everything is blanketed in white, and this conversation unfolds between them:
Calvin: Wow, it really snowed last night. Isn’t it wonderful?
Hobbes: Everything familiar has disappeared. The world looks brand new!
Calvin: A new year… a fresh, clean start.
Hobbes: It’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on.
Calvin: A day full of possibilities! It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy... Let’s go exploring!
In the brutal mid-summer heat that we’re currently experiencing here on the southern tip of Africa, it’s difficult to imagine a landscape blanketed in snow, like that in the cartoon. But it’s an enticing image all the same – not just because it would provide respite from the heat (and the mosquitoes!), but also because a snow-covered landscape suggests a fresh, clean start. As Hobbes puts it, “It’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on.”
Is a fresh, clean start a real possibility in the world in which we live? Or will the consequences of our actions and the muddy marks left by foolish choices always be a blemish on the landscape of our lives?
The startling good news of the gospel is that with God a fresh, clean start is possible, thanks to the free gift of God’s forgiveness. This does not mean that we can simply avoid the consequences of sinful living, with a cheap ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card. It does mean that the consequences of our sinful living are covered by God’s grace in a way that makes healing and reconciliation possible, and enables us to start exploring new ways of living that are more life-giving.
PRAYER
Thank you Lord that your gift of forgiveness is such that it really is possible for me to make a fresh and clean start. Open my eyes that I might see how wondrous is the world of your grace, and give me the courage to go exploring within it. Amen
SCRIPTURE READING
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” (Isaiah 1:18)
There’s a cartoon where Calvin & Hobbes are outside with their sleigh after a heavy snowfall. Everything is blanketed in white, and this conversation unfolds between them:
Calvin: Wow, it really snowed last night. Isn’t it wonderful?
Hobbes: Everything familiar has disappeared. The world looks brand new!
Calvin: A new year… a fresh, clean start.
Hobbes: It’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on.
Calvin: A day full of possibilities! It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy... Let’s go exploring!
In the brutal mid-summer heat that we’re currently experiencing here on the southern tip of Africa, it’s difficult to imagine a landscape blanketed in snow, like that in the cartoon. But it’s an enticing image all the same – not just because it would provide respite from the heat (and the mosquitoes!), but also because a snow-covered landscape suggests a fresh, clean start. As Hobbes puts it, “It’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on.”
Is a fresh, clean start a real possibility in the world in which we live? Or will the consequences of our actions and the muddy marks left by foolish choices always be a blemish on the landscape of our lives?
The startling good news of the gospel is that with God a fresh, clean start is possible, thanks to the free gift of God’s forgiveness. This does not mean that we can simply avoid the consequences of sinful living, with a cheap ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card. It does mean that the consequences of our sinful living are covered by God’s grace in a way that makes healing and reconciliation possible, and enables us to start exploring new ways of living that are more life-giving.
PRAYER
Thank you Lord that your gift of forgiveness is such that it really is possible for me to make a fresh and clean start. Open my eyes that I might see how wondrous is the world of your grace, and give me the courage to go exploring within it. Amen
SCRIPTURE READING
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” (Isaiah 1:18)
Monday, 4 January 2010
God’s ways are best
DAILY BYTE
Happy New Year!
As you embark on this New Year, as you make your plans for all that you hope to accomplish in 2010, have you considered what God may be asking of you? And whatever it may be, do you trust that God’s ways really are best?
There’s a great story that illustrates this truth in a humorous way.
A man who was sitting quietly under the shade of a great oak tree one day. Nearby a pumpkin vine was growing. As he looked at the large pumpkins growing on the vine, and then up at the small acorns growing on the oak tree, he thought to himself, ‘God really got this one wrong. He put the large pumpkins on a spindly pumpkin vine, while the little acorns he put on a massive oak tree. If I were God I’d do it the other way around. I’d put the big pumpkins on the strong oak tree, and the small acorns on the spindly vine.
And he felt very pleased with himself and not a little bit smug about his improvement on God’s creation. Just then the wind rustled through the tree and dislodged an acorn that fell and hit the man smack on his head. As he rubbed his head he thought, ‘Suppose a pumpkin had been up there instead of an acorn! Thank God that God’s ways are best.’
SCRIPTURE READING
‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11
PRAYER
Thank you Lord that your ways are best. Thank you that you have plans for my life that really are for my blessing and benefit. Help me to trust that this new year. Amen
Happy New Year!
As you embark on this New Year, as you make your plans for all that you hope to accomplish in 2010, have you considered what God may be asking of you? And whatever it may be, do you trust that God’s ways really are best?
There’s a great story that illustrates this truth in a humorous way.
A man who was sitting quietly under the shade of a great oak tree one day. Nearby a pumpkin vine was growing. As he looked at the large pumpkins growing on the vine, and then up at the small acorns growing on the oak tree, he thought to himself, ‘God really got this one wrong. He put the large pumpkins on a spindly pumpkin vine, while the little acorns he put on a massive oak tree. If I were God I’d do it the other way around. I’d put the big pumpkins on the strong oak tree, and the small acorns on the spindly vine.
And he felt very pleased with himself and not a little bit smug about his improvement on God’s creation. Just then the wind rustled through the tree and dislodged an acorn that fell and hit the man smack on his head. As he rubbed his head he thought, ‘Suppose a pumpkin had been up there instead of an acorn! Thank God that God’s ways are best.’
SCRIPTURE READING
‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11
PRAYER
Thank you Lord that your ways are best. Thank you that you have plans for my life that really are for my blessing and benefit. Help me to trust that this new year. Amen
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