Tuesday 31 March 2020
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Today we welcome the friends and families of Gillian & Alannah, Klaudia, Samuel, and Marcia as they are baptised. We will also be dedicating Klaudia’s daughters Nyima and Chloe.
All the people being baptised today could rightly hold up a sign which says, “Jesus changed my life.” Baptism is the outward sign of obedience to Jesus’ command that when we have been born again, we should show publicly our commitment to Him. Baptism itself does not make us a Christian, as God has already done that, when we have repented from our sins and invited Jesus Christ to be Lord of our life, and He begins to change our lives. But the Lord will often confirm this step of obedience with the filling or baptism in his Holy Spirit upon and in the person being baptised. It is this overflowing of the Holy Spirit that transforms a person so much that they visibly show the reality of God at work in their lives. Has Jesus changed your life?
In our bible story today, Saul was a persecuting Christians and was greatly feared by the Christian community, after meeting Jesus within days he was baptised and went to preach that Jesus was the son of God, people were amazed because they visibly saw the transformation in him. The people who heard him asked “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” The power of Jesus was working through Saul’s changed life.
The transformation was astounding and so visible that it also had a negative effect on the Jewish leaders who once had been applauding his actions to round up Christians for jail or worse and they tried to have him killed, but he got wind of the plot and escaped.
The Christian transformed life does have impact on others. Your life as a Christian is the first thing others see and Confirms God work is true, it so powerful in helping them to also see God not just as idea from the bible, but the as a someone who is real and changes and interacts with people.
Our growth as Christians of any stage is always upward Saul who became Paul went onto the write that we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Let that be your story today.
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Acts 9 v 1-21
“The same Jesus Who turned water into wine can transform your home, your life, your family, and your future. He is still in the miracle-working business, and His business is the business of transformation."