Our God is the Vine; we are the branches. To remain fruitful in life we need to stay connected to him. A large part of that is connecting others to the Vine as well. This week we take a trip to Philippi, a Roman colony in the ancient world to see the Apostle Paul in action.
I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” Jesus is our Good Shepherd and we find protection and provision under his care. Because of Easter, there is No Fear under the Good Shepherd.
Does that sound like freedom to you? Doing what you want when you want to do when you want to do it? While that may sound good – living just for yourself is an empty life. True freedom is doing what God wants me to do. Because of Easter, there is No Fear in Freedom.
What does it mean to have no fear in doubt? We’ll look at a few case studies this Sunday – Doubting Thomas Sunday – to see how people have handled doubts in the past. The resurrection chases our doubts away! No fear!
The waters of the Jordan washed over Jesus as John baptized him. Those same waters of baptism washed over the jailers family in ancient Philippi. Still today the waters of baptism flow in churches around the world. In Jesus the Father is well pleased with all of us.
When Jesus came to the Jordan River he was baptized by John the Baptist. John didn’t want to baptize him because he understood that this was God. John was the one who need to be washed by Jesus! In Jesus’ baptism God the Father thundered from heaven the approval of his Son. Jesus was anointed by the Spirit who descended in the form of a dove. It is in this way that Jesus was revealed to the world as the Messiah at the start of his public ministry. Watch as we study what Jesus’ baptism means for you!