Dear Fellow Children of God,
I expect that everyone knows that Wednesday, January 1,
is New Year’s Day. Yes, this is a
national holiday and a day off work.
Yes, New Year’s Day is a day of football, and a day of some special
foods. But, the reason people celebrate
is that the calendar has advanced another year.
The year 2024, with all of its trials and tribulations, is gone . . . hopefully. The year 2025 brings hope and dreams of a new
start, of a new beginning, hope for a new life.
But. are those hopes reality, or just wishful thinking? I asked in my New Year’s Eve sermon, “Are all
our financial debts satisfied and gone simply because the year changed?” “Are the illnesses and injuries which plague
our daily lives totally in the past?” “Have
broken relationships been healed, just because the year 2024 is complete, and
we are now in 2025?”
You know, and I know, that just because the calendar
turns, this does not mean that our troubles have ended. Life’s pain and suffering are the result of
our sin and our rebellion against the Creator and Lord of all. We should not be surprised by our trials and
our troubles. Nevertheless, the whole
world does still celebrate the New Year, because we do hope for a new future.
However, we DID witness new life at
First Lutheran Church on Sunday, December 29.
Paisley Mae Lunt (my second cousin, 3 times removed ) was baptized. In John 3, Jesus surprises Nicodemus. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God." . . . 5 "Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3, 5). Jesus says a person
is born again, they have new life, by water and by the Spirit, through baptism.
On Pentecost Day Peter teaches the
crowd in Jerusalem. “38 . . . "Repent and be baptized every one
of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for
you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord
our God calls to himself." (Acts 2:38-39) When Paisley was baptized she was forgiven. She received
the gift of the Holy Spirit. She was
called as a child of God. She was
given new life.
In his Small Catechism Dr. Martin
Luther quotes Romans 6:4 in regard to baptism.
Please read with me verses 3 and
4 of Romans 6. “3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by
baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Through
baptism, through dying with Jesus to sin and rising with Him through faith, we walk
in newness of life.
Then Luther
applies Romans 6 to the daily life of a child of God. ”What does such baptizing
with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily
contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires,
and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in
righteousness and purity forever.” In other words, God’s
gift of new life in baptism is not a one-time gift. New life in Jesus is lasting. And, the new life which God works in us, by
Jesus’ dying and rising, by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, this new
life shows in how we live. Every day we
live in repentance. The old sinful
person in us dies. The new person who
trusts Jesus’ forgiveness arrives. Every
day we live in repentance. We turn from
sin and we turn to God in faith and in love.
What did you do on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s
Day? Many were in Times Square. BUT many
were also in worship, receiving God’s grace and being strengthened for the new
lives which God gives us. If you really
want to celebrate something new, live in the grace God gives you in your
baptism! You don not have to wait for the calendar to change. Because God loves us, we arise as new people every
morning, through repentance, through faith, through the grace of God in Jesus.
A Child of God, Celebrating
New Life, EVEN in the New Year!
Pastor Rockey
P.S. I continue to serve as vacancy pastor at
First Lutheran Church in Gainesville, Florida, until First Lutheran receives a
permanent full-time pastor.
NEWS
AND MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES AT First Lutheran Church – Gainesville!
·
In worship on December 26 First Lutheran
received a letter from Pastor Chris Kollman. He said YES to the call to be
pastor. Praise the Lord!
·
SUNDAY SCHOOL IS IN FULL SWING until
May. Children begin in worship at 10:00 a.m.. Early in the service, after
the Children’s Message, children leave for a lesson, for a craft, and a
snack.
Parents,
Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts, Neighbors, PLEASE bring your children to
Sunday School. THANK YOU Sunday
School Teachers and staff!
·
Here are some pictures from the baptism of
Paisley at First Lutheran on Sunday, December 29. https://photos.app.goo.gl/GDjL8v3ZeKE84AK87
·
We have another baptism this coming Sunday,
January 5. Claire Denson will be
received as a child of God and given new life.
·
In Sunday Bible Class we finished studying
the Messianic prophecies of
Isaiah. On January 5 we begin a study of “The Pastoral Epistles,” 1 and
2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon . Come and Join Us in the Besalski Fellowship
Hall at 8:45 a.m.!!!!!
·
COLLEGE STUDENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS meet on
Tuesday nights in the student house at 7:00 p.m. Come and join us! They
are studying “The Case for Christianity.”
(THERE IS A BREAK DURING
CHRISTMAS VACATION.)
·
WE CONTINUE TO READ THROUGH THE SCRIPTURE IN
2024 and 2025 using the “Today’s Light Devotional Bible.” On Tuesday,
December 31, we finished Song of Solomon.
Feel free to
contact Pastor Rockey at 907-841-4066 if you have any questions about these
readings. Or send an e-mail question to jonrock53@mtaonline.net I have
recently received questions and comments. It is always good to consider
our Lord’s love and guidance. I will TRY to answer, but some things only God
knows!
P.P.S. Family Fun:
·
I went
fishing twice since my last devotion.
o On
Thursday, December 26, I fished by myself for the first time in the St. John’s
River, out of Palatka, Florida. I had a
big fish on, but . . . he jumped and spit the hook. It was nice to try a new place. Here are a couple of pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/a2nk1V7YEC799NC6A
o On
Friday, December 27, I fished with Mark Hoyer for Crappie, or “specs.” We caught 6, and kept 5. Here are a few pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/qFgTqBVnxfkpW7Dh9
·
I also played golf on Monday, December 30 . . . 2 TIMES! I played 18 holes in the
morning with John Holloway from First Lutheran Church. I played 18 holes in the afternoon with Jeff
Thinschmidt from First Lutheran Church. J
*******
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I
retired at the end of August 2019 from serving as full-time senior pastor of
St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion
previously entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired
many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued
writing. However, with life's changes I now call this weekly devotion
"Journeys Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer
senior pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those
who asked to receive it. (However, I am currently as Vacancy Pastor for
First Lutheran Church in Gainesville, FL.)
So, if you stopped receiving
these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now
receiving these devotions and do not wish to receive them, please let me know,
and I’ll gladly remove your name from my distribution list. My e-mail
address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these
devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Vacancy Pastor, First Lutheran
Church, Gainesville, FL
Pastor Emeritus, St. John
Lutheran Church, Palmer, AK
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
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