Strong in the One Who Empowers Me :: Philippians 4:13
[Introduction: Who you are] We will begin with the truth about ourselves that we all should never forget: I am baptized. Now say that with me ... I am baptized. When you really get down to it, that’s what today is all about ... it’s about our baptism. Today is All Saints Day. Today is a day to remember all the saints who went before us in the faith, but it’s also a day that’s perfect for remembering our baptism ... the day God called us saints, his beloved children (1 Jn 3:1). It’s also Debbie’s confirmation day, the day she remembers her baptism. We Lutherans don’t think of baptism as something that happened to us a long time ago, saying I was baptized on such and such day. Instead, we know that your baptism, my baptism, our baptism is a present reality ... an on-going reality ... a gift of God. He has baptized us! And he keeps us in our baptism! He has, as Saint Paul says in Ephesians 5, sanctified us ... or made us holy, thereby calling us saints. This is why Peter says, Baptis...