Scripture:I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus. (I Cor 1.4)Reflection:Grace… in church parlance this refers to ‘divine grace’ – the open armed love of God shown in Jesus for any and all of us, regardless of just how undeserving we are of love. More generally, we may talk about moving or acting gracefully, that is, in a way that is beautiful. The crime writer Peter James chose to call his Brighton detective Superintendent Grace because, he says, he wanted a name that connoted the restoration of order at the end of a story dealing with the gritty, dark world of crime.Thank God for every moment of each day when we come in contact in any way with the beauty of his grace.David Harmsworth
Scripture & Reflection: Sunday 11th January – The Baptism of Christ – and for the week ahead:Scripture13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptised by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?’ 15 But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptised, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ (Matthew. 3.13-17)ReflectionJesus’ baptism is real starting point for his earthly ministry. Here all three persons of God, the One-in-Three, show up at once. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The voice from heaven, Jesus and the dove, all present and correct. But, interesting and significant as this clearly is, even more deeply meaningful is what the voice of God proclaims: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved.’ And: ‘With him I’m well pleased.’ Jesus was both fully God and fully human. And as a human he absolutely needed to hear those words before he set out. To be called ‘Beloved’. ‘Beloved! How wonderful. To know that you are just that, before you have performed any miracles or taught any sage lessons or healed even a single person. And God tells us the same, calls us Beloved and tells us: ‘With you I am well pleased’. Not because of anything we do, but because of who we are. Beloved! Revd Ylva
