BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//achurchnearyou.com//eventfeed//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-TIMEZONE:UTC BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:First Sunday of Epiphany\, Baptism of Christ\, 11th January\, Holy Eucharist 11.30am DTSTART:20260111T113000Z DTEND:20260111T123000Z DTSTAMP:20260418T155822Z UID:10119872026-01-11 11:30:00+00:00achurchnearyou CATEGORIES: DESCRIPTION:A strange thing happens. John the Baptist is out in the desert baptising people who have come to repent. And as they go down into the wa ters of the River Jordan\, and come back up again\, they are making a publ ic statement - of two things: firstly\, that they are ashamed of things th ey have done and secondly\, that they want to set out on a new path and li ve in a different and better way. \n\nAnd then lining up with all of these sad\, shamed and repentant people\, is Jesus\, the man that we believe to be the son of God\, the man that we believe to be completely free from si n\, in other words the very last person on the face of the earth you would ever expect to come for baptism. He is not only lining up with people who know they have done shameful things\, but is undergoing the humiliation o f baptism out of a complete solidarity with them.\n\nSo what does this tel l us? I think it's saying this: this man who is sinless himself is most at home in the company not of those who think they are good or worthy or des erving or pious\, but in the company of those who know that they have done some pretty bad stuff. \n\nAnd so it is that at that moment\, as Jesus bo ws his head with the rest of sinful humanity\, that all of a sudden the he avens open\, the spotlights shine\, and a voice from heaven tells us exact ly who this Jesus is: here\, in the lowest human experience\, in the momen t of repentance\, God's beloved son is present. \n\nPicture above: part of The Baptism of Christ\, by David Zelenka\, CC BY-SA 3.0 \, via Wikimedia Commons GEO:-4.407165;36.721145 LOCATION:St George's Church\, Málaga URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/8530/service-and-events/events/1 011987/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR