Looking Ahead to October 18, 2020 -- 20th Sunday After Pentecost

 This Sunday we will be celebrating the sacrament of Baptism.

The Scripture readings for this week are:

• Isaiah 43:1-7, 16-19
• Isaiah 45:1-8

The Sermon title is Called By Name

Early Thoughts:  There is a power in being called by name. There is a power in giving a name. Naming matters.

In Baptism we recognize that this person is a Beloved Child of God. In Baptism we recognize that something special is present in our midst. We acknowledge that God has claimed this child as God's own and that God has promised to be with this child even through fire or flood -- or what ever else the world may have to throw at them.

I think we all have days when we need to be reminded of those things. Are there days you forget, even for a moment, that you are a Beloved Child of God? Are there days when you wonder if God is actually there walking with you through fire or flood (or pandemic or economic crisis or...)?

AS people of faith we are called to be people of hope. We are challenged to have hope that the crisis in which we find ourselves one day is not the end of the story. We are encouraged to remember that God has the last say and, in the words of Julian of Norwich, "all manner of thing be well" -- someday at least.

Isaiah is speaking to people in exile, telling them that they will soon be allowed to go home. Isaiah is reminding people that even though they have been dragged from their homes (well for many of them their parents were dragged away from home), dragged away from the place where the house of God stood (and in fact the Temple has been destroyed), God is with them. Isaiah is telling the people that God is at work amongst them, that something new is about to happen.

Where is God these days? What new thing is God doing in our midst today?

God has called each one of us by name. God speaks to and loves each of us as individuals. God has laid claim to us, we are not left alone, we are not forgotten, we are held in God's hand. This is Good News!

How does knowing that we are named and claimed by God change how we will live our lives?
--Gord