LECTURE 1:
“LIVING BY FAITH IN THE PROMISE
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”
BAPTIZED AND SET FREE
(#453, ELW)
1. We are people created, chosen by
God. Then we’re washed ever
gently, in mercy and love. Sin has
power no more. Jesus opened the
door to a fountain bringing healing
and wholeness and more.
2. We are fed and we’re nourished,
filled and refreshed. Then our
hunger returns and again we are
blessed. For whatever the need,
God is greater indeed; endless
ocean, always deeper than all of our
need.
BAPTIZED AND SET FREE
(#453, ELW)
3. We are nourished by water, all
living things, and by life that the
Spirit abundantly brings. As we
journey toward home, may your
presence be known; previous river
ever-flowing, now carry us home.
4. Now with praise and
thanksgiving, we join the song. All
are welcome! We gather to sing
loud and strong. Not enslaved but
set free! From now on, all will be,
one in Jesus, one in water, baptized
and set free!
BAPTISMAL PRAYER
We give you thanks, O God, for in the
beginning your Spirit moved over the
waters and by your Word you created the
world.
Through the waters of the flood you
delivered Noah and his family, and through
the sea you led your people Israel from
slavery into freedom.
At the river your Son was baptized by John
and anointed with the Holy Spirit. By the
baptism of Jesus’ death and resurrection,
you set us free from the power of sin and
death and raise us up to live in you.
Pour out your Holy Spirit, that those who
are washed in the waters of baptism may
be given new life. Amen.
1 Cor. 12:13
Kirsten Malcolm Berry
ISAIAH 9:1-2
A shoot shall come out from the
stump of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest
on him,
the spirit of wisdom and
understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the
fear of the LORD.
1 Cor. 12:13
Kirsten Malcolm Berry
Why is trusting in the promise of the
Holy Spirit in our baptism so important
for us today—especially given all that’s
going on in our congregations, our
families, and personal lives?
POPE FRANCIS
In this photo provided by World Meeting of Families, Pope Francis kisses and
blesses Michael Keating, 10, of Elverson, Pa after arriving in Philadelphia.
Your personal life?
Your family?
Your congregation?
The ELCA?
The communities you’re a part of?
Our nation?
Our world?
THE SPIRIT GROANING
IN OUR WEAKNESS
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our
weakness; for we do not know
how to pray as we ought, but
that very Spirit intercedes with
sighs too deep for words. (Rom
8:26)
The Visitation, Van der Weyden
OUR EXEMPLAR: THE
APOSTLE PAUL AS
MOTHER
My little children, for
whom I am again in the
pain of childbirth until
Christ is formed in you
(Gal 4:19 NRS)
Icon of Paul the Apostle,
Wikimedia Commons
A GENERATIVE GRAMMAR:
EXPERIENCING AND SHARING THE SPIRIT
THE EXCESS OF CHRIST’S
PATHOS
3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and the
God of all consolation, 4 who
consoles us in all our affliction,
5 For just as the sufferings of
Christ are abundant for us,
THE EXCESS OF CHRIST’S
PARAKALEO
so that we may be able to
console those who are in any
affliction with the consolation
with which we ourselves are
consoled by God.
so also our consolation is
abundant through Christ. (2
Cor 1:3-5)
ON BEING LUMINOUS BODIES
14
But thanks be to God, who in Christ
always leads us in triumphal procession,
and through us spreads in every place the
fragrance that comes from knowing him.
15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God
among those who are being saved and
among those who are perishing; 16 to the
one a fragrance from death to death, to
the other a fragrance from life to life.
Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For
we are not peddlers of God's word like so
many; but in Christ we speak as persons of
sincerity, as persons sent from God and
standing in his presence. (2Cor 2:14-17)
Campana plaque showing two grieving male prisoners
being drawn on a cart in a triumphal procession. 1st
century BCE
What is the promise of the Spirit?
THE SPIRIT: FAITH OR WORKS?
Did you receive the Spirit by doing
the works of the law or by believing
what you heard? 3 Are you so
foolish? Having started with the
Spirit, are you now ending with the
flesh? 4 Did you experience so much
for nothing?—if it really was for
nothing. 5 Well then, does God
supply you with the Spirit and work
miracles among you by your doing
the works of the law, or by your
believing what you heard? (Gal 3:25)
Jesus MAFA
ABRAHAM, PROMISE, AND FAITH
6
Just as Abraham "believed God,
and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness," 7 so, you see, those
who believe are the descendants of
Abraham. 8 And the scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify
the Gentiles by faith, declared the
gospel beforehand to Abraham,
saying, "All the Gentiles shall be
blessed in you." 9 For this reason,
those who believe are blessed with
Abraham who believed. (Gal 3:6-9)
Circumcision prescribed by God to Abraham (Genesis, XVII, 10)
- Marc Chagall
ABRAHAM AND THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT
Christ redeemed us from the
curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us . . . . in order that in
Christ Jesus the blessing of
Abraham might come to the
nations (ethnē) so that we might
receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith. (Gal 3:13-14)
Jesus MAFA
BAPTISM INTO CHRIST’S BODY
There is no longer:
Jew/Greek
slave/free
male/female
“for all of you
are one
in Christ Jesus”
(Gal 3:28)
Sieger Köder
ADOPTION AS CHILDREN OF GOD
But when the fullness of time had
come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, born under the law, in
order to redeem those who were
under the law, so that we might
receive adoption as children.
And because you are children,
God has sent the Spirit of his Son
into our hearts, crying, "Abba!
Father!" (Gal 4:4-6 NRS)
Kirsten Malcolm Berry