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The Feast of the Baptism of our Lord – Year B

10 January 2027 All day

Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

At the outset, when God created the universe,
the earth was lifeless and shapeless;
a deep ocean of chaos, shrouded in darkness;
brooded over by the Spirit of God.

Then God called for light,
and light appeared.
God saw that light was a good thing,
and separated it from the darkness.
God named the light Day,
and the darkness Night.
Evening passed and morning came;
the first day was done.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

LORD God, like your angels in heaven
we speak of you in glowing terms,
for your glory and strength deserve rave reviews.
We give you a huge wrap, LORD;
we put up you name in lights
and hold a huge ticker tape parade
but it still falls short of the worship you deserve. 

Your voice, LORD, rings out like thunder;
resounding over the waters,
drowning out even the waves of the sea.
Your voice echoes with power;
it would bring anyone to their knees.

Your voice, LORD, shatters the Ironbark tree,
and splinters the Mountain Ash like match sticks.
Your presence makes Mount Bogong jump like a calf;
Uluru like a rock wallaby. 

Your voice, LORD, strikes fire from stone.
The sound of your voice convulses the wilderness;
the Simpson Desert shudders in labour. 

Your voice, LORD, is like a cyclone,
howling through a rainforest,
stripping the leaves from the trees.

We all gather to worship and cheer with all our might;
for you rule forever, LORD,
and neither surging flood
nor tidal wave can undermine you.
Give strength to your people, LORD!
Bless your people with peace! 

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Paul travelled through Turkey by the inland road, and arrived in Ephesus. He found some students of the faith there who assured him that they had been baptised, but while speaking with them he asked whether they had received the Holy Spirit when they had become believers. They replied, “No, we’re not even sure what you are talking about. We’ve never heard of a Holy Spirit.”

So Paul asked them what sort of baptism they had received, and they answered, “The baptism of John the baptiser.”

“It’s a different thing,” Paul told them. “John baptised people as a sign of their commitment to turning their lives around, but he told them that they should put their trust in the one who would take over where he left off. The one he was pointing to was Jesus.”

When they had got this straight, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul laid his hands on them in prayer, the Holy Spirit took charge of them, and they began to speak in strange languages and to preach inspired messages from God. There were about twelve of them in the group.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John the baptiser showed up in the desert preaching to the people. He called them to be baptised, to completely turn their lives around and receive God’s forgiveness for their toxic ways. Everyone came flocking to John from Jerusalem and from all the rural districts of Judea. They owned up to their wrongdoing and were baptised by John in the Jordan River, promising to mend their ways.

John was dressed in rough clothes made of camel hair and animal skins. He lived on bush tucker – grasshoppers and wild honey. This was the guts of his message: “After me comes the One who is way out of my league – I wouldn’t even qualify to get down on my knees and lick his boots. I’m only baptising you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”

During those days, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. The moment he came up from the water, he saw the sky open up and the Spirit coming down like a diving kookaburra and taking hold of him. And a voice filled the air, saying, “You are my Son; the love of my life. You fill me with pride.”

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you rule over the mighty waters
and baptise us into your life.

When your voice first thundered over the seas
your brooding Spirit brought forth the earth from the void
and breathed life into all your creatures.
You called your people to follow your ways,
and sent your servant, John the Baptiser,
to proclaiming a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.

He pointed to the one who was to come
— your beloved child, Jesus the Christ —
who came among us,
strengthening us and blessing us with your peace.
When he was baptised in the fearful waters of death,
you raised him to life
and tore open the heavens
so that all might be baptised with your Holy Spirit
and enter into your presence
confident of being declared
to be the children who please you.

Therefore with .....

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give thanks for your beloved Son, Jesus,
who was baptised in the fearful waters of death,
and rose to tear open the heavens
so that all might be baptised with your Holy Spirit
and hear you declare them to be pleasing to you.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you rule over the mighty waters
and baptise us into your life.

When your voice first thundered over the seas
your brooding Spirit brought forth the earth from the void
and breathed life into all your creatures.
You called your people to follow your ways,
and sent your servant, John the Baptiser,
to proclaiming a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.

He pointed to the one who was to come
— your beloved child, Jesus the Christ —
who came among us,
strengthening us and blessing us with your peace.
When he was baptised in the fearful waters of death,
you raised him to life
and tore open the heavens
so that all might be baptised with your Holy Spirit
and enter into your presence
confident of being declared
to be the children who please you.

Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Jesus Christ was baptised in the deep waters of death
so that we might be buried and raised with him
and have our sins washed away
in the depths of God’s mercy.

Sisters and Brothers,
  your sins are forgiven;
    be at peace.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go now, with the divine word in your ears
assuring you that you are God’s beloved children.
Live out the depth truths of your baptism
and tell others of the abundant life beyond the waters.

And may God, our beloved, give you strength;
May Christ Jesus fill you with his Holy Spirit;
And may the Holy Spirit strengthen you and bless you with peace.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
   In the name of Christ. Amen.

©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

  1. The Voice Over the Water
    A sermon on Mark 1: 4-11 by Nathan Nettleton
  2. Baptised to What?
    A sermon on Mark 1: 4-11 by Nathan Nettleton
  3. An Extraordinary Ordinary Baptism
    A sermon on Mark 1:4-11; Genesis 1:1-5; & Acts 19:1-7 by Nathan Nettleton
  4. Into what were you baptised?
    A sermon on Acts 19:1-7 & Mark 1:4-11 by Nathan Nettleton
  5. Anointed to Reign
    A sermon on Mark 1:4-11, Genesis 1:1-5 & Acts 19:1-7 by Nathan Nettleton
  6. Ordained in Baptism
    A sermon on Mark 1:4-11; Genesis 1:1-5; & Psalm 29 by Nathan Nettleton

Details

Date:
10 January 2027
Series: