Baptism of Our Lord	January 12, 2025
Prayer of the Day
Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ baptism you declared him to be your beloved Son and set him apart as your agent of grace for your creation. May we who are baptized into his life also be sent as agents of grace in your world; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
First Reading: Isaiah 43:1-7
1Now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Psalm 29 (LBW)
1Ascribe to the | Lord, you gods,*
	ascribe to the Lord glo- | ry and strength.
2Ascribe to the Lord the glory | due his Name;*
	worship the Lord in the beau- | ty of holiness.
3The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of | glory thunders;*
	the Lord is upon the | mighty waters.
4The voice of the Lord is a pow- | erful voice;*
	the voice of the Lord is a | voice of splendor.
5The voice of the Lord breaks the | cedar trees;*
	the Lord breaks the ce- | dars of Lebanon;
6He makes Lebanon skip | like a calf,*
	and Mount Hermon like a | young wild ox.
7The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire; 
the voice of the Lord | shakes the wilderness;*
	the Lord shakes the wilder- | ness of Kadesh.
8The voice of the Lord makes the | oak trees writhe*
	and strips the | forests bare.
9And in the temple | of the Lord *
	all are | crying, “Glory!”
10The Lord sits enthroned a- | bove the flood;*
	the Lord sits enthroned as | King forevermore.
11The Lord shall give strength | to his people;*
	the Lord shall give his people the bless- | ing of peace.
Psalm 29 (ESV)
1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. 
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the Lord give strength to his people!  May the Lord bless his people with peace!
Second Reading: Romans 6:1-11
1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Gospel: Luke 3:15-22
15As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison. 21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Lessons for Next Week
Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 128; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11