If you'd like to watch, click on Pastor Squatch Musings!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19–20, LSB

The journey to discipleship begins at Baptism. We are brought into the promise of new life and new hope as we are washed and renewed in those waters, but be mindful that the journey does not end at the water's edge. Like a child, we must be taught to know the Father and accept His love. As brothers and sisters in Christ, our calling is to be those teachers and examples to those who are young in the faith. We are called to point them to the Father just as a baby learns to recognize his parents. The power of the Word is that it reveals to us the Father and His nature. The deeper we delve into the Holy Scriptures, the more we will find a just God who seeks to redeem us, His children, from the brokenness that surrounds us. He doesn’t make us earn it, but in learning about Him, we are prepared to grasp the promise as we see the sacrifices He has made for us, most importantly His suffering and death on the Cross. With this knowledge, we can all walk in His peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.