Water sustains life for humans, animals, and plants. We clean with warm water and relax in cool water. We find peace listening to the roar of the ocean or taking a stroll in the rain.
Water is also important to our life in the church.
In the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, “we are initiated into Christ’s holy church, incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit. All this is God’s gift, offered to us without price.”
The Bible teaches that God made human beings in the image of God, and all of creation to be good. Sin caused a “distortion of the image of God in us and the degrading of the whole of creation.
In baptism, we reject the power of sin and begin our journey as disciples of Jesus Christ.
The United Methodist Church recognizes the two sacraments in which Christ himself participated: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism joins Christians everywhere, and is a symbol of new life and forgiveness of sins. Persons of any age can be baptized once, and the method can be sprinkling, immersion or pouring. Through baptism we are joined with the church and with Christians everywhere.
Sacraments are sign-acts, which include words, actions, and physical elements. They both express and convey the gracious love of God. They make God’s love both visible and effective. We might even say that sacraments are God’s ‘show and tell,’ communicating with us in a way that we, in all our brokenness and limitations, can receive and experience God’s grace.”