A Great Power and a Greater Gift

Hope Lutheran - Spearfish

A Great Power and a Greater Gift

February 28, 2024 • Pastor Mark Schutz • Titus 3:4–7

There is no such thing as holy water. The water used in Baptism did not come from a magic fountain or mystical lake. It came out of the tap. Yet, Baptism consists of more than just water. It is water combined with God’s Word. And God’s Word is powerful! God’s Word is the tool the Holy Spirit uses to create and strengthen faith—faith that connects us to Christ’s death and resurrection. Thus, when you witness a baptism, you are witnessing more power being unleashed than you see in a flash of lightning. You are witnessing a power that can take that which is dead and make it alive.

God uses this savior power on us, but not because we deserve it. Because of our sins, we deserve nothing from God but punishment and pain. But our God is merciful. He spares us from the pain we deserve. And our God is gracious. He gives us countless blessings we do not deserve. This week, we marvel at the blessing of Baptism—a great power and greater gift.

Reliving Your Baptism Every Day

March 20, 2024 • Pastor Mark Schutz • Romans 6:1–14

You can celebrate the day you were born with cake. Perhaps people will sing, “Happy birthday to you.” Perhaps you will pull out a photo album and stroll down memory lane. You can and should celebrate the day you were born. However, you cannot actually relive the day you were born. (Nor would your mother want you to try!) Yet, we need to relive the day we were reborn in Baptism every day. Not in the sense that we go to church, stand by the font, and have the pastor pour water over our head. That only needed to happen once. But when we repent of our sins, it is like reliving our baptismal day. Our sinful nature, which was buried with Christ in our baptism, is reburied through repentance. In the first of his 95 Reformation theses, Dr. Martin Luther wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” The entire life! This week we see the joy and the need to relive our baptism every day through repentance.

The Right Tool for This Job

March 13, 2024 • Pastor Mark Schutz • Matthew 28:18–20

Set a beautiful piece of marble before the world’s best sculptor. Nothing comes of it unless he has the right tools. If he tries to fashion something from that rock with bare hands, he is doomed to nothing but frustration, split nails, and bloody fingertips. He needs a hammer and set of chisels. He needs the right tools. If your car is broken down, you cannot fix it with kitchen utensils. If you need heart surgery, pray the surgeon has more than a jigsaw and lock wrench. To do a job well, you don’t just need tools. You need the right tool. Jesus has asked his disciples to make disciples. Think of what that means. He is asking us to call people out of unbelief into the light of Christ. How does one raise the spiritually dead? You need the right tool. And that is what Christ has given us in Baptism. It is the right tool for this job that Christ has given to his Church.

Baptism Is Needed by All

March 6, 2024 • Pastor Mark Schutz • John 3:1–8

Jesus was speaking about Baptism when he said, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” Consider the weight of that phrase, “no one.” It is all-encompassing. The murderer, the abuser, the terrorist—if they hope to enter the kingdom of God, they need the cleansing washing that comes with Baptism. But so does the gossip, the envious, the worrier. That’s what “no one” means. The man who has lived a long life, who has 80-plus years of sin on his record, needs the saving power of Baptism. But so does the newborn infant who is not yet capable of speaking a sinful word. That’s what “no one” means. This is a hard teaching for people to accept. Many cannot understand how a violent criminal can be in the same moral category as a young “innocent” baby. Yet, in God’s eyes, they are, for they both were born of sinful flesh. Therefore, they both need the salvation God provides through Baptism. Today, we see that Baptism is indeed needed by all.