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For the Sake of Auld Lang Syne - January 11, 2026

As we begin a new year and prepare to worship together on Baptism of the Lord Sunday, this upcoming sermon invites us to slow down and remember rather than rush ahead. Drawing on Matthew 3:13–17 and the familiar refrain of Auld Lang Syne, the sermon reflects on how faith does not begin with a clean slate or a list of resolutions, but with memory and identity. Before Jesus teaches, heals, or begins public ministry, Jesus is named beloved. In the same way, baptism reminds us that our lives of faith begin not with effort or achievement, but with God’s claim and God’s love, spoken over us long before we are aware of it.

Rather than asking what we need to fix in ourselves this year, the sermon asks a different question: how might we live as people who already belong to God? Remembering baptism grounds us when life feels uncertain, reminds us who we are when we forget, and calls us to live faithfully out of grace rather than pressure. As you prepare for worship, I invite you to spend some time with Matthew 3:13–17 and reflect on this story of naming, belonging, and belovedness.

As you do, consider these questions this week:

  • What does it mean for you to remember your baptism, even if you do not remember the moment itself?
  • And how might your choices, relationships, or prayers look different if you truly lived as someone already named beloved by God?

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