All Are Welcome!WORSHIP
Parking Lot Service Sunday August 2 9:30 am -Bethel Lutheran Church. Sunday, August 16 8:30 am- Bethel Lutheran Church 10:30 am - Immanuel Lutheran Church. There will be a fuller liturgy. However, we will not sing. Our plans will be to celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Hope to see you there. Again, although inconvenient, we will wear masks and practice social distancing. This service is open to members of both congregations. Take care and be safe! CONTACT US:Office: 320-277-3939
P.O. Box 35, 36055 213th Street Hillman, MN 56338 Pastor Stephen Olson (218) 290-6244 EMAIL : immanuel@brainerd.net How To Find Us:Immanuel Lutheran Church of Hillman is located at the intersection of County Hwy 27 and County Hwy 47. It is one mile west of County 8.
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BAPTISM: COMMANDED BY GOD
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them . . . And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . .’ [Matthew 28.16, 18-19] The Church has traditionally understood the word ‘sacrament’ to mean a visible sign of God's grace given to his people. The Medieval Catholic Church held that there were seven sacraments: Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, Confession, Marriage, Ordination, and Extreme Unction [Last Rites]. In the Reformation, Martin Luther's emphasis on Scriptural authority led him to the conviction that Sacraments are defined by three criteria: they are commanded by Christ, have a visible sign, and carry the life-giving promise of God. Luther found that only Baptism and Communion meet all three conditions imposed by Scripture. The early Church took the words of Jesus seriously and began to ‘make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . .’ In short, baptism became the entrance rite for becoming part of the Body of Christ [a metaphor first suggested by St. Paul in his letters to the Corinthian congregation.] By necessity, the Church baptized both children and adults indiscriminately showing no preference insofar as age was concerned. They simply understood Baptism as a new beginning, when God claimed a person as God’s own. As a new creation, the sin of the newly baptized child of God was washed away. In short, baptism was the act by which God graciously made the first step in redeeming a sinful human being. In the late fourth century, the practice of the Church had changed so that infants were baptized. Two reasons are suggested, one practical and the other, theological. Practically, with the spread of Christianity to the known world, the Church’s numbers increased by births as well as by conversions. Children of Christian parents were baptized. Theologically, the Church became more conscious of God’s gracious act in baptism. God took the initiative and made the first move toward the redemption of a sinful humanity. God graciously did so even though we [as sinners] are without merit. The baptism of an infant came to be understood as the perfect illustration of God's grace as he declared this infant to be his beloved child. Today, nothing has changed. God has given us an identity. Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we are beloved children of God; not because we deserve such a status, but because God is gracious. Praise be to God! In Christ ☩ Pastor Steve
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