Pastoral Letter 246

Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,

Grace and peace to you all.

I hope you had a good start in the New Year, 2025. We are almost halfway through the month of January, with a quiet time and only gather for our Sunday Services till early February, when we resume our weekly programs and meetings.

But sadly, our hearts go out for the people of California whose lives have been tremendously affected by the ongoing California wildfires, which have ravaged entire neighbourhoods in the greater Los Angeles area. Because of fierce winds, multiple fires raged in Southern California have impacted thousands of families, including Armenian families, who have been forced to evacuate their homes and institutions. Unfortunately, one of the victims of these wildfires was Sahag Mesrob Armenian School of Pasadena which was completely destroyed. We also learned that many Armenian homes are also destroyed by fire. Thousands of Armenians living in Altadena, Pasadena, La Canada, Crescenta Valley and Northern Glendale have been forced to abandon their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. Although the intensity of these fires have been eased but the danger remains, and the situation is still uncertain. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters and the people in Southern California, by setting aside a special moment of concern and prayer during our worship tomorrow.

Last Sunday, on the first Sunday of the year, we welcomed the New Year with a special worship and were privileged to have with us musician Dorian West, the Son of Bruce and Ruth West. As you know Dorian is the Music Director of many TV Musical Shows, and we were grateful that he joined us with his music. He accompanied our singing with Mark and play a special musical piece for us during the Service. We express our heartfelt thanks to Dorian for his great music.

This Sunday we will look into the story of the Jesus’ Baptism by John the Baptist and reflect on the Voice that came from the heaven and hear the Voice of God and follow His instructions.

If you are not able to join us tomorrow, please light a candle and join us following the attached Orders of Services.

Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.

Here are some prayer points for this week:

1. Pray for the New Year and ask God to be with us in the year as we move forward.
2. Pray for the people of Southern California who have been greatly affected by the fierce fires.
3. Pray for people of Middle East and Armenia, as well as the region, where the situation is uncertain.
4. Pray for the displaced people, the homeless who need shelter.
5. Pray for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the struggling, the stressed and those who are less fortunate.
6. Pray for Brian, as he recovers from the procedure of implanting a Pacemaker in his chest.
7. Pray for our church and our future plans as we seek God’s guidance.

In Christ

Krikor

MESSAGE

The Voice form Heaven

Luke 3:21-22

In our Gospel reading we hear about two voices in the Judean desert. The first is that of the forerunner to the promised Messiah. His name was John: “A voice of one calling in the desert” (Luke 3:2). The second is the voice of God himself, confirming that Jesus is indeed that Messiah, the Saviour of the world: “A voice came from heaven: ’You are my son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased’” (22).

These are the voices we need to hear today.

Our God is a God who speaks. He tells us the good news of salvation found only in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The same God speaks today, to meet the same need, but now He speaks through the words recorded in Scripture as the Holy Spirit. We can see God’s revelation through His creation – the beautiful sun, the majestic mountains and the powerful oceans. But clearest of all is the voice that comes as we read the Bible and accept its message in humbleness of mind and spirit and by faith make it our own experience. With this attitude in mind let’s listen carefully to those voices at the River Jordan.

1. The Voice of the Prophet

John the Baptist has been described as the messenger of God. That was John’s role assigned by God. He was the immediate forerunner of the Messiah, opening up the way for the coming Christ. His mission was to tell us that he was “a man sent from God” (John 1:6) to give the word of God. His ministry was itself the fulfilment of a prophecy made by Isaiah (40:3-4). There hadn’t been a prophet in Israel for 400 years and in fact he was the last of the prophets. John didn’t call attention to himself; it was his mission that mattered. He knew he had a high calling because God had spoken to him and was speaking through him.

John was earnest in proclaiming His message; a good news quoting from Isaiah, “all mankind will see God’s salvation” (Luke 3:6) The people had false confidence in which they firmly believed that they had grown up with the assumption that since they were the descendants of Abraham, and therefore members of the chosen race, they were already in a right relationship with God. John cried: “Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’”(8). The Jews believed that they were God’s favourites. It’s true.

What did John have to say? First, there was:

A. A call of repentance

When John saw Jesus coming towards him, he introduced him to the crowd saying: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The people had to recognise that they had to turn away from evil ways and come to God as sinners needing forgiveness and Jesus is the way back to God through faith in His sacrifice as the Lamb of God. Many people do hear the voice of God and yet seem to fall away.

The second part of John the Baptist’s message was:

B. The call to baptise

Gentiles who wished to embrace the Jewish faith had to undergo certain initiation ceremonies, and the rite of baptism was one of them. Those who were already within the Israelite family didn’t need them. But here, John is preaching baptism to the Jews, placing them in the same category as Gentiles. This was a practical way of stressing that when it came to the essential relationship between God and man, not even being in a relation to Abraham was of any benefit. It was life not lineage that was God’s standard of measurement!

It wasn’t sufficient to repent and be baptised and be the same as you were before. Real repentance has as much to do with the future as with the past. It includes the sincere decision to change our ways. Luke records how specific groups of people asked John how this life of repentance applied to them. His answers were clear that the message of the Gospel has to work its way through all of life’s experiences.

2. The Voice of God

John had two main things to do – to prepare the way for Jesus and then to get out of the way! John became a public figure as the prophetic herald of the Messiah. He said that he wasn’t the Christ but rather, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ’Make straight the way of the Lord’” (John 1:23). This may have been the sign that Jesus was waiting for. He had lived for thirty years but now His day had come. There was now a great movement towards God with the crowds flocking to John in repentance of sin. The hour had struck for Jesus. It wasn’t that He was conscious of sin and the need for repentance. He knew that now, He too, must identify Himself with this movement towards God.

John back stepped when Jesus came to him to be baptised. Matthew tells us that “John tried to deter him, saying, ’I need to be baptised by you, but do you come to me?’” But Jesus wasn’t to be put off. He told John, “Let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness” (3:13). In submitting to baptism Jesus is declaring His identity with the people in their search for God. He certainly didn’t need to be baptised for He had no sin but did so to identify himself with sinful man.

The climax of the story is the moment when God speaks. The Gospel writer tells us what happened. “When Jesus had been baptised (there came) a voice from heaven.” It was God’s declaration concerning Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (3:22). The Voice of God to Jesus is in vivid contrast to the Voice of the Prophet to the people. Their baptism was an admission of need, but God declared Jesus as the Saviour of the world.

John is one of the world’s supremely effective preachers. There’s a story told of a great preacher being congratulated on a sermon. “Yes” he said, “but what did it do?“

What will this account of the Voices by the River do for each of us?

Is it calling us to abandon some cherished stumbling block preventing us coming to a real faith in Christ?

Is it prompting us to some action necessary to living a life worthy of the Christian calling?

Just as the people came to John to ask what they must do; we too must come to God and test ourselves by the scriptures and let the Holy Spirit reveal to us what to do.

Let’s resolve to live more meaningfully, but not to try to do it in our own strength. The key to success is to hear the Voice of God that comes from Heaven and to follow His instructions.

Amen!