Message of the Day – A Cross and a Baptism

Continuing on our series of crosses sculpted by Dominic Zinanni for the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake is this Palm Sunday one.

But, as you can imagine, that wasn’t all there was at church.

Ryan Dunn, the newly certified Youth Minister, who studied at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, gave the sermon after his and Gina’s son Braden Miller was baptized by Pastor Heath.

At the end of his sermon, Ryan read a letter he had written to his son:

Dear Braden,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (I borrowed that from someone else.)

It’s cost out here in the world, eh? That won’t be your last disappointment.

On Sunday, March 16, 2006, you celebrate you baptism. Welcome to the Kingdom of God.

It isn’t the only kingdom. It’s one of many kingdoms you’ll live in. But it’s the best.

It’s the only kingdom that lasts.

But the Kingdom of God is never a finished reality—it’s a promise.

Welcome to the Kingdom.

Peace lives in this Kingdom.

Love rules this Kingdom.

In the Kingdom of God, you’ll never be alone…even when Mommy and Daddy aren’t there.

In the Kingdom of God, you’re rich when you realize you have what you need.

In the Kingdom of God, you’re happiest when you realize you don’t have anything to rule.

Welcome to the Kingdom.

In the Kingdom of God, there are no monsters under your bed…God’s driven them all away.

In the Kingdom of God, your father is also your brother.

In the Kingdom of God, your father is also your brother.

In the Kingdom of God, the starving kid in Africa, the sweat-shop worker in the Far East, the rich kid in California, the orphan in the Ukraine—they’re all your brothers, too.

Welcome to the Kingdom.

In the Kingdom of God, your brothers and sisters are looking out for you…will you look out for them, too?

In the Kingdom of God, there’s always enough for everybody.

In the Kingdom of God, we share.

In the Kingdom of God, what’s mine is your’s (technically, ugh, I think that’s supposed to go for all of you, too…).

In the Kingdom of God, you won’t always get what you want, but you’ll always have what you need.

Welcome to the Kingdom.

In the Kingdom of God, you’re always welcomed…even when you’re naughty.

In the Kingdom of God, we welcome anyone else who’s been naughty, too.

Welcome to the Kingdom.

In the Kingdom of God, you are beautiful.

In the Kingdom of God, you are loved.

In the Kingdom of God, we hope for a better world…a world where there won’t be much to lament…

In the Kingdom of God, there is never anything false about hope…I stole that line, too…from a politician.

In the Kingdom of God, you’re a part of something bigger.

Welcome to the Kingdom.

Remember, you’re always loved in the kingdom.

Welcome to the Kingdom.

May you know that the key to the Kingdom is love. May you find that key. May you always seek to live in that Kingdom.

May God bless you.

= = = = =
All photos may be enlarged by clicking on them. In the bottom two, Pastor Darneather Heath does her walk down the center aisle after baptizing Branden Miller Ryan. Right after the second picture, the baby started crying. Pastor Health said that this wasn’t the only baby that she had made cry, which cracked up her daughter Tamara, who was on stage with the other singers.


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