Intro: Have you ever struggled with a new concept wrestled to work it through in your own mind, until you reached a point where you felt able to share what you had discovered with others? If you are really lucky maybe years later you may have a moment where something happens that affirms that your idea was right. This is a picture of such a moment in my life. Does anyone have an idea of what this is a picture of? {I’ll tell you more about this picture later in the sermon}
A number of years ago, something started stirring in me. It was that, in most churches there was seen to be this strange differentiation/expectation that people seemed to have established between Pastors (paid staff) and the ‘normal’ church person (who paid those staff). But when I looked at scripture what I saw was that ‘the SAME Holy Spirit - lives in both of us/ calls both of us/ leads both of us and places us in specific churches/situations on purpose. And then I had this aha moment that has really changed how I have done ministry over the years. That emerged as I thought though what happens at a person’s baptism. This morning, I want us to look at the fact that Oil and Water do mix… and I hope this helps us understand better who we are as Jesus followers.
