Third Sunday of Easter

Sermon Text: Acts 2:38-39

Repent and be baptized for your forgiveness and the reception of the Holy Spirit. For those baptized as adults, you might remember turning away from sin to receive God’s grace in baptism. For those who were baptized as children, you probably don’t remember. Likely, you never vocalized repentance because you were incapable of doing so. So then, what happened in your baptism? You received the grace of God because God’s grace in Christ is for sinners. We were separated from God since conception (having original sin), therefore Christ’s forgiveness and love is meant for us. Receiving it is not based on our intellect nor knowledge but faith. The Holy Spirit creates faith in us apart from our intellect, so we have nothing to fear about not being smart or knowledgeable enough for salvation. We can trust (“have faith”) Christ will forgive us our sins through his Word and baptism.