“Exposed and Beloved”

January 11, 2026

Matthew 3:13-17

Baptism of the Lord

Rev. Teer Hardy

The Gospel is not that we are less violent than we feared. It is that God does not abandon us when the truth about us is revealed. God meets us there. Claims us there. Names us there.

For those who have been baptized, remembering your baptism is not sentimentality. It is identity when exposure comes. When the headlines shatter our illusions. When fear tempts us to harden our hearts. When we realize how fragile love really is.

Your baptism says there is a deeper word spoken over you. One you did not earn. One you cannot undo.

And if you have not been baptized, hear this clearly. This is not a demand. God has already stepped into the water. Baptism is not the moment God begins to love you. It is the moment your life is publicly named as already belonging to God.

Baptism does not protect us from the world.

It prepares us for it.

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