Times of Refreshing Acts 3:11-21; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36-49

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God, our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we find times of refreshing.

Our message is based on our reading from Acts 3, especially verses 19 and 20: 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

It’s been said that April showers bring May flowers. Actually, the flowers by my house are up and growing fast.

Spring rains bring new life, the rain cleans things off and freshens things up… it turns the bleak brown and black of winter, into the green of spring, and the splendid colors of summer.

In Holy Baptism, the Holy Spirit does the same with our soul… He takes the bleakness of sin and guilt, washes it away, and colors our soul with His gifts.

In the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia, which is an analogy of the Gospel, based on the book by C.S. Lewis, the cold and snow and ice of winter, represent sin, death, the devil, and the corrupt and fallen world. 

On the other hand, where Aslan the Lion, who represents Christ, is, with his people and his army, there the snow has melted, and it’s spring and warm and green. 

In the movie, this is meant to represent the new life God gives.

The brown and bleak of winter, can be seen as an analogy for the bleakness of the human soul that’s tainted by sin… and more than tainted, devastated, ruined, and destroyed by sin.

In our Epistle, John gives us a frank assessment of a life of sin, and it’s not pretty, it’s bleak. He makes it clear that sin is not harmless and benign.

He says, 6 No one who abides in him [Christ] keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

John isn’t saying that, if we believe in Jesus, then we never sin… and if we sin, then we don’t really believe in Jesus.

This is talking about giving your life over to sin, being lost in it, in love with, obsessed with sinful ways and worldliness. 

That deep love of sin drives the Holy Spirit, and with Him, faith in Christ, out of us and away from us. 

Thanks be to God; He is greater than sin. 

His Son destroyed sin’s power to ruin us, by taking our sins upon Himself on the cross, punishing them by death, and rendering them incapable of causing our condemnation when we trust in Christ.

Sin is powerful indeed, but Jesus showed His mastery over sin in that He never sinned… and He showed His power to redeem, by taking our sin upon Himself, suffering our punishment, and winning our forgiveness.

And still, we sin. What’s the matter with us? 

As Paul says in Romans 7, Wretched man that I am. 

Sin is very resilient… but Jesus is far more resilient, so resilient that He bounced back from death... from dying for our sins… you can’t be any more resilient than that!

Entirely healed and glorious, refreshed and renewed, He rose, never again to suffer for the bleakness and guilt of our sin, but to give us the joy of His salvation. 

And to send His Holy Spirit to us, giving us the power to believe, and the power for our lives to be renewed and transformed.

There are things in this life that can renew and refresh us, give us a shot in the arm, so to speak, a boost. 

When Danielle and Riley’s baby girl is born, I suspect that will be quite the boost for her grandpa.

What a miracle, what a joy and gift God gives us in each child born, each one precious, and each life sacred, made in His own image.

But there’s a greater gift, a greater joy, and a greater life given, when a child is baptized, made a dear child of God.

Our Epistle says, See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

The NIV says, See what love the Father has lavished on us…

What extraordinary, saving, redeeming, renewing, refreshing love, our Heavenly Father has poured upon His dear, baptized daughter, Ella Grace Kellermann.

God’s love has come into her life and changed it dramatically… set her life on a new course, a different path. Ella’s life is now pointed in a Heavenward direction.

What extraordinary, life-giving, life-sustaining, life-enriching love, God has poured upon Ella, and on her brother, Levi, and her sisters, Kiera and Halley, and upon her parents, and grandparents, and sponsors, and her spiritual family, and many others.

Ella was baptized a few weeks ago so that her Grandpa Baumann, Grandpa Brent, could see it and rejoice. 

As she was baptized, angels in Heaven rejoiced for another soul rescued from sin and death, spared from a bleak ending, promised a joyful eternity, a Heavenly inheritance. 

And someday, Ella will see and embrace her Grandpa Arlo.

God has many eternal and glorious blessings in store for Ella, as she abides and grows in her Baptismal faith, and is raised in the Word and love and ways of the Lord… 

… and in fellowship with His Church, as her dear and close spiritual family.

Before you know it, Ella will be walking and trying to keep up with her big brother and sisters. May her and their walk always be with God.

The walk of life may go fast, looking back on it, but the troubles and struggles of life can slow it down, and at times, when we’re hurting badly, make it seem like a long, slow, unbearable walk.

In the midst of these trials and temptations, sin, the devil, and the fallen world would zap the life out of us, more specifically, the life of Christ out of us… 

They suck your soul dry, leave your life dried up and useless, and your heart hollow, and your soul, empty.

But when we walk with Christ by faith, He renews and refreshes us every day.

The Holy Spirit, through Holy Baptism, breathes new life, love, faith, hope, joy, peace, strength, courage, and every good thing into your soul, refreshing you with life-changing gifts from above.

Our Lord gives us much needed times of refreshing! 

Time spent with God, time spent worshipping and serving Him, time spent with His people, time spent in His Word, time spent at His altar, time in prayer, time in remembrance and celebration of your baptism, they are times of refreshing for you.

With your soul and mind refreshed and renewed, you can bring this refreshing, invigorating, rousing, uplifting, fortifying, empowering, life-giving, life-changing good news of Christ to others.

Time spent serving Him, time spent serving others in His name, is time well spent. 

May God keep you refreshed and renewed in your love and faith in Christ, in your dedication to Him and His Word, in your enthusiasm for His Church, and in your passion for the mission of His Church… to know Christ, and to make Him known.

Knowing His love, and refreshed by His grace, may you live in His peace, which passes understanding, and guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, who redeems, restores, refreshes and renews us. Amen.