Sneaking in???

On behalf of all the staff and members of St Philips I extend a warm welcome to our visitors today.Have you ever visited a brothel? I have. I was with my best mate, we were twenty years old, travelling in Germany and delightfully anonymous. We didn't have enough money to 'do anything' but we wanted to check it out.We did all sorts of stuff on that trip. Made some weird friends, slept in a cave, drank wine strained through a stocking, stole beer glasses from the Hofbrauhaus, got in a student riot in Paris, stayed with an artist in Ireland, nearly got killed in Rome and much more.For some people today, visiting a church is a bit like me visiting that brothel. It's about the last place you'd normally go,. You feel weird, like you should sneak in and, kind of, hope no one sees you. But on the other hand, there is a degree of curiousity about what goes on there.Today people mostly go to church for hatches, matches and dispatches. You know -baptisms, weddings and funerals. But these big three aren't what church is normally about. When we don't know what something is about we usually make it up. The press feeds such misperceptions incredibly effectively. I mean, many people are convinced we really are being totally overrun by boat people, the federal Labor Party have decided they do love each other after all and churches are full of hypocrites who dress up like women, call themselves Father and you'd better not leave your kids anywhere near them. Perceptions are powerful, whatever the truth.What is your perception of where you are today?Today we are going to baptise Katherine, Clare, Ryan, Kai and Ivy. Baptism simply means 'wash'. It's a symbol - a symbol of asking God to wash away the stains of this world and the bleak side of our human nature and replace them with his Spirit and forgiving love and eternal care. We can't do this for ourselves. It's completely other-worldly.  God has to do it for us and we have to really believe that what he promises he will do he will actually do.  It's a real request dads and mums are making of God on behalf of their children. It's serious business but it’s good business.Irrespective of the press the church gets, this church is full of good people who have had a real encounter with Jesus. For some, like me, it actually started at my baptism. And I was a baby offered to God by parents who didn't go to church and weren't sure what they believed.So this morning if anyone feels like they've snuck into a brothel and hopes no one saw them, relax, look around, take it in. There will be bits you don't understand, bits you don't want a bar of, but there will also be bits that are quite interesting, intriguing, maybe even compelling.Baptism is God saying he is for us, he loves us and wants us to be his friends. That's worth celebrating. Its my prayer that he speaks to every one of us in a way you uniquely understand, so please come out to morning tea after the service and explore a bit more. Blessings, Malcolm