My Beloved - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

You are a daughter of God, in you, God is well pleased. You are a son of God, in you, God is well pleased. And I have heard this and I have come to believe it and it has changed the way I understand my whole relationship with God, to understand that I'm not trying to become a beloved child of God. I am beloved. I am God's son. And this is a part of my core identity and is meant to be a part of all of our core identities. This has been the end, the climax of a lot of the sermons that I've preached, not just here but throughout my, preaching career, to remind you all, to remind us all of our belovedness. Because I've always thought I need to remember it, first of all. But secondly, I'm kind of a restless person. And I keep thinking, well, if I just believe in my belovedness, it'll give me some peace. If I can just find a home in my belovedness and God's loving me unconditionally, then I will maybe be a little bit less restless. Maybe I'll be a little bit more peaceful and calm and things will get easier for me. That's my hope for me. And that's my hope for you. But then I read the text today and you'll notice that Jesus is baptized. And he comes out of the water, and the sky cracks open, and the Holy Spirit lights upon him like a dove, and God says, this is my son, you are my son, my beloved, and in you, I am well pleased. And then it says, and immediately, the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. Well, crap.