© 2019 Chris Wood
© 2019 International Urantia Association (IUA)
This summer, the European Continental Conference will be hosted by the Estonian Association in Tallinn. The theme of the conference is: “Sowing Seeds—Qualitative Internal and Quantitative External Growth” and the conference will focus on the relationship between the internal growth of the individual and our external growth in service.
In our local study group recently, we read about Jesus going to John for baptism. The Urantia Book explains that the people being baptized were not doing so as a sign that they are ready to enter into Faith, which is how we use the baptism ceremony today; rather, they were submitting to baptism on behalf of their people, hoping that if enough people submitted themselves to God’s will then the trials of their nation would end. It was in this spirit that Jesus submitted himself to baptism, as the Son of Man, as a representative of his people—all humanity and all mortals.
But Jesus of course had a second nature—the Son of God. As the Son of God, Jesus goes to the baptism as a representative of God’s commitment to all people. Abraham made a covenant with Melchizedek, that man would have faith and God would do the rest. Jesus goes to the baptism as a symbol of this commitment. Whatever actions we do as a sincere symbol of our faith, God will meet us there. If that means going to the river for baptism, God will meet us there—just as Jesus did. If that is to sit in daily meditation, God will meet us there as well. Or dancing in the aisles of a church. Or servicing with a charity. Or praising God in nature. No matter what way we choose to express our faith, if we are sincere, God will meet us there.
The catch here is that we do not all express our faith in the same way—what is a sincere expression for one person may not have the same outcome for another. We must each find our own method of communicating with God and be ready for those methods to change and evolve over time.
These are a few ideas about Internal Growth of the Individual. If you would like to discuss these ideas, introduce a few more, and explore how they relate to External Service, then I hope you can join us in Tallinn, Estonia in July. (See our Events Calendar for more details at: https://urantia-association.org/events-list/.)
In service,
Chris Wood
President