Named Beloved, Sent to Witness
In this service of worship, we gather around a simple but life-shaping truth: before we are sent, before we are asked, before we prove anything—we are named beloved (Matthew 3:17).
Drawing from Acts 10:34–43 and Matthew 3:13–17, this message traces two moments of realization. At the Jordan River, Jesus steps into the water in solidarity with the people (Matthew 3:13–15), and before he teaches or heals, God’s voice names him: “This is my Son, the Beloved” (Matthew 3:17). In Acts, Peter finally sees what God has been doing all along—that God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34) and that the gospel moves forward not through control or exclusion, but through witness (Acts 10:39–43).
This sermon explores what it means to live between those two truths:
We are named beloved before we do anything (Matthew 3:17).
From that belovedness, we are sent—not as gatekeepers or experts, but as witnesses (Acts 10:39–42).
Witnesses tell what they have seen and heard. Witnesses don’t decide who belongs. Witnesses trust God to be God and allow grace to move where it will (Acts 10:43).
This is a word for anyone who has felt pressure to earn belonging, who wonders if they are enough, or who is listening for where God might be sending them next. It is also a word for the church, as we are called to live generously, welcome boldly, and bear witness to grace without partiality (Acts 10:34–36).
Grace and peace.
