This day in 1961 I was baptized into the very body of my beloved Lord and only saviour Jesus Christ and into his holy Christian Church for the forgiveness of all my sin, released for good from the power of all evil, death and the devil and to receive eternal life and blessed salvation at the Lutheran Church on the mission station Roodepoort by the hands of the pastor loci my dear father E.A.W.Weber. All this was a gift from the triune God, who did not regard my unworthiness and godlessness, but by his boundless grace and mercy took me as his own for ever. Nothing and nobody can tear me from his caring and merciful hands that were pierced for me on Golgotha, when he died for me too, so that I might live with him in blessed unity and peace now and forever. Hallelujah + My godfathers were my grandfather C.H.W. Weber and my two eldest uncles Karl Weber and Peter Ziegenhagen. I got their names plus that of my deceased grandfather Paul Ziegenhagen. Thank God with me and praise him for this most precious gift and means of grace and salvation his most holy sacrament of Baptism +
“Baptism unfolds a mighty, eschatological dynamic. As the enduring work of the Holy Spirit, it prevails even through one’s death and resurrection; it has an effect on the new person, as Luther characterizes it when discussing the resurrection of the flesh” (Albrecht Peters, 2012: Baptism & the Lord’s Supper, Pg.115)
Baptized into Your Name Most Holy
By: Johann J. Rambach
Baptized into your name most holy,
O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
I claim a place, though weak and lowly,
Among your seed, your chosen host.
Buried with Christ and dead to sin,
I have your Spirit now within.
My loving Father, here you take me
Hence forth to be your child and heir;
My faithful Savior, here you make me
The fruit of all your sorrows share;
O Holy Ghost, you comfort me
Though threatening clouds around I see.
O faithful God, you never fail me;
Your covenant surely will abide.
Let not eternal death assail me
Should I transgress it on my side!
Have mercy when I come defiled;
Forgive, lift up, restore your child.
All that I am and love most dearly,
Receive it all, O Lord, from me.
Oh, let me make my vows sincerely,
And help me your own child to be!
Let nothing that I am or own
Serve any will but yours alone.
Hymn # 224 from Lutheran Worship
Author: Kornelius Heinrich
Tune: O Dass Ich Tausend Zungen Hatte
1st Published in: 1734
Wilhelm's space 