In December, I was asked to preach a sermon on January 13 in Thai at Siloam Karen Baptist Church here in Chiang Mai. I decided to preach on the baptism of Jesus since the Sunday would be the first after Epiphany. I read the baptism accounts in the various gospels. I decided to preach on what it means to follow Jesus in baptism. I worked on an outline that included four points: being baptised in the ceremony of baptism, identifying with God's people, pleasing the Father, and being filled with the Spirit. The last two points were elaborated on by looking at Ephesians 5:15-22 where being filled with God's Spirit was evidenced by singing from the heart to the glory of Christ (vs.19), being thankful to the Father without ceasing (vs.20), and serving one another with humble hearths (vs.21). I added some illustrations from the lives of William Carey and Jesus. The whole process was not greatly different from what I might have done in an American church except . . . .

1) I had to practice preaching through the outline in Thai almost every day for a week and a half.
2) I had to make adjustments based on two translations: the Thai and the Karen.
3) I had to change complex sentences into simple ones in order to make my Thai understandable.
4) I had to preach knowing that in spite of preaching in Thai for years, this sermon would not be free from mispronounced words and improper sentence structures.

In the States I usually prayed over my sermons, but in Thailand I must do so even more. I thank God that when I preached the sermon this morning that I could see nods of understanding and agreement. I trust that God's Spirit will use this preached word to encourage Christians to follow Jesus more closely.