Confirmation

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Today the pieces to the confirmation puzzle are put together. What is confirmation? The American Heritage® Dictionary defines confirmation as "A Christian rite admitting a baptized person to full membership in a church1." Confirmation provides our youth the opportunity to learn more about their faith, what they believe, and their commitment as a member of the church. It does not mean that once they complete confirmation that they will never be seen again. Confirmation is not the end it is the beginning. In the Book of Order, section G.50101 we are given the meaning of membership:
The incarnation of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives to the church not only its mission but also its understanding of membership. One becomes an active member of the church through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and acceptance of his Lordship in all of life. Baptism and a public profession of faith in Jesus as Lord are the visible signs of entrance into the active membership of the church.

People view "membership" in different ways. Pastor Jim Bonewald at Knox Presbyterian Church wrote an interesting article about "membership." In the article he admits that the views he expresses may be over-generalized. Even if the definitions are over-generalized it is important for us to realize that different people have different views. He breaks down the views into three categories2:

• "For those who are retirement age and beyond membership in the church clearly implies commitment and responsibility. Contributing to the life of the church is important because, in a sense, it’s what one is supposed to do as a good and responsible member of society.
• For those who are baby boomers membership in the church is strictly voluntary. Similar to joining a health club, one joins a church because of the benefits it provides. Volunteering time, energy, and effort to the church is important because of what one gains by doing so.
• For those who are Gen Xers (my age) and younger the word "membership" doesn’t even enter the picture. The question one asks is, "Do I belong to this group or community?" If one has a sense of belonging to the group then they will commit themselves with what it takes to be with that group."

As I read that article I realized that each of the confirmands here today is here because they have that sense of belonging and as they present their "Statements of Faith" you will see that too. During class we talked about four primary practices for members that are ways of fulfilling the guidelines stated in the Book of Order, section G-5.0102, entitled "Membership as Ministry" which says:

A faithful member accepts Christ's call to be involved responsibly in the ministry of his Church. Such involvement includes:

• proclaiming the good news,
• taking part in the common life and worship of a particular church,
• praying and studying Scripture and the faith of the Christian Church,
• supporting the work of the church through the giving of money, time, and talents,
• participating in the governing responsibilities of the church,
• demonstrating a new quality of life within and through the church,
• responding to God's activity in the world through service to others,
• living responsibly in the personal, family, vocational, political, cultural, and social relationships of life, working in the world for peace, justice, freedom, and human fulfillment.

The four primary practices for membership that we talked about are:
1) Worship: attendance in worship.
This would be regular attendance (over 50 percent of the services)
2) Fellowship: participation in a small group fellowship.
This can be any form of small group, such as Lunch Bunch or Bible study, but is considered primarily to mean a group of members who gather together regularly (around twice a month) for friendship, study, and prayer.
3) Growth: spiritual development in an accountability group.
This means covenanting with two to three other persons of the same gender to share with one another how things are going in their spiritual life and to share guidance in prayer for one another.
4) Service: involvement in active service to others.

This simply means being involved in something that is for the benefit of others, such as serving the homeless, teaching the Bible, arranging activities for the elderly, singing in choir, or being an intercessor in prayer.

These four primary practices are in line with the spirit of the Bible, our confessions, and the Book of Order and they are clear, simple, Biblical, and reasonable expectations. The look on their faces when we first started to discuss these practices was one of "how do we do that?" As we discussed them further they discovered that they are already doing each of them.

We spent nine months preparing for the discussion about membership. During that time the confirmands went on a "Journey To Discipleship." The first thing I told them was that they were about to start a lifelong journey of learning and that the decision to continue was theirs. As we began this journey they discovered that the church was much more than a building and that the Bible is not as boring as they thought it was. They also learned about the Reformation, Presbyterianism, worship, the Sacraments, prayer, and how we can serve Jesus Christ. They also got to see some of the history of Hus Church. We looked at the original pulpit Bible and when we discussed the Sacraments they got to see Reverend Pauk’s Army Field Communion kit from World War II. In addition to class they were required to take notes for at least two sermons a month, participate in a small group, which was Sunday school, youth group, or both, and they had to be involved in actively serving others.

To say they were overwhelmed with information would be an understatement. If I had to pick two things that I wanted these young people to remember about this year what would they be? The first thing that I want them to remember and never forget is that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior and that it is through proclaiming this that they will have eternal life with Him. The second thing is that they are now active members of this congregation. All of the things that we covered will serve to help build their foundation as Christians. We talked about how this is a lifelong journey and how Sunday worship, Sunday school, youth group, fellowshipping with other Christians, reading their Bibles along with many other things will be part continuing to build that foundation.

In today’s scripture from Colossians Paul wrote, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

The confirmands have learned that life is better with Christ. God chose each of them and all of us to be His children and all we need to do to receive the blessings that He has for us is to believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.

In Galatians 6:14-18 Paul wrote:
14As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. 15It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. 16May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.

Today we celebrate the hope in the future that we are given by Adam, Karissa, and Marissa. Today they will tell us in their own words about proclaiming Christ, living life united in Christ, celebrating God’s love, living and growing in Word and Spirit, serving faithfully in Christ’s name, and submitting their resources to the reign of God. I know each of them is nervous. I also know that they will do a great job as they complete the confirmation puzzle by publicly proclaiming their faith in God.


1 The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
2 From the Pastor by Pastor Jim Bonewald, Knox News Volume 5 May, 2007, a monthly publication of Knox Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA.

WWJD

Youth Group 5/9/2007

WWJD, What Would Jesus Do, was a popular slogan a few years ago, but it has lost most of it's punch. What are some other sayings that you can get from WWJD?

• We want jelly donuts
• What would Jared do (from Subway)
• What would Jerry do (in reference to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones)
• What Would Jesus Drive
• What do you think Jesus would have driven?

Give everyone a "What Would Jesus Drive" handout, taken from [www.highrock.com/personal/WWJD/]

It is easy to ask, "What would Jesus do?" when we get into different situations. The question that we should ask ourselves before we get into those situations is "What would Jesus have us do?"

2 Timothy 4:1-8 (NCV)
1I give you a command in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, the One who will judge the living and the dead, and by his coming and his kingdom: 2Preach the Good News. Be ready at all times, and tell people what they need to do. Tell them when they are wrong. Encourage them with great patience and careful teaching, 3because the time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching but will find many more teachers who please them by saying the things they want to hear. 4They will stop listening to the truth and will begin to follow false stories. 5But you should control yourself at all times, accept troubles, do the work of telling the Good News, and complete all the duties of a servant of God. 6My life is being given as an offering to God, and the time has come for me to leave this life. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now, a crown is being held for me -- a crown for being right with God. The Lord, the judge who judges rightly, will give the crown to me on that day -- not only to me but to all those who have waited with love for him to come again.

In Paul's second letter to Timothy he is providing his young assistant with advice. In this passage from chapter 4 Paul tells Timothy to always be ready. Sounds like the Boy Scout motto which is "Be Prepared." He encourages Timothy to be open, honest, and patient with the people because there will come a time when they will not listen. Does this sound like any of your friends? We hear about people trashing Christians all the time. They do it in songs, movies, and television shows. Paul warns that when we are challenged or when we have problems that we need to keep our cool and continue to be God's servants.

The main theme through out the 2 Timothy is one of endurance. When we buy cars we hope that we are buying one that will last a long time. This is the wishful thinking that Coulter talked to the Bible study this morning. When it comes to being good servants for God there is no wishful thinking; we can be certain that when we meet the Lord that He will say to us, "Well done good and faithful servant."
Amen

As Life Speeds By … Slow Down A Little…

Sermon (5/6/2007)

Why is it that everyone seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere? Whenever I go somewhere I always leave early if I am not sure exactly how long it will take to get there. If I do know how long it will take I try to leave early anyway just in case. Yet all around me everyone seems to be in such a rush. This proves to be a great lesson time when the girls are with me since they just got their permits. Whenever I take Karissa to school it never fails that someone will be driving fast and usually with little regard to those around them. For example a few weeks ago when I took Karissa to school a young girl went speeding around us on Highway 30. When we took the off ramp to 6th Street, guess who we pulled up right behind? You guessed it, the same girl that had passed us. At the next intersection she flew through the yellow, no, make that red light and cut in front of several cars narrowly avoiding an accident. She managed to get several cars in front of us and was probably a mile ahead of us, that is, until the next stoplight. This time she was two cars in front of us. By the time we reached school she was only a few seconds ahead of us. I am sure she thought she had made great time getting to school, but the truth is she did not get there any faster than we did. Instead she broke a few traffic laws and risked getting ticketed. This seems to happen all the time. People are in such a hurry to get from one place to another. We seem to race through life without worrying about the consequences. What would have happened if that girl had gone through that red light just a few seconds later? More than likely she would have been in a terrible accident. Some days it scares me to see how people drive. It seems as if stop signs do not exist, speed limits are not for them, along with many other things. Why? To save a few minutes getting to where they are going? Galatians 6:7b says, "A man reaps what he sows." If you speed you could get a ticket, get into an accident, or both.

Most of us have raced somewhere because we were running behind and I would be willing to bet that each of us that has done this has worried about getting a ticket. How did we get behind on time?

• The baby spit up all over you
• Had to change the baby’s diaper
• The alarm didn’t go off or more likely we hit the snooze button one too many times
• Flat tire
• Lost the car keys
• Ran out of gas and yes, this one has happened to me but only because the gas gauge was broken
• Stayed up too late and forgot to set the alarm
• Forgot about the appointment
• Anyone have one they want to share?

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? (New Testament Scripture - Matthew 6:25-34)

Has anyone ever had this conversation? What do you want for supper? I don’t know, what do you want? I don’t know what do you want? I don’t care; I am just hunger, what about you? One of the things that I liked about last weekends 30 Hour Famine is that this conversation did not happen during it, well at least during it we did not have it, after the famine was a whole other story. Then it was I am so hungry. What do you want? I don’t know. Peanut butter and jelly? Yuck! Well, then what do you want? I don’t know, I am just hungry. At this point a couple of place are mentioned that are not acceptable and we get back to I am hungry, what are we eating? I guess that chunk of bread did not fill you up? No, I haven’t eaten for 30 hours! While it was irritating at the time, now it seems so funny that we even had that conversation.

Another conversation that is heard in many homes is, "Honey, what are you wearing today? I don’t know yet, what are you wearing? I have no idea, I have nothing to wear! What about that new outfit you bought? I don’t like the way it fits. Oh, well I am wearing a polo and slacks. How soon will you be ready? We have to be there in 20 minutes. I don’t know, I don’t have anything to where. Add this to the list of reasons why you are behind on time.

Has anyone wished they had more time in the day to get things done? I often have. Twenty-four is just not enough to get everything done and also get some sleep. The whiteboards in my office help by keeping me better organized, then there is the scheduler on my phone, and my Pocket PC, and my Outlook calendar on my computer, and the calendar hanging on the wall at home … wait, that is Diane’s way to keep track of things that I am always forgetting to write stuff on. Better put that on my phone, my Pocket PC, and my Outlook calendar to make sure I remember to write it down on the calendar at home. Yeah right, I am still going to forget.

We can get so worked up about everything that is going on in our lives that we forget to slow down and spend time with God. This rush around and worry attitude can lead to many different things such as not being able to sleep at night, not being able to concentrate, and even physical pain. I usually do not have any trouble sleeping. Concentrating can be a whole different thing. Things have a tendency to race through my mind at light speed and sometimes I wish I could just reach up and grab some of those thoughts so I would not forget them. Those thoughts seem to race by from the time I wake up in the morning until I go to sleep at night. I am sure that a lot of them are awesome but I just have some many going by that getting those awesome ones gets difficult. I have come to the conclusion that if it is important, I will think of it again. As for the pain that can come with worrying that is not just something I threw in to scare someone. I get these pains that start in my neck and shoot up to the top of my head. Sometimes these are so bad that I cringe. I have asked my doctor about it and she has told me over and over again that it is stress. I have tried different pain relievers and none of them do any good. God wants us to give our cares to Him. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."

Jesus asks the question in Matthew 6:27, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" I certainly can't. In fact I probably take off an hour by worrying about all the things that I have to get done. Why not slow down? There is a lot to gain by leaving a little earlier to get where you are going. I do not intend to be mean, but I love when someone speeds by and within a few blocks is setting next to me at the stoplight, better yet they got into the wrong lane and they are actually behind me. Will it be easy to slow down, not a chance. Sometimes this means we have to say no to things that we would really like to do. Every week there is something that I would love to do that has to do with doing youth ministry. Slowing down and actually saying no to some of these things is not the easiest thing for me to do, just ask Diane. She will tell you that I do not know how to say no. A couple weeks ago I went to a YoungLife Committee Fair. There were so many neat things that I could have gotten involved with. When I got home I was telling Diane about the meeting and she gave me the look. The one that says what did you agree to do this time. I told her that I signed up for the newsletter. I got the what else look. That is when I told her that I also signed up to pray for the ministry and that that was it. I think she was somewhat startled. I have learned that I cannot do everything. I have learned what "no" means and I am working on learning how to say it and actually do it. Until then I am relying on making lists and prioritizing the things that are on it. It has been great because I am finding some extra time which I have been using to pray and praise God.

It amazes me how some things can sum up a thought so well. The following is titled "Slow Down" by David L. Leatherwood and it hit the point perfectly.

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to rain slapping the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down,
don't dance so fast,
time is short, the music won't last.
Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask "How are you?",
do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed, with the next hundred chores running through your head?
You better slow down,
don't dance so fast
time is short, the music won't last.
Ever told your child,
we'll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not seen his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
let a good friendship die,
'cause you never had time to call and say "hi".
You better slow down,
don't dance so fast
time is short, the music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there,
When you worry and hurry though your day,
it is like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race,
so take it slower,
hear the music before the song is over.

Sometimes we just need to lay down in the grass, look up at the clouds and let our minds wonder. "Don’t Worry, Be Happy." Amen.

Slow Down!

May 2007 Youth Newsletter

Still In Shock

I am still in shock regarding the shootings yesterday at Virginia Tech. What drives someone to such violence? On the news last night we were reminded of the worst shootings in United States history both on and off school campuses. What, if anything, can be done to prevent this from happening again? Will we become jaded to these incidents and only when they are worse than the time before will we try to do something about it? I am sure that the Democrats and Republicans in Washington DC will agree that this was a trajedy, but is there anything that they can do about it?

My heart and prayers go out to everyone at Virginia Tech and to their families and friends as they try to make sense of this horrific shooting.

Because of Him ~ Terry

GodTube.com

GodTube.com

In the March 26, 2007 Newsweek there was a brief article under "BELIEFWATCH" about a Christian alternative to YouTube. Will it succeed? I have know idea, but it is an alternative to YouTube. What do you think?

Because of Him ~ Terry