Confirmation Sunday 10:30am

The confirmation would not be a graduation, what would be a launching point for you in your Christian journey. Because I'm here to tell you, there is a lot of things that oppose your growth and your faith in Jesus. The devil would like nothing better than for you not to attend church, for you not to receive the Lord's Supper on a regular basis. For you not to hear God's word and gather together with his people. To be reminded of the forgiveness you have in Jesus. [00:30:52] (30 seconds)  #ConfirmationLaunch

So what does it mean to be a disciple? It means to be baptized. In the name of the father, son, and the holy spirit. To have the water combined with god's word applied to your heart and life. To become a child of god. And it means to be devoted to the teaching. It goes together, hand in glove, the baptism and the teaching, that those two are not to be separated from one another. [00:27:04] (31 seconds)  #BaptismAndDiscipleship

Why do we do the right of confirmation? It's an opportunity for the kids to publicly declare their belief in Jesus Christ. One of the first questions I'm gonna ask them is that they do they believe that all the gifts that god gave them in their baptism that they've received them? That it's true. Confirmation is called confirmation because you're confirming that the faith that was given to them and what was spoken over them in the waters of baptism is theirs. You're confirming that they believe it themselves. [00:27:35] (35 seconds)  #ConfirmYourFaith

What's the most important thing? Your faith in Jesus Christ and growing in him. That's the thing that's the most important. Other things compete for our attention. They compete for our allegiance to Jesus, and we wanna make sure that we keep the main thing the main thing. It's gonna be all kinds of things. Family, jobs, all kinds of commitments that distract us from being centered in the forgiveness in Jesus. [00:32:20] (36 seconds)  #KeepFaithFirst

Someone who is continuing to learn and to grow in God's word. Jesus gives some more definition for that. Some people like to call a disciple an apprentice. Someone who follows Jesus and learns about him and with him. But Jesus gives some further definition. We'll make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I'm with you, be with you always, even to the very end of the age. [00:26:33] (31 seconds)  #MakeDisciples

They needed to know the content of what they were baptized into. Who is god the father? Who is Jesus? Who is the holy spirit? Who has been what is their role in our lives in creating the world and redeeming them and sanctifying them for the life to come? And then I'm going to ask him some other questions. Do you hold that all the prophetic apostolic scriptures or the inspired word of God? Do you believe that the Bible is true? And that that's where we get the content of our faith. [00:29:21] (31 seconds)  #KnowYourFaith

Well, I'm here to tell you, it's in second Hezekiah. You can look it up later. And for those of who don't know, second Hezekiah is not the Bible. But what is confirmation and why do we do it anyhow? Why do we even have this right of confirmation? Well, it goes really hand in glove with the great commission. Jesus is meeting with his disciples. [00:25:47] (27 seconds)  #ConfirmationAndMission

I'm gonna ask if they renounce the devil, if renounce all of his works and all of his ways, and so answers by saying, yes. I renounce them. Why are we doing that? Well, for good reason. Because the enemy opposes their growth in Christ's Paul talks about it in the epistle lesson. That there's spiritual warfare that is going on that opposes their growth and their connection in Christ. [00:28:31] (31 seconds)  #RenounceEvil