Sunday, April 19, 2009
1st John 1:1-2:2
Senior Pastor
Three times in the first three verses this author says: We declare, we declare, we declare. He wants his community of people to be clear about what he is teaching and what they stand on as a community in terms of key beliefs. That was important in the early Christian community and it is important now.
He highlights the belief in eternal life and uses the image of God as light. He extends that metaphor to ask: Are you walking in the darkness or light? Do you have fellowship with God through Christ, are you walking in his way, in his light? If so, then you have fellowship with God and Christ and therefore fellowship with others who follow Christ as forgiven sinners.
It is important to know what you believe, to know what we declare to be central truths of our faith. As United Methodists we affirm that it is important to intentionally help our young people study and learn about those central beliefs and practices of the Christian faith and life. That is what our Confirmation experience is all about. The young people you will see standing before you, in a few moments, have been meeting weekly to learn about those central truths.
In a few moments we will have them declare those in a
liturgical way. We will read a creed or
affirmation of faith that they constructed out of their studies. But a couple of weeks ago, when I was
teaching them for the last time, I asked if any of them would be willing to
come and share a personal perspective on their confirmation experience. Jacob Klamm and Bates Enmeier have agreed to
do so. I really appreciate Kevin Klamm
and Martie Olyer, our Confirmation Co-Coordinators as well and I think Kevin is
going to come say a word for them.
Jacob let’s start with you: Tell me something you remember from your
Confirmation studies:
I enjoyed learning about the
history of the church and the timeline of our Christian Heritage.
One interesting fact I recall was that during the Civil War, the Methodist
church divided into a north and a south church. One thing that spoke to
me was Rev. Susan's painting that showed three people at a table- representing
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. There is an empty
chair for all of us at the table. This reminds us that the Methodist
church is welcoming.
Bates you told me you enjoyed
studying about the founder of Methodism:
What is his name and tell us some of the things you learned about him?
John Wesley – remember how he was
real religious and how he helped people with their religion and sent people to
the US to help here too.
Now you also got to take some trips
this year. Bates tell us about what you
liked best about the retreat at Canyon Camp.
When we did the Ropes Course – we
had to work together / it was really hard… We learned to trust each other.
Jacob tell us about your interfaith
trip to Oklahoma City.
One experience that I thoroughly
enjoyed was our outing to OKC to visit the Islamic mosque and the Vedic temple.
I learned that Vedics believe in order to talk to God, one has to use a
physical object to communicate through. They used a cell phone to
demonstrate this- you are not talking to the cell phone but to the person on
the other end. Idols are not worshipped. Vedics believe that
each idol represents a different aspect of your life, such as financial,
emotional, or family.
At the Islamic temple, I learned
that they pray 5 times a day: sunup, mid morning, noon, mid afternoon, and sun
down. Islam always face East to pray- facing Mecca. For Islams, it
is important to make at least one pilgrimage during your life to Mecca.
This is called the Haji.
Wow, you guys have covered a lot of
ground this year. Kevin as one of the
Coordinators what would you highlight from your perspective?
FUMC Confirmation used a curriculum called "Claim the Name." The Curriculum includes 39 lessons which the students covered in 32 weeks. We began the middle of September and our last lesson was Easter Sunday. At the Fall and Spring retreats some of the lessons were bundled together for a more focused experience. (A concentrated learning experience). The goal has been for the cofirmands to be introduced to a full range of what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be Methodist, and to be able to say "I claim the name" or I believe in Jesus and I am ready to be a member of FUMC.
Today is both an ending and a beginning. It is the ending to a very involved learning process. There is a sense of accomplishment and indeed a lot has been accomplished. We have climbed a mountain and are here to say "yes, we did it". Wesley writes and Methodists believe in the idea of sanctification- that is God is working in our lives to bring us closer to him and we should be trying to always bring ourselves into a closer relationship with God. Today is a beginning, one major step in each confirmand’s faith journey. The challenge is to keep going. To keep building relationship with God- there is more mountain climbing still to do.
As you can hear these confirmands are beginning to internalize the Christian faith for themselves. The confirmation experience is an important step in helping them do just that. The neat thing is, as they do so, we all come into greater fellowship as the author of 1st John says. We come into greater fellowship with Christ and therefore with each other.
It has been a long time since I went through confirmation at First Methodist in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, with Reverend Bill Smith as my teacher and leader. But I still remember some of the games we played and some of the songs we sang. I remember the feeling of challenge and responsibility that he offered us – perhaps, most of all I learned of the importance of being a part of a community of faith. I understood that those who were older cared about me in a deep and sincere manner and wanted the very best for me and were giving me this wonderful opportunity to claim that for myself.
Reverend Smith and others were models of walking in the
light and helping me to join in and therefore have fellowship with God through
Christ and a great family of followers.
It was just as this author says, when that happens, there is great
joy. Today is a day of joy as we
celebrate these young people joining us on this fantastic journey as disciples
of Jesus Christ! May we all continue to
walk in the light!
1st
John 1:1 – 2:2
Three times in the first three verses…: We
______________,
He highlights the belief in eternal life and uses the
image
of God as __________.
It is important to know what you believe, to know what we
declare to be central truths of ______ faith.
I asked if any of them would be willing to come and share
a
________________ perspective on their confirmation experience.
…most of all I learned of the importance of being a part
of a
__________________ of faith.
Today is a day of ______ as we celebrate these young people
joining us on this fantastic journey as disciples of Jesus Christ!