Renounce, Reject, Repent - February 16th and 23rd

"Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?"

This statement, from "Baptismal Covenant I" in the United Methodist Hymnal, is the first vow the confirmands will make if they choose to be confirmed.  Before they accept God's freedom and power and confess Jesus Christ as their Savior, they must reject those things that disrupt their realtionships with God, with the community of faith, and with all of God's children.

While words such as evil and wickedness certainly aren't new to confirmands, some younger adolescents might not recognize how these foreces are at work in the world around them.  It is easy to see evil in a heartless villain in a book for movie, but how is evil at work in our world, our communities, and our hearts?  Once we identify these evil and wicked foreces,  how do we reject and renounce them?  And what does it mean to repent of our sin?

We compared a wedding ceremony to confirmation.  Both involve vows and these vows must not be taken lightly.  Confirmation vows are very special promises that those being confirmed make to God and to God's people, particularly those people who make up our particular faith community or local church. 

re·nounce

/rɪˈnaʊns/  verb (used with object), re·nounced, re·nounc·ing.

1.

to give up or put aside voluntarily: to renounce worldly pleasures.

2.

to give up by formal declaration: to renounce a claim.

3.

to repudiate; disown: to renounce one's son.

 

re·ject

verb (used with object)

1.

to refuse to have, take, recognize, etc.: to reject the offer of a better job.

2.

to refuse to grant (a request, demand, etc.).

3.

to refuse to accept (someone or something); rebuff: The other children rejected him. The publisher rejected the author's latest novel.

4.

to discard as useless or unsatisfactory: The mind rejects painful memories.

5.

to cast out or eject; vomit.

 

re·pent 

verb (used without object)

1.

to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc. (often followed by of ): He repented after his thoughtless act.

2.

to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better; be penitent.

 

Christians affirm that evil and wickedness are present in the world.  But Christians also believe that God is always present and active and  is more powerful than evil.

 

Evil is the result of sin.  Because all people are sinful, we create structures and institutions that exploit individuls and groups, create and sustain poverty, and destroy God's creation.  Rejecting evil involves both resisting the temptation to do evil and resisting the temptation to encourage or participate in evil.  That is, we should strive to eliminate sin in our lives and we should also be careful not to support groups and institutions that are responsible for evil on a larger scale.

 

Obviously, we are not God, and we have trouble seeing the big picture.  We see poverty, starvation, terrorism, abuse, and murder; and we become overwhelmed.  It is tempting to say, "I'm too young to do anything about all this stuff."  sometimes, we even feel powerless to address evil in our homes and schools.

 

Our United Methodist tradition, and specificallyour confirmation vows, give us some help in responding to the forces of evil and wickedness.

Living a Holy Life- February 2nd and 9th

Following Christ requries more than one hour on Sundays; it is a way of life.  It means living a holy life, full of faith and good works made possible through God's sanctifying grace.

Through prevenient grace, God leads us to faith; through justifying grace, God assures us that we are forgiven and restored to God's favor; through sanctifying grace, God draws us toward Christian perfection.

Jesus said, in his sermon on the mount, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).  The Book of Hebrews tells Christians, "Therefore let us go on toward perfection," going beyond the assurance of justification and living a holy life in obedience to God.

Perfection is an intimidating word.  Some of the best pitchers in baseball history have never thrown a perfect game, and very few  high school students manage to get a perfect score on teh SAT.  Even those people who are the very best at what they do occasionally make mistakes.

Fortunately, Christian perfection is not about being flawless.  It is about being completely in tune with God's will.  John Wesley described perfection as being "habitually filled with the love of God and neighbor."   Through sanctifying grace, God changes our heart so that we desire to be like God.  As a result, that change motivates us to "go on toward perfection." 

The first Methodists were members of the Anglican Church who met in small-group class meetings that were focused on holiness.  The Methodists would gather in class meetings to pray, read Scripture, and hold one another accountable.  Class members would make a covenant with one another to avoid sinful behvior, to perform acts of charity, to participate in worship, and to grow in God's grace.  Those who failed to live up to the covenant were exptected to repent and, and with the help of their fellow class members, continue striving for perfection.

Wesley had three General Rules for those in the Methodist classes:  Do no harm, do good, and attend upon all the ordinances of God.  By obeying these simple rules, we grow in love of God and neighbor and become holy.

Sacraments - January 19th

I love it when one phrase really sticks with me for the upcoming week.  In Judy's discussion of the Sacraments, she stated that the Sacraments are unique ways in which we experience God's grace.   God is already present in Communion and Baptism.  It's like we just join in.  He is there waiting for us.  So much like the rest of our lives.  God is there, waiting for us!  Communion and Baptism are acts of God.  These are times when God ACTS.  Again, a big reminder, that our salvation is not up to us.  God has taken care of it!

Baptism-
If your student was here this past Sunday, ask them the following question?  (answer below)

What is your new last name once you are baptized? 

Even before Jesus, the Jews were practicing Baptism.  However, they were using water and Jesus baptizes us in the name of the Holy Spirit.  Read Mark 1:1-8. 

In the Hymnal on page 33, of the Baptismal Covenant, the pastor says the following:

Brothers and sisters in Christ:
Through the Sacrament of Baptism
we are initiated into Christ's holy Church.
We are incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation
and given new birth through water and the Spirit.
All this is God's gift, offered to us without price.

Notice all the action verbs:  Initiated, incorporated, mighty acts and new birth.  Baptism is a powerful process.   Something is amazing is actually happening!

When you are baptized as an infant, your parents take responsibility for your faith and when you are confirmed, you take responsibility for your faith. 

**answer to question above-When a child is presented, the parents state the first and middle name.  Baptism is the process by which the child enters into the Christian family.  So, your new last name becomes Christian.

Communion-
See page 12 of the Hymnal.  When you look at the order of the Service, notice that there is an Invitation, Confession and Pardon and The Peace (it goes on from there, but I will just talk about these today).  How amazing is it that Jesus Christ, himself, invites us to his table.  He meets us right where we are.  We don't have to do anything, but accept His invitation.  Once we step into His presence we are called to confess our sins and they are pardoned (or forgiven).  Then, what follows?  Peace.  Does it get any better than that?

Worship - January 5th and 12th

This is one of my favorite topics, and I am very passionate about worship and teaching children, from as early an age as possible, about worship.  I want to encourage you to worship as a family as often as possible.  Our lives are so busy and hectic that the opportunity to sit together for an hour as a family is cherished time.  I know that kids are not always excited to go to worship, but I encourage you to persevere.  We worship together as a family, and I confess that sometimes my kids are not fully participating in worship (unless you consider naptime a time of spiritual renewal).  However, we are together, and they are seeing their parents set aside time to offer their time, attention and devotion (all terms we talked about last week) to God and then preparing to love and serve God for the upcoming week.

What is Worship?

Definition of Worship:  reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power-also an act of expressing such reverence-form of religious practice with its creed and ritual-extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteeem.

The words that really stand out in the definition are reverence and extravagant respect.  I love the idea of loving and honoring God extravagantly.  For those who worship the Lord it is honoring God through our words, our prayers, our songs, our actions.  It is recognizing that we can have an encounter with the living God. 

People have worshiped God since the beginning of time.  Cain and Abel brought to the Lord their best.  Abraham built an altar to the Lord; Jacob set up stones to mark the place where he had an encounter with God; the Hebrews built a tabernacle for a place to worship the Lord; Solomon built a Temple; people gathered to honor and adore the One who had saved them from their enemies, the One who sustained them in times of trial and tribulation, the One who knew them intimately.  Jesus worshiped at a synagogue. 

Worship is "The Service" which means the work of the people.  We are not supposed to be spectators or a passive audience, but instead we gather to collectively realize the presence of God in Christ, and to respond together in adoration, in sung praises, in prayer, hearing His Word, and in the dedication of our lives.  Worship is the Christian community concentrating on God so that God's presence may overflow into the activies of our lives in the entire week to come. 

What does our Worship look like?

Our worship is built around the worship experience of Isaiah found in Isaiah 6:1-8.

We have many of these same elements in our worship:
The Gathering
Praise, Adoration & Thanksgiving
Confession
Assurance of Forgiveness
Hearing the Word
Responding to the Word
Going forth into the world to spread the Gospel


Seasons of the Church Year
Advent:  A time to hope and wait (purple)
Christmas:  A time of celebration and rejoicing (white, read and green)
Epiphany:  A time when we learn who Jesus really is (green, white and gold)
Lent:  A time to think about our lives and Jesus (purple)
Easter:  A time of celebrating the resurrection and new life (white)
Pentecost:  A time of receiving the Holy Spirit (red and green)

Hymns in the Church

*Chosen each week with great care to convey and reinforce the message of the day.
* John Wesley, founder of Methodism, felt singing hymns was crucial to the life of the church.  Check out Wesley's instructions for singing in the front of the Methodist Hymnal.
* Hymns point beyond themselves to a part of the Christian life.
*Composers, over many centures have written.  Look at the bottom of the each hymn to see who wrote it, scripture verse and the tune.
*Charles Wesley, John's brother, wrote over 7,000 humns and poems.

Remember that you are not the eaudience but the one who brings to God in that hour who you are, your trust and need for God and your praise of God.  You should leave resolved to go and be Christ's hands and feet, proclaiming the good News as you live your life day in and day out.