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Proverbs 6.20-23                                                                                                                                   Zumbro LC Ministry Team

Psalm 4                                                                                                                                                   Easter 3B

1 John 3.1-7                                                                                                                                           Confirmation Sunday

Luke 24.36b-48                                                                                                                                      April 30. 2006

I Believe…*

Jonathan Davis:

We join in celebration this Sunday as our 9^th grade class is confirmed.  And it is on this day that each one comes before the congregation to affirm their own faith.  A faith that says “I believe in God the Father, I believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe in the Holy Spirit”.  As our confirmands profess this faith and take ownership of the promise from their baptism that they are God’s children, it should be understood that this is easier said than done.  Faith goes through times of joy, times of sorrow, times of anger, and times of apathy, or laziness.  In our sermon for today, you will hear the ministry team share with you six different ways they have carried and practiced their faith in their lives.

Eric Anspach-Hanson, intern pastor

I believe when nobody is watching me or checking to see if I believe anymore. 

For me, confirmation marked the ending of an old faith-life and the beginning of a new one.  Before confirmation graduation I was baptized as a baby without even knowing what was going on; I was then thrown into Sunday School and VBS completely against my will; I had the scriptures, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments practically shoved into my hands by my parents and by my confirmation teachers.  Before confirmation graduation, it seemed that everybody from my parents to my Sunday school teachers to my confirmation mentors seemed to think that it was their responsibility to make sure I knew who God was and what God had done for me.

            After confirmation graduation, things changed.  Sunday School became optional, not mandatory.  Fewer people asked me whether or not I had studied the Bible recently, or looked at the meanings of the Creed and the Ten Commandments.  I never went back to Vacation Bible School.  My faith was now my responsibility for the most part.  It was up to me to decide whether or not I would continue to strive to know Who God is and what God had done for me.  I had to believe when people stopped checking to see whether I believed or not. 

            I choose to continue believing in God’s love for me, and I choose to continue noticing His work in my life; and to this day, that choice has been the most life-changing, and life-forming choice that I have ever made, and that I will ever make.  To all of the confirmation students I give God thanks that you have been blessed with the opportunity to now choose for yourselves.     

Pastor Carol A. Solovitz

I believe when I am standing here in the doorway to the sanctuary. 

Every time I stand here before worship with the acolytes, lector and other ministers, I am filled with anticipation for a time of communion with God and each of you.  It is a reverent and joyous time when we follow the cross of Christ into the worship space, and it reminds me that Christ should always be leading me in my every step.  I love each part of the worship liturgy – even the offering – because it gives me a time of praise, meditation, education, prayer, confession and thanksgiving that brings me closer to God.  Even when I don’t feel much like worshiping (yes, pastors have their bad days, too) I always end up learning more about God and myself.  In addition, I usually become more understanding of the rest of God’s children and committed to thinking more about them than myself.

            In the same way, every time we follow the cross out of the worship space, I am reminded that I am called to be God’s hands and feet in this world.  I am called to bring the light of the world to people who live in darkness and despair.  As I step over the threshold and leave the safe sanctuary of the church, my faith is put to the test.  I have to trust that God is going with me and will not abandon me, especially when the going is toughest.  No matter what I endeavor, if it is in the name and service of Jesus, God will find ways to help that happen.  In my baptism, I am called into God’s family.  As a confirmed member of God’s family, I am called to be a servant to all of God’s children, to all of God’s creation.  The doors of the church open both in and out, and we all need to make a habit of going both in and out in order to strengthen our faith and belief in God.

Pastor Wayne Vogt

I believe when it is spring time.

            In the Springtime, when earth awakens from winter’s slumber, my heart soars with a youthful spirit.  It is one of those times when my faith is moved still deeper.  Flowers burst forth with fragrant and beautiful blossoms, and trees adorn themselves with beautiful veils of verdant.  And I’m reminded again of Jesus’ words concerning “God clothing the lilies of the field with great beauty… and how much he cares for them.”

            In that context, our Lord graciously tells us “not to be anxious about earthly things, because our Heavenly Father knows our every need and will provide for them.”  We are much more precious and beautiful in his sight than all the flowers of the field and the trees of the forest and how much he cares for us.  For it was from one of those trees--- in a forest far away from here… in another time… that humankind formed a roughly-hewn Cross.  Humankind meant that Cross for Hate and Death.  But God used it for Love and Life.

            Our great God of faithfulness and love willingly left the height of Heaven’s majesty… to bear the depths of earth’s humility… suffering death on that Cross through his Son, Jesus Christ.  Siimply because he loves you and me so much. But it doesn’t end there, on the dead wood of our Savior’s Cross.  No… like the gardens, the fields, and the forest in Springtime, Christ’s resurrection from the grave confirms the breadth of his love for us and new life … today and always.  Yesterday is behind us.  So how will we live this new life today and tomorrow?

Lisa Kipp, Director of Youth Ministry

I Believe… when I stop talking.

Last weekend as I watched my oldest son swing I decided to time how long he could go without talking.  He almost made it for 15 seconds one time.  I looked at his grandma, my mother, and her look said to me, “The acorn doesn’t fall too far from the tree, Lisa.”  Sometimes, when my husband and I are driving to the cities we’ll get to about Cannon Falls and he’ll look at me and finally say, “Are you done yet?”

            I like to talk.  Truthfully, I talk a lot, and so doesn’t it seem ironic that I’ve learned that, “I believe in God when I stop talking.”  I believe in God when I stop talking, because it is then that I finally slow done long enough to actually listen. 

            Believing in God is putting trust in your relationship – trust enough to be okay sitting in silence and letting His Holy Spirit fill you.  I can sit in my rocking chair in the early morning in silence and truly be at peace with my Lord.  When I sit there in silence and stop doing the talking and praying, I am able to hear the guidance that he is trying to tell me – figure out the way in which he intends for my life, for my day, to go. 

            We all know that a good friend is someone that can listen.  In response to the question, “Who is Jesus and what does he mean to me?” one of our confirmation students, Anna Connelly, wrote:  “He’s the greatest listener I’ve ever talked to and the greatest leader I’ve ever followed.  Believing in Him gives me a comfort that no one and nothing on earth can ever give me.”  She gets it, doesn’t she?  Jesus is a great listener, and if we are in a relationship with Him than we all know what we must do sometimes too – a good friend stops talking and starts listening.

Jonathan Davis, Coordinator of Middle School Ministry

I believe when I have nothing left to give. 

As you all know, there are times in a person’s life when the chaos of this life has drained out so much energy that there is nothing left to give.  God has given us the promise that we are His and that nothing can separate us from that.  And it is out of appreciation for that gift from God that I choose to pray or sit with God in my thoughts, or I enjoy serving a friend or the community of Rochester, or I simply smile as I enjoy the weather outside.  These are an expression of my faith.  However, there are times when I am tired.  I am tired physically and I am tired mentally, and I feel as though I cannot muster up the energy to pray, or to serve, or even to smile.  But like it says in our lesson from Proverbs, my faith is bound to my heart and tied around my neck and I know that I am God’s.  God understands our need for rest and rejuvenation.  He gives us the freedom to pause from our expression of faith and to rest from it, so that when we do express our faith, it has integrity and is expressed out of desire rather than obligation.  As we are pushed and pulled through our days, God knows what we are experiencing; He understands. And yet the promise remains that we are God’s and nothing can separate us from that, even though at times we have nothing to give in return. 

Pastor Gary E. Benson

I believe … It was all about this “Greek.”  As one who from age eleven had known he wanted to become a pastor, I also would become aware that learning NT Greek would not be an option during my college years.  Long story short, the first test let us say, didn’t meet my expectations; I can remember my reaction – I went back to the apartment where I lived with two other college classmates; I laid on the bed and prayed: “Lord, if being a pastor is still my direction, I need some encouragement—I need to do much better on the exams!” 

As with many area’s of life I would find out, God didn’t do the studying or the work; but also, God’s promise to “be near me always” meant there would be others to encourage, mentor, prod me along; and I would come to believe as scripture says, “All things work for good for those who love the Lord.” 

I didn’t see much (no) good in the result of that first Greek exam, but it set the standard/tone affirming time and time that believing, trusting, and “using our gifts of” intelligence, reason, and understanding – even when it means hard and diligent work will bring forward the blessings God desired for us.

            And so as we move through the tests, the challenges of life and faith, believe in the God who believes in you, and you will not simply survive, you will thrive to the glory of God.

Jonathan Davis:

The confirmation verse that this Confirmation class chose comes from Ephesians 5:15.  “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.”  As you have just heard six different accounts of faith, know that whether you were confirmed today or 20 years ago, or are still waiting to be confirmed, your faith will go through many experiences and changes, as will your life.  So yes, make the most of every opportunity, but do so as wise people carrying that faith and that promise with you wherever you may go.  AMEN