Confirmation : Intro to the Law!

Long time no see...where did October go!?! Well anyway, Happy November!

In Confirmation, we have began our unit on The Law and The Ten Commandments.  We will continue with this unit for several weeks. This past week in Confirmation we discussed what the purpose and uses for The Law is. What did God gift us the law? How do we today, as Christians, use the Law? Why do we need it.

We began answering these questions by looking at the Old Testament text found in Exodus 19 and 20. This is the story of Moses receiving The Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai from God to give to the people. Why did Israel need the Ten Commandments? Well, simply because God's people needed direction on how to love God and to love their Neighbors. Israel (and I think I can safely say we do this too) were putting things in front of God (people, idols, their trust etc)...this is not what God intended. God demands to be FIRST in our lives!

Martin Luther explains that there are two uses for The Law today...
1) to convict us of our sin and to remind us that we NEED JESUS! (None of us can follow all the commandments-we ALL fall short of the glory of God!)
2) to drive us , the sinner, towards the grace and mercy of Jesus!
We will continue to look at The Law and The decalogue (another name for the Ten Commandments) in the coming weeks!

Family Challenges!
1) Memorize the Ten Commandments in order. (look in the Small Catechism for help!)
2) Spend time thinking about and discussing how your family is doing at putting God first.

The Trinity!

This week in Confirmation we explored the complex, yet amazing, identity of our One God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit ( or Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer!). 


The Trinity is a hard doctrine to grasp-how can God be One, yet three persons (Three in One!)? Some like to think about it using water as an analogy...,vapor ice, and liquid...all are water just different forms just as Father, Son and Holy Spirit all are God yet all are separate. If that helps you to capture the complexity of it-wonderful ;) I would push you to think even harder though...think about these important Biblical understandings of the Trinity!

• We, as Christians, believe in ONE GOD! (Monotheistic)
• God exists in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). All are equal! All are God.
• Each person of the Trinity is in constant relationship with each other. The Trinity reminds us that our God is a God who created for relationship.
• The Trinity is a mysterious part of God.

How do you see the Trinity in the world today?! How about in worship? I pray you continue to talk about the Trinity as home. Struggle with it, and continue to think about ways you see God at work:Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

Confirmation Week 3 God's Identity!

"I believe in God, The Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth". -1st Article of the Apostle's Creed. We say it every week in worship, but do we actually think about what we're saying!


We spent this week in Confirmation thinking about the question, "Who is God?... What does God look like? How do we address God by name? Does God the Creator have a gender? etc. How do we know who God is? 


Think of all the names we use for God that are Biblical-there are a lot of them! (Creator, Redeemer, Savior, The Almighty, Lord, The Holy One, The Son of Man, The Holy Spirit, Prince of Peace, Father, Comforter, Immanuel...and many, many more).


Think about the Biblical adjectives we use to describe God...all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing, omnipresent, transcendent, Perfect, Holy, Healing, etc...


God is bigger than we can imagine, and yet totally personal. Our One God spoke creation into existence (and still does!), and yet also is totally personal and knows the deepest longings of our hearts. That's incredible! 


As we continue to journey though the year we will continue to piece the question of "who God is" together. Ask hard questions and wrestle with these questions. God is big enough to handle any questions we have. For a reminder of how amazing our God is read Psalm 139. 


God's Peace to you and yours this week!

Week 2 Of Confirmation!

Small Groups and Martin Luther and the Small Catechism! 


We got into our small groups for the first time this week. 


Time was spent getting to know each other and creating a "Small Group Covenant".  Small groups covenants were created so that each group has a list of "norms/expectations" they can hold each other accountable to. The word "covenant" is a biblical word that we often translate to "promise". God makes several covenants with God's people throughout the Biblical story. God makes covenants with Abraham, Noah, Moses, and DAvid-and God makes promises to us through Jesus Christ, in our baptism and each time we partake in the Lord's Supper. God ALWAYS keeps his promises he makes to us.  We as broken and fallen people strive in faith to keep the covenants we make with each other. 


Time was also spent this week talking about Martin Luther and the Small Catechism. We will continue this conversation all year. However, here is a quick review of some of the martial covered. 


Martin Luther did his most notable writing and work in the 1500's. He lived in Germany. 


Martin Luther was a Catholic Monk, he was concerned that some of the work of the Church at the time did not reflect the Holy Scripture. He felt the church needed to reform. His (and other reformers) work led to what we know as the "Protestant Reformation". 


A catechism is a collection of church doctrinal writings. There are many catechisms written by many different people. We however, are going to focus on Luther's Small Catechism. This catechism was written by Luther for everyday people. Luther took what he felt to be the most important parts of our faith and doctrine, put it in one place, so all people could learn it and memorize it. Luther felt that faith was best learned in the home, around the dinner table, by parents. (I think Martin Luther was right!) :) Check out the link below for an online version of our Confessions. Included in our Lutheran Confession is the Small Catechism. (Also, ask any Confirmation student where the Small Catechism is their Lutheran Handbook...they SHOULD be able to show you!) 


http://BookofConcord.org/index.php





Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy what seems to be finally the start of the fall weather! See many of you at the Fall Kick Off Dance TONIGHT at SA! 
God's Peace,  Jen

Week 1 Of Confirmation!

It was great to see everyone on Wednesday (guides and youth alike!). The kids spent some time playing some games, mixing up and getting to know each other, and brushing up on their skill of looking passages up in their Bibles. During this same time the small group guides went to a fast and furious training. 


What an awesome group of adults who have answered God's call to "welcome the child". On that note...we still need more guides at all times and locations! If you, or someone you know, have this call (and I know you do) let us know as soon as you can-we would LOVE to have you!


Next Wednesday we will be "getting to know Martin Luther's Small Catechism" and getting into small groups. See you then! Have a Blessed Weekend


Peace, Jen

Welcome to Confirmation!

Hey Everyone,
Welcome to the St. Andrew Lutheran Church 7/8th grade Confirmation blog! We had our orientation last night, so if you missed it be sure to stop by church or send us an email to get caught up and registered! 


This blog will be a place families, youth, and small group guides can go for some deeper thoughts on the topic of the week as well as some other surprises that come up! Check back regularly for updates :) 


Have a great weekend, and see you all WEDNESDAY at CONFIRMATION!


God's Peace, Jen