Today is our Confirmation Day at Christ Lutheran Church. This is one of the most joyous days of the year.
In Matthew Jesus declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
Confirmation is not commanded in the Bible but everything we do in Confirmation is. Jesus directed that disciples should be made by baptizing and teaching. When their parents brought these young people to God in Holy Baptism, they were doing what Jesus had directed.
When they brought their children to be instructed in the teachings of the Bible, they were doing what Jesus instructed. Jesus had not said, “Teach them the very minimum to get by.” He said to teach them “all that I have commanded.” Confirmation instruction is part of fulfilling Jesus’ words.
Jesus said: “Whoever confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father in heaven. But he that denies me before men, I will deny him before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33). Jesus does not expect that we will keep our faith a secret. Confirmation gives us the opportunity to confess Jesus publicly.
In part, Confirmation is the occasion for each of these young people to stand before God’s altar and declare that Jesus is “the way, and the truth, and the life.” And that they would suffer all, even death rather than fall away from Him.
May God keep each of these His children in His loving care. Pray that they would be faithful unto death and so receive the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).
Prayer for the newly Confirmed:
Almighty and most merciful Father, in the waters of Holy Baptism You have united Your children in the suffering and death of Your Son Jesus Christ, cleansing them by His blood. Renew in them the gift of Your Holy Spirit that they may live in daily contrition and repentance with a faith that ever clings to their Savior. Deliver them from the power of Satan and preserve them from false and dangerous doctrines, that they may remain faithful in hearing Christ's Word and receiving His body and blood. By the Lord's Supper strengthen them to believe that no one can make satisfaction for sin but Christ alone. Enable them to find joy and comfort only in Him, learning from this Sacrament to love You and their neighbor and to bear the cross with patience and joy until the day of the resurrection of their bodies to life immortal; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Confirmation 2014
God’s richest blessings in Christ,Pastor Philip Quardokus
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