Our confirmation retreat was this past weekend and it will be pretty difficult to tell you in this small space everything we did and learned. But let me at least try to talk about our 3 lessons.
Lesson 1: Journeying Together-
Our scripture reading came from Luke 24: 13-32 -The Walk to Emmaus . We broke down the scripture and talked about how this story is similar to the journey that we are making together in Confirmation. Confirmation is also a journey and God is with us during this journey. I believe and pray that just as the disciples had their eyes opended and were able to see Jesus, our eyes will be opened to who Jesus is and how God works and is present in our lives. As part of this lesson we did a blind-folded trust walk and lifeline exercise where the students had to do three things- 1. Follow the lifeline wherever it leads you, no matter how difficult, 2. Whatever you do, do not let go of the lifeline, not even for a second, and 3. Be careful. There may be obstacles along the path that you could trip over or run into. The lifeline in the exercise represented our relationship with God, and the obstacles, things that may get in the way of that relationship.
Questions- What is an obstacle that may get in your way of having a relationship with God? What can disconnect us from God? What do we need to do to stay close to God?
Lesson 2: Covenant-
What is a covenant? A special promise or agreement. The Bible is divided into two covenants-- the Old Testament (the one God made with the Hebrew people) and the New Testament (the one God made with us through Jesus).
In the Old Testament making a covenant was literally cutting a covenant-- taking a special animal, cutting into two and walking through it while making a promise to God (Jeremiah 34:18). In Genesis 17 we read about the covenant that God makes with Abraham, one that establishes a long line of descendants from a man and his wife who should not have been able to have children because of how old they were.
God establishes a new covenant for all who believe. That new covenant is Jesus. He sends his son to the cross to die for the sins of all people. In Hebrews 8:12 it says, "for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." By calling this covenant "new" he has made the first one obsolete and what is obsolete will soon disappear.
After this lesson, we spent time in small groups writing our covenant for the confirmation year. The students came up with some fabulous statements of commitment and it will be put together for them to review on Sunday.
Lesson 3: Faith-
Our Faith lesson came from Hebrews 11:1-3. We identified faith in 3 parts. The first part, trust, we identified as being built on events from past experiences. We build trust from having information of what has already happened or people who have already proven themselves. The second part, hope, we identified as being related to the future. We hope we get something for Christmas, we hope that someone gets well, and we hope we do well on a test. The last part, love, we identified as being related to the present. We love now. We show love now and receive love in the present. So "faith is being sure of what we hope for"; it's being able to trust that what we do not see is true and that God loves us enough to give us a hope of an everlasting life through the sacrifice of his son.
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