Renounce, Reject, Repent - Feb. 24, 2013

What is a vow?  A promise one makes.  In confirmation we make a vow to enter into a new relationship with the church in the presence of God and the church family.
On page 34 of The United Methodist Hymnal are the Confirmation vows.  The first vow is this:

On behalf of the whole church, I ask you:
Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?

We talk about these vows so that the confirmation students know what it is they are promising to do when they get confirmed. 

What is wickedness and evil?  What actions or events come to mind when you hear these words?  What makes something wicked or evil?  Have you ever seen or heard of wickedness or evil in your community or school?

~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 situations that bring evil into the world.  Rejecting evil involves both resisting the temptation to do evil and resisting the temptation to encourage or participate in evil.  We should strive to eliminate sin in our lives and we should be careful not to support groups that are responsible for evil.
~We are not God and some of the evil in this world seems massive (like terrorism, poverty, abuse and murder).  Sometimes we feel powerless to address evil in our home and schools.

What does it mean to renounce?  Webster's dictionary defines it as: to give up, refuse, or resign usually by formal declaration.  To refuse to follow. So when we "renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness", we refuse to follow wickedness. 

What does it mean to reject?  Webster's dictionary defines reject as:  to refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use.  So when we "reject the evil powers of this world", we refuse to accept the evil powers of the world. 

What does it mean to repent?  Webster's defines it as:  to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life; to change one's mind.  So when we repent from sin, we turn away from sin and change our life. 

When you vow to renounce wickedness and reject evil, you are promising to stand up against and resist any thing that is opposed to God's will.  Some forces of evil may seem too big for us to take on, but God calls us (individually and corporately as a church) to stand up and take action against evil and wickedness.  As Paul affirms in Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

To follow Christ and to call Christ our Lord we must consistently turn from sin.  Sin disrupts our relationships with God and others and keeps us from doing what God calls us to do.  When we repent of sin, we turn away from the evil in our lives and turn toward Christ and Christ's love and saving grace. 




The United Methodist Hymnal
Webster's Dictionary
Credo Confirmation Curriculum
Holy Bible (NIV)

       

 

 

Living a Holy Life, Part 2- Feb. 10, 2013

In reflection of last week's lesson, I didn't stress enough that in small groups you not only hold each other to a higher standard, but you also love and encourage one another. In fact everything we do, even when it's calling someone out or holding them to a higher standard, we do out of love for that person.  We should never be "judging" someone as better or worse than ourselves.  Concern should be expressed as caring loving concern not in a judgemental way with a "better-than-though" attitude.  In Philippians 2:3-5 Paul says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." And what is Christ's attitude?  Read Philippians 2: 6-8

In Ephesians 4, Paul talks specifics about how we should live as children of the Light.  Ephesians 4: 25-32 are his instructions to the people of the church in Ephesus and still apply to how we should lead a Holy life especially the last verse..."forgiving each other just as in Christ god forgave you."

John Wesley gave the early Methodists 3 general rules as a guide for living a Holy life.  These rules still apply today.

1. Do no harm.
2. Do good.
3. Attend to the ordinances of God.

Table Group assignment:
In small group each of you need to take a notecard on your table and number 1-3 down the notecard.  Each number represents Wesley's general rules.  I want you to write a statement of something that you are going to do this week to commit to following these 3 general rules.  For example: #1 is: Do no harm so I might say that "this week I will not say unkind words about my co-workers."  Under #2 I might say, "I will spend time with my elderly neighbor." And under #3 I might say, "I will pray before I go to work every morning."  When you have completed all of your statements, I want you to share them with your group if you feel comfortable and I want you to ask your prayer partner from last week to hold you accountable to doing these things.  Make sure you phone or text your accountability partner this week to see how they are doing with their commitments. 

Living a Holy Life - Feb. 3, 2013

Where do chickens come from?
Where do eggs come from?
So which came first... the chicken or the egg? 

This question is a common way to describe two things or events that completely rely on each other.  In the church, the chicken and egg question applies to faith and works.  You can't have one without the other.  James 2: 14-26  In Genesis 22: 1-9 we read the story of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice Isaac, the son Abraham never thought he would have.  And in Joshua 2 we read the story of a prostitute Rahab that risked her life to hide some men that she knew were sent by God.  In both stories we see examples of faith accompanied by actions that show dedication to God and his purpose. 

We've talked about John Wesley and his part in forming the Methodist Church.  John Wesley traved to Georgia from England to minister to the Native Americans and he struggled with this task.  When he returned to England, he felt like a failure and questioned his faith.  He met a man named Peter Bohler, a Moravian, after he got back to England and Bohler gave Wesley this advice: "Preach faith until you have it, and then because you have it, preach faith." What did Bohler mean?  Simply this: When we act on our faith, even when our faith feels weak or when we have doubts, our faith will grow stronger.  What are those ways we act on our faith?  Go to worship, celebrate Holy Communion, pray daily, read and study scripture, do acts of mercy and service, meet in small groups.  All these things help us become more holy but only with God's help.  Practicing these acts of faith provides the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.  The more we practice, the more and more chance God has to come into our lives. 

Some of these acts of faith we can do on our own, but the one way God offers help is through the support and witness of other Christians.  The first Methodists in England met in small groups called classes.  They would gather to pray and read and study scripture.  They made a covenant with one another to avoid sinful behavior, to perform acts of charity, to participate in worship and to grow in God's grace; and they held one another accountable to this covenant.  Those who did not hold up to these things were expected to repent and with the help of their small group members, continue striving for perfection in their faith.   Matthew 18: 15-20; 1 Thessalonians 5: 10-11

So on Sunday, Feb. 10th we will start a new evening gathering time called DIG (Deeper in God).  This will be a time spent in fellowship, devotional, and small group.  Small group time will be like your present table time in confirmation class but on a little different scale.  It will be a start of the small group that you will have from now until the end of high school.  This is a group that will help you grow in your faith and maturity as a Christ follower.  Hopefully, the other members of the group will hold you to a higher standard.  They will celebrate with you when something good happens, pray with you when you suffer, and call you out and guide you when you've messed up. 

Table time:
Students were asked to write their name and phone number and a few prayer requests on pieces of paper and then those names were drawn from a hat so that the students formed prayer partners.  Students were then instructed to pray for their prayer partner throughout the week and to also contact them during the week to see how their week is going and to encourage them to come to class and church this Sunday. 

Students are also reminded to memorize their verses:  John 15: 5; John 13: 34-35