Do you intend t continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism:
1. to live among God’s faithful people;
2. to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper;
3. to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed;
4. to serve all people, following the example of Jesus;
5. and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?
These are the questions that will be asked of six of our young people on Sunday, May 19th, the Day of Pentecost. They will have completed their confirmation process. On that day, they will “affirm” their Baptism. It is one more passage these young disciples will go through in their growing faith relationship that God began with them at their Baptism.
That service will be reflective of what we at Jordan are called by the Lord to be about in our ministry and mission together – helping all people who share in our community of faith to grow in the relationship which the Lord started with all of us at our Baptisms. I have come to understand that it’s about discipleship not about membership — primarily about faith-heart growth not education-head growth.
According to the dictionary, a “member” is: a person that is part of a society, party, community, or other body. On the other hand, a “disciple” is defined as: one who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another. There seems to me to be a significant difference between simply being a part of a group of God’s people and having a personal relationship with the Savior through whom we are called to share in the spread the Gospel message with our whole lives.
What those young people will be promising is primarily taking as their own the responsibility to continue to grow in their relationship with their Lord and to be active in sharing that relationship with others to help invite more people into a fuller relationship with God.
The question for each of us as we share in that special time with these young people, is: “Is my/our connection with the Lord about simply being a church ‘member’ or about continuing to grow in that relationship started with us at our Baptism as a ‘disciple’ partnering in mission and ministry to spread the Good News individually and together?”
Peace,
Pastor Jimmy Lee
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