A Message from Pastor Paul Thompson: I greet you in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! I hope this note finds you and yours feeling whole and blessed. I have something that is on my heart and want to share it with you. Recently I have heard people say they dont come to church on Sundays like Graduation Sunday or Confirmation Sunday because I don’t have a child in that”, or “that doesnt apply to me.” This puzzles me. Although Graduation or Confirmation may be the focus on a particular Sunday, this is still the Sabbath and a time of worship for all Gods people. We are a family of faith, a Christian community built on the premise that it is in the shared experience of worship and gathering that we experience God and the power of resurrection. There are quiet, alone moments in which we also feel God’s presence, but the journey of faith requires that we walk together. I learn the faith from you and you learn it from me and from others. In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul says this about what it means to be a part of the body of Christ, For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, while dealing with issues of strife among members, Paul reminds them that they all have a role in the life and health of the community, there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” This Sunday is Confirmation Sunday. We have an amazing opportunity to rejoice together as thirteen (13) young people participate in a service in which they profess their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, receive the blessing of remembering their baptism (one will be baptized), and take the vows of church membership. We will each have the opportunity to reflect upon our own faith journey and remember when we first said Yes! to Gods call on our lives. Afterwards, in celebration, everyone is invited to attend a covered dish meal in the Fellowship Hall. I implore you to come and to participate fully in the experience. Yes, you will hear a sermon this Sunday that will be primarily directed at the Confirmands, but it will be applicable to every person who proclaims “Jesus is Lord”. Your presence will be an indication to these young people that you care about them. It will indicate that you understand that these children are all “our children.” It will signal that you value the relationships being built with these children as valuable and essential. This is not a Sunday to “take off” because it doesnt pertain to you. It is a vital Sunday to be present for the good of the community of faith. I hope that you will make every effort to be present and celebrate with us this Sunday. In His Love, Paul B. Thompson
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 12:51:15 +0000
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