Youth Group Confirmation Lesson - 10/20/24

# What’s the Point? - Owning Your Faith, Confirmation, and the UCC. ## SWAG Youth 10.20.24 - Confirmation Lesson #1 - Review what confirmation looks like and hand out packets to those that weren't at the meeting. (They can state after for more details) - Let them know about questions box. - Topics...

# What’s the Point? - Owning Your Faith, Confirmation, and the UCC. ## SWAG Youth 10.20.24 - Confirmation Lesson #1 - Review what confirmation looks like and hand out packets to those that weren't at the meeting. (They can state after for more details) - Let them know about questions box. - Topics checklist time. - Do they want notebooks or folders or something else? - Who wants one? - Sermon notes pages ## Lesson Time: - What is confirmation (in general)? - In daily life, think, confirming a doctor’s appointment or weekend plans. It means to “establish the truth or correctness of something previously believed, suspected, or feared to be the case.” - Right of passage - Confirming your faith for yourself and if baptized as a baby or previously; confirming your baptism. - Used to gain independence in your faith, like you are in other areas of life; ask questions, and discover yourself. - Gives the ability to officially take communion with the congregation. ## What Does the UCC Believe? - UCC is non-creedal. Meaning; UCC uses a statement of faith over authoritative creeds or doctrines, which are what you find in most other church denominations. - There are statements of common theology; like the UCC’s commitment to unity or their affirmation as Jesus being the head of the church. - They respect and use several of the typical creeds, like the Apostles Creed, as ways to express and explore beliefs and testimony, but the difference is; you don’t have to agree to belong. - UCC sits in this balance of focusing on testimony over testing. - This means people can disagree. - The unity can still be present. - These are general guidelines of what the overall group tends to believe, but not a hard and fast rule for every individual person. - The United Church of Christ embraces a theological heritage that affirms the Bible as the authoritative witness to the Word of God, the creeds of the ecumenical councils, and the confessions of the Reformation. - The UCC has roots in the “covenantal” tradition – meaning there is no centralized authority or hierarchy that can impose any doctrine or form of worship on its members. - Christ alone is Head of the church. - We seek a balance between freedom of conscience and accountability to the apostolic faith. - The UCC therefore receives the historic creeds and confessions of our ancestors as testimonies, but not tests of the faith. ## The UCC Statement of Faith: We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother, and to whose deeds we testify: - God calls the worlds into being, creates humankind in the divine image, and sets before us the ways of life and death. - God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin. - God judges all humanity and all nations by that will of righteousness declared through prophets and apostles. - In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the whole creation to its Creator. - God bestows upon us the Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races. - God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at his table, to join him in his passion and victory. - God promises to all who trust in the gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no end. Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto God. Amen. - Reflection - By Cheryl A. Lindsay - Confirmation is often associated with a rite of passage found in Christian traditions that baptize infants. It serves as a process, often involving classes and faith formation activities over a period of time that culminates in the participants, called Confirmands, affirming their faith in communal worship. - Confirmation, in this sense, typically occurs during or around age 13, give or take a year or two, a time full of physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual maturation for many. It's an age of gaining more independence, asking questions, and self-discovery. - Confirmation, as a process, acknowledges and companions on that journey. At the same time, the rite (or sacrament in some traditions) invites the Confirmands to make commitments that typically were made on their behalf by parents and parental figures at baptism. Confirmation also recognizes and emphasizes the covenantal commitments made by God toward those who profess faith. - Confirmation generally is a relational action, whether it takes the form of a sacramental rite or a quick phone call to solidify weekend plans. To confirm something, an agreement or understanding must already be in place and known to the parties involved. Expectations may be clarified, but they already exist. - In the Old Testament passage, generational expectations are being met. During the reign of King Solomon, son of King David, there was an era of prosperity and material flourishing that was a continuation of the peaceful era that concluded David’s rule. - During that period, David had an idea that he should build a dwelling place for the God he served as the king found himself living in a luxurious palace. The Holy One rejected David’s plan as it did not align with the will of God. Yet, God promised David that his son would have the privilege and responsibility to build a dwelling place for the Holy One. - Further, the Holy One signified that David’s son would be blessed and favored by God in extraordinary ways. - It was a promise that would reassure any parent, and one that David certainly communicated to his son, Solomon who would inherit the kingdom and its riches. - The passage carved out of 1 Kings 8 tells the story at a point of fruition. The ark of the covenant would be brought into the house built for God’s presence to dwell. The enduring symbol of God’s presence and, more importantly, the promise of everlasting presence was placed within the inner sanctuary where only the consecrated and appointed could go. Once the ark was in place, the glory of God manifested as a cloud, providing confirmation of the covenant through an immediate demonstration. - Now Solomon begins his actual prayer. He first praises Yahweh for his incomparability and for his covenant faithfulness (v. 23), but immediately returns to this major concern, Yahweh’s fidelity toward the Davidides. - Reminding Yahweh that he has not only spoken a promise to David but has fulfilled it as well (v. 24), Solomon introduces parallel pleas in v. 25 and v. 26 with the connective particle, “so now,” asking Yahweh to keep the faithful Davidic posterity, a reference to the kings of his own late period, safe from being “cut off.” - With this plea expressed, Solomon returns to the subject of the temple that he is in the process of dedicating, first expressing the wondering question whether such a God as Yahweh, who is too great for earth and heaven to contain, will indeed dwell on earth, and in a manmade temple (v 27). - For this characteristic deuteronomistic sentiment the closest parallel is the postexilic passage, Isa 66:1. - But Solomon prays nonetheless that Yahweh may deign to make this temple the place where his Name dwells, the Name being, in deuteronomistic ideology, a hypostasis or extension of Yahweh’s true being, but not the Deity in the fullness of his being (vv. 28- 29). - The purpose is that the temple may serve as a listening-post or sounding board, continually receptive to any prayer that may be directed toward it. (v. 29b; cf. vv. 30, 33, 35, 42, 44, 48). - Simon J. DeVries - The prayer begins, however, with a personal plea related to Solomon’s own rule. - He asks that the Holy One confirm the promises made to his father David regarding him. - In some ways, he’s asking for the fullness of what he considers to be an inheritance. - A bequest is not the same as a covenantal promise. - One is a gift of entitlement. - The latter is an agreement forged in mutuality. - While some inheritances have strings attached, most of the time, they are outright gifts. - Nothing needs to be done to earn them. No conditions need to be satisfied for their distribution. - The Holy One’s promise to David regarding Solomon and his rule is not the same as the covenant represented by the ark. - The king may or may not have conflated the two, but the covenantal promise may be distilled as God’s promise to be with God’s people. - The Sovereign One will not abandon them or their offspring. - That is an everlasting covenant where the terms are all on God. - Humanity need only exist to receive the benefit of this mutual agreement, which gives it the character of a gift. - The particular promise about Solomon as king has conditions attached, which the king acknowledges as he asks for confirmation. - How differently would this story have played out if Solomon had asked for confirmation, not only of God’s part of the agreement, but also sought confirmation of the means he undertook to fulfill the temple building part of the bargain? - The building comes at a great cost to the people who are the children of the covenant as much as Solomon was the child of a king. - The construction reflected the stratification of the society. The three divisions marked the intensifying degrees of exclusivity, the vestibule having more public access; the nave, more limited; and the holy of holies, forbidden except to the most senior priests and only on special occasions. The rich latticework and carvings, the costly stones, the great bronze pillars and basins, the numerous vessels and accoutrements of gold and silver, and so forth (1 Kings 7) all have a flip side. - This great extravagance for the few came at the cost borne by most of the population. - First Kings 6:1 notes that Solomon began this construction “in the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt.” - Long after Israel was freed from Egyptian slavery, Israel ironically had to endure forced servitude and exploitation again under its own king. - The building and its furnishings are described in all their opulence, but in the midst of these details of conspicuous consumption is an important condition in both the temple’s construction and inauguration accounts: If Solomon obeys all of God’s commandments, God will keep the promise made to David and dwell with Israel and not forsake them (6:11–13; cf. 8:56–61). Here the royal ideology of the monarchy that highlights God’s promises to the Davidic dynasty stands in tension with the Mosaic covenantal demands that the people, including Israel’s king, remain obedient to God’s torah (Brueggemann, 88–89). - We will soon see that Solomon was not successful in following God’s commandments. - Gale A. Yee - Solomon enjoyed being king more than he enjoyed his relationship to his God. He adopted the religious practices of his many wives including worship of idol gods. - Moreover, in the building project, he lost his way and emulated the ruthless determination of the pharaohs from years past rather than continue in the faithful, servant leadership style that his father adopted. - Solomon seems to take on the worst attributes of the monarchs before him and surrounding him, wasting the wisdom he asked for and received, and moving the kingdom further and further away from the ways of his ancestor Moses. - This passage does not tell that complete story, and some homiletical scholars suggest to only preach the text before you. - Yet, that approach can lead us to an overly optimistic understanding of deeply human and significantly flawed biblical characters and the wisdom we may glean from knowing their full story. - ***The process is as important as the outcome. - Solomon’s request for confirmation comes far later than it should. And, he should have, in part, asked it of himself. Confirmation is a mutual act that invites self-evaluation and reflection as much as it questions the other party. - Let us remember this as we pray...for confirmation. - What does it mean to “own your faith”? ## Their Faith or My Faith? The gospel writer John tells the story of people in a small village who believed in Jesus through the excited testimony of a woman who had a life-changing conversation with him at a nearby well (see John 4). At the end of the story, Jesus himself visits this village and stays for two days. Many more people believe in him after personally listening to his teaching. - John records how they reacted to the woman: “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world" (John 4:42). Owning your faith happens through a lifetime of conscious and intentional choices to hear Jesus for yourself and to do what he says. - Yes, it begins with a real and personal decision to believe in Christ, the step of faith that generates new life. - Yet, unfortunately, faith fails to flourish when we do not intentionally listen to Jesus for ourselves again and again. - Too often, Christians participate in church, campus fellowships and even InterVarsity leadership teams because it is what they have always done, what their friends do or what they feel is expected. - And at the same time, they confess that in terms of their own faith, they are only half-way hearing Jesus and half-way pursuing the Lord for themselves. - They drift on the coattails of the community’s faith. - Owning your faith means to start asking hard questions and reconstruct. - Owning your faith means to look to other adults that have faith journeys you admire/trust and look to them as examples: “Paul got this. Paul not only understood this, he was bold in his proclamation of it. "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Paul says, I can teach you to follow God. But if you want to see what it looks like, watch me. Copy me.” - For so-so faith to become more solid or important faith to you personally, you have to take increasing ownership of your spiritual growth. This doesn’t have to feel like a chore. Think of the times/things you’ve WANTED to take more ownership in? What were they? Why? - What do you believe right now? Jot it down.