The Pastor's Corner for April 2015

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

March 22, Confirmation Sunday, was a very special day in the life of our congregation.  Four youth, Anna Duhachek, Kristian Martens, Camryn Pierson, and Haylee Vlcek  joined the church by profession of faith. 

The service for confirmation is called a “Covenant Service.” This is because during the service promises are made. God promises to accept us, love us and forgive us. The Confirmands promise they will put their whole trust in the grace of Jesus Christ and serve Him as their Lord. The four youth also made the promise to faithfully participate in the ministries of our church by their prayers, their presence, their gifts, their service, and their witness.

The parents and the congregation made promises as well. They promised to pray for the youth and nurture them in their faith.

The congregation welcomed the new members by sharing the following words:

We give thanks for all that God has given you and 
we welcome you in Christian love. As members
together with you in the body of Christ and in the
congregation of the United Methodist Church,
we renew our covenant faithfully to participate in the
ministries of the church by our prayers,
our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness,
that in everything God may be glorified through
Jesus Christ.

The Covenant Service is a reminder to us of the promises we have made.  These promises are based upon scripture. The scriptures teach us to pray for one another, to worship together, to give of our time, talents, and resources, and to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with all people. 

Prayer:  In the 1 Timothy we read, “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgiving be offered to God for all people.” (Timothy 2:1

Presence: Hebrews 10:25 reads, “Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.”

Gifts: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 tells us, “Remember that the person who plants few seeds will have a small crop; the one who plants many seeds will have a large crop. Each one should give then, as he has decided, not with regret or out of a sense of duty; for God loves the one who gives gladly. And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause. As the scripture says, ‘He gives generously to the needy; His kindness lasts forever.’ And God who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity. He will make you rich enough to be generous at all times, so that many will thank God for your gifts which they receive from us.”

Service: “And Jesus called them to Him and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be a servant of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”  Mark 10:42-45 

Witness: Jesus’ parting words to his followers were, “Go throughout the world and preach the gospel to all mankind.” Mark 16:15

I must admit, I don’t always faithfully follow through on all the promises I make. How about you? Are you faithfully participating in the ministries of the church by your:

• Prayers
• Presence
• Gifts
• Service
• Witness

If not, the Good News is it is never too late to start! And the even better Good News is the more we can faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness the more we will grow in our faith and the more we will experience God’s grace and love in our lives.

So let us, as we journey together with Jesus, remember our promise to pray for and nurture our young people and our promise to faithfully participate in the ministries of our church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service and our witness. 

And All God’s Children Said,

“Amen.”