Our confirmands have come to know Jesus as you will hear in their faith statements. Their parents have fulfilled their baptismal covenants to “raise and nurture their children in Christian faith”. Today they affirm their baptisms and take responsibility for their relationship with God and the Christian faith. I’m proud of my 40th and last confirmation class.
2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is all you need, for my power is the greatest when you are weak”. I picked this verse because it reminds me that all we need is God’s forgiveness. God is the way that everyone heals and powers us through hard times. God helped me get through many things like school and sports. Whenever I faced a challenge, whether it was academically or through sports, I always knew that God was with me through it all. Whenever I struggled to understand a topic in school, I had my parents always there with me trying to help me overcome my struggles. I also have always had my brother to help me with basketball, whether it was not being able to do a skill or just shooting around. God always being there for me or surrounding me with people who always help has helped me to become the person that I am today.
Before I grew my faith in God, I would often let things others say get to my head and I was lost. As I started to go to church more often and started to pray, I started to notice things going better. It was God. God blocks out the evil in my life to allow me to succeed. He is more powerful than anything in this world. When I am tired and struggling, God lifts me up and puts me on the right path. God is the reason for everything that I have today.
He sent his only son to give me eternal life and save everyone. Jesus died on a cross and suffered to save everyone from their suffering. People should not take that for granted.
The Holy Spirit, God, and Jesus gave me eternal life so I will continue to praise them for my whole life. As I went to Sunday school, my view on everything has changed a lot. When I first started to go, I never understood the true meaning of everything. I always saw it as just getting up early on the weekends. As I got older, I started to understand everything and its importance. I understood that God sent his only son to save us from eternal suffering. I understood that worshiping God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit is the only way to eternal life. I learned that the only way to have eternal life is finishing what God and Jesus started on Earth. I learned that church is not having to wake up early but praising the man who sacrificed himself for me. It helped me understand that being a Christian is not just about church but living like how Jesus would. He did not judge others but helped them. He forgave others when they wronged him. Jesus died so when we went against those things we could be forgiven. People should not take that for granted but instead spread his word.
One term has always stuck with me through my years of Sunday School. A.S.A.P (Always Say A Prayer). Even though I might have been as young as 5 years old when Mrs. R had taught me it for the first time, I have never forgotten it. It is my reminder that whenever anything happens to me I can say a prayer. God is always listening and can help solve problems. Throughout my 8th grade basketball season, I faced many hardships with my coach. After practices or games, I would often come home and cry for hours and not know what to do or who to talk to. But in that moment I would remember A.S.A.P and pray to talk about my problems. I knew in that moment I was not alone and I had God with me.
Praying even just the shortest prayer reminded me that God was with me. I knew for the rest of the season I was not alone and I had God with me. I think remembering that term after all of these years is a sign from God.
It reminds me that if I’m sad, mad, tired, happy, that one simple prayer to God and I would not be alone. Being able to have God in my life is the greatest blessing I could ever have. God is always listening even when you don’t have the words to pray.
My favorite sermon note preached was on January 26th. That sermon was about having any power is pointless if you cannot love another. We are the body of Christ. God’s power brings us all together and encourages diversity. God brings us all together and we are united under the body of Christ. No matter our differences we all worship the same God. All members under God experience the same things. If one suffers, we all suffer, if one is honored, they all are. This sermon is my favorite because it reminds me that my faith is not just about me. It is about being united in the body of Christ.
Mark 10:27: “With man, this is impossible, but not with God, all things are possible with God.” This verse from Mark shows me that things are impossible with a basic human, but everything is possible in God's presence. God has made it work. It reminds me of when you might be feeling down; all seems impossible, but God can turn that around and make it possible.
I believe the Holy Trinity (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) is strong in me. I believe this because of the way the Trinity has affected me throughout the years in Church, Sunday school, and now Confirmation.
It has affected me by showing how God made all of us unique, and how God looks over us as children, and how God looks over us while Jesus follows us, leads us, and directs us. The Holy Spirit brings God's power through Jesus, and into us.
When my Grandma Forsythe and Uncle Art passed recently, I felt down. When I went to church the next few days, I felt God reached out to me and asked, “what’s wrong?” I felt God looking over me and helping me through my faith and influencing me to keep going. My faith has changed from not knowing why I went to church, to understanding why I'm here and learning more about the books of the Bible.
I believe that baptism is what brings you to be a child of God and brings you into the church. I think the Ten Commandments are the baseline rules for all to follow. As I said before, the Apostles’ Creed is the Trinity and power of God through the Holy Spirit. Next, I believe the Lord's Supper is the communion and feast with the wine as Jesus' blood and bread as his body. I believe the Lord’s Prayer is one way to reach out to the Father and the Son and ask them to release our sins, and to let us be with God again.
To summarize, I have found how much Mark 10:27 and Baptism, The Ten Commandments, The Apostles' Creed, The Lord's Supper, and The Lord’s Prayer, and how they relate to me. These things make me realize how much my faith impacts me and makes me feel comfortable with the Lord. It helps me know that confirmation is a huge deal, becoming an adult in the Church's eyes and declaring my faith.
Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.."
Be strong no matter what comes your way because God is always with you. This kid on my football team kept saying mean things about me but I didn’t let it stop me from playing. It was challenging being the only girl on the 8th grade North Royalton football team, but God was with me the whole time. I was a wide receiver and liked catching the ball. This past winter, I enjoyed being on the 8th grade wrestling team.
My relationship with God is good and a work in progress.
Both my grandpa’s died in the last 3 years. It affected me because it made me sad and I miss them. I believe they are both in heaven which raised my faith which was kind of low.
Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” This Bible verse shows me that God is always with me wherever I go. He’s always with me; protecting and keeping me safe from whatever life throws at me.
I specifically picked this verse because I feel it has a special meaning to me and my life because I feel that Jesus defeating death gives me strength and courage to do the things I don’t want to do. This verse becomes especially important in the most difficult times of my life when I want to give up but my faith gives me a reason to keep going.
Some of the most memorable parts from Sunday school are learning the Lord’s Prayer, learning the 10 Commandments, and learning about how Jesus died for our sins. These experiences have set the foundation for my faith and for the rest of my life as a child of God. The most meaningful sermon that I have taken notes on was called, “Spiritual Security”. The sermon preached on the Bible story of Ruth and Naomi who had to leave their country and embark on a journey where they didn’t know the final outcome. Their faith was tested and they trusted and followed God. In the end, everything turned out okay. This sermon showed me that by trusting in God, I can accomplish and overcome any problem that I may encounter in life. It also gives me evidence that God’s love for us surpasses any sort of hardship that could happen to us throughout our lives.
When I was really young, my parents always encouraged me to participate in church and take it seriously. I rarely skipped going to church on Sundays unless I was very sick or if we were on vacation. I was encouraged to go up for communion and receive my blessing. I was encouraged to go up for the children’s sermon. I never really understood why I had to do all of these things, but I did them because I trusted my parents. When I started Sunday school, I started learning about the miracles of the Bible and the different stories about people trusting in God and achieving great things. I believed the stories and kept learning. I got my first Bible when I was in second grade. It was very soon incorporated into Sunday school each week and now I could actually see for myself how these miracles happened. My relationship with God became even greater because I could physically see what He can do. As I grew older, I started noticing signs of God’s miracles in real life.
My relationship with God has gotten stronger and stronger. Confirmation class brings me even closer to him by teaching me that I can apply the words in the Bible to my life if I look at it from a different perspective. As more than just words on a page in a sacred book. They became a blueprint and a guide on how to live my life better and closer to how Jesus lived his.
My faith helps me in more ways than I can count. If I ever have a problem where I’m stuck and don’t know what to do, I can rely on my faith to guide me to make the right decisions. I think church is more than just a thing I go to on Sundays. It’s another opportunity to connect with God in a more spiritual way. I don’t think of it as a requirement that I have to wake up early and sit on a bench for an hour. It’s important to me and gives me a reason to try and live life like Jesus did. My faith continuously works within me to care for God’s creation and do God’s work. My faith allows me to remain hopeful and persevere through life’s challenges.
I think it’s almost like a part of me; connected to me and can’t be taken away. My faith is a part of my life, my personality, and everything I do. My faith is something so strong that nobody can change it. Nobody can take it away. It’s like a limb that’s connected to me that’s inseverable.
Provers 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord, with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
I chose this verse because it reminds me that the Lord leads me and has gifted me with the ability to do sports. God has gifted me with the ability to play one of my favorite sports, volleyball. Volleyball has affected me in many ways, physically, emotionally, and mentally. My faith has changed incredibly since I began Sunday school.
When I was younger, I will be honest, I hated coming to Sunday school in church every Sunday. 1. -I had mainly hated coming because of how early it was and 2. -I didn't really understand who Jesus was and I really didn't care to learn about him. Now I am in eighth grade and can say that my faith has completely changed since I was younger. I now understand everything about Jesus and everything he has done for us and everything he continues to do for us. Now I will say that I don't like waking up so early on Sundays, but I don't mind coming to classes anymore. And Church is so relieving now especially when I'm acolyting. Considering that I went from disliking coming to Sunday school and church every Sunday, to not minding at all, I'd say my faith has changed a lot since I've began Sunday school. And now I truly do understand everything and care to learn about it, but little me would never say that.
I would say the main thing that has happened in my life that has caused me to change my faith would be my Grammy’s passing. My Grammy passed away July 5, 2023. My Grammy was the sweetest person ever and she was very close to her church.
My Grammy was buried in the back of her church and being there at the funeral to see everything happen, really changed my perspective on everything. Since that point I would say that coming to church has so much more meaning to me now. My Grammy would always wear VERY colorful clothing with lights flashing, feathers, and sparkly hats. Along with that, she had a very loud and outgoing personality. When we went to California to visit my papa and family after my Grammy had passed, we stayed with them in Shaver Lake, California, which is in the mountains. Out of nowhere among the tallest trees I have ever seen (a.k.a. redwood trees), we would find feathers alone.
Our whole family has been finding feathers out of nowhere and we all take this as a sign from God that our Grammy is always with us because the feathers remind us of her and her personality. I usually see a feather once a week in the most random places ever. And seeing these feathers reminds me about my faith and that God is truly always there.
There are many things I remember and will continue to remember about our meditations in class and our sermon notes. The one meditation that we did in class that really affected me was the one about our fears. When we had to write down all our fears, I wrote: height, dark, deep waters, tearing my ACL, lots of holes, haunted houses, scary movies, mold, dying, and finally, tight spaces. Lots of these fears have always been my fears and will most likely continue to be my biggest fears. We also had to write how we get through these fears if we are faced with them. I would always remember this meditation mainly because I am faced with at least one of these fears every single day. I remember when we had our conversation about our fears we talked about overcoming them, I will honestly most likely never get over any of these fears. But I will definitely try to get over them. The sermon note that affected me the most or that I will remember the most is definitely the one titled “The Lutherans have a Problem”. The sermon talked about having problems but always having hope and grace. The sermon talking about Hope and Grace reminded me how much Hope and Grace I truly have. If I never had any Hope or any Grace, I would honestly be in a very bad point in my life.
There are many things I believe about baptism, the Lord, the last supper, the Apostles, Creed, the Lords Prayer, and the 10 Commandments. I believe that baptism brings about the forgiveness of sins, and also gives eternal life to everyone who believes in baptism.
I also believe baptism redeems from death and from the devil. Baptism is not just water; it is using water according to God's command and connecting us with God's word. Baptism signifies all of the sins and evil desires in drowning and dying, but also to rise up and live before God. The last supper wasn't just any normal everyday meal. The last supper represents the true body and blood of Christ. It shows us that forgiveness of sin, life and salvation are all given to us in the sacrament. The bread and wine signify Christ instituting himself for us to eat and drink. I have many beliefs about the Apostles Creed. The Apostles Creed shows me that God has created me. That God has given me my body and soul. And that God protects me against all types of danger. I believe that God is the main source to our lives as he is the one who is giving us food, clothing, homes, cars, etc. God is the reason why we are able to be where we are today. Without God, we would have absolutely nothing. The Lord's Prayer is something I've known for many years. My favorite petition from the Lord's Prayer is “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”.
It also shows that we are asking that God would give us all things by grace for we sin daily. But the most important meaning behind this verse to me is that we all want to forgive and to do good to those who sin against us. This means the most to me because it reminds me to be a bigger person to people even when it is hard.
I will continue to carry these beliefs with me throughout my whole life.