To Be Confirmed
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 18 Sep 2009 in From Steve's Study ::
When I was younger, Confirmation seemed to be a much bigger thing than it is today. I remember being confirmed with about twenty others, which was a pretty common scenario at the time.
Times seem to have changed, but I think it is for the better. Back then (before the discovery of electricity!), Confirmation was much more of an established “rite of passage” for young people. Many of those I was confirmed with just did it because everyone else was doing it – it didn’t really mean anything to them (a fact borne out by the fact that today there are only 2 or 3 of them who still go to a church somewhere).
Nowadays, Confirmation is more of a deliberate choice made by those who really want to take that step. So what is the step they are taking?
In the Anglican Church, infants are baptized as a symbol of their inclusion in the People of God. Their parents make promises on their behalf, that they will bring them up to know and love Jesus. This is a good and helpful picture of God’s action to save us when we were helpless and hopeless.
However, the problem with being baptized as an infant, is that it doesn’t give the child themselves the opportunity to have any say in what’s happening. They aren’t really able at that point to make any commitments themselves.
Well, that’s where Confirmation comes in. This is an opportunity for those being confirmed to take hold of the promises of God for themselves. Each of the candidates for tonight’s Confirmation believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for their sin, they have turned to him for forgiveness & are determined to live their lives, from this point on, for the glory of God.
Please join with us in thanking God for Sam Baumgart, Bruce Goldingay, Tiffany Maruta & Jasmin Taylor, & in praying for them as they live their lives for him.
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