Loving God, you make us your own in baptism, and then you call us to grow up into Christ.  Help us to resemble Jesus more and more in our thoughts and our actions, empowering us by your Spirit for service in our world; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    In the first reading that we heard today from Acts, we heard about a baptism – not just one baptism, mind you, but an entire family who was baptized.  For them, it was an act of faith.  They heard what the disciples had to say, they believed in Jesus, and they wanted to be part of this new kingdom that God had started through Jesus.  They wanted to be saved – from sin, from death, and from judgment.  They wanted to share the abundant and eternal life that Jesus had come to bring.  And so, they were baptized.

    You, too, were baptized.  Some of you were babies, and some of you were a little bit older, but your parents and your godparents brought you, and you were baptized.  That, too, was an act of faith.  They wanted you to be part of this new kingdom that God started through Jesus.  They wanted you to share in the abundant and eternal life that Jesus came to bring.  They wanted you to be saved from sin and death and judgment.

    When you were baptized, other people spoke for you.  Today, you are being asked to speak for yourselves.  You are being asked to step forward in faith and say, “Yes - I believe in Jesus, too.”  And God longs to affirm that you continue to be his beloved children, just like God said to you when you were baptized.

    For today’s service, I have asked each of the confirmands to write a little bit about how their lives are different because they believe in Jesus.  In other words, how are the lives of believers different from the lives of non-believers.  I’m going to ask each of them to share those thoughts with you now, and since everybody wanted to go last, I’ve decided on alphabetical order.

    [speeches: Kayleigh - Amanda - Madison - Jade]

    In today’s gospel, we heard a little bit about what Jesus wants for those who believe in him – in other words, what Jesus wants for you.  Because of the way that John writes, it’s not always easy to catch it right away, but here’s what Jesus prays for each one of us: That the love of God would be in us and that Jesus would be in us (Jn. 17:26).

    What we’re talking about is not some weird thing like having another person inside of us somehow.  Instead, we’re talking about having Jesus and his love in our minds and in our hearts.  In confirmation we even had a couple of illustrations that try to show this, with somebody’s mind being opened up and sinful thoughts and actions falling out and being replaced with the love of God and thoughts of Jesus and serving others.

    So what this means, practically speaking, is that when we make decisions or choose how to act or come to God in prayer or speak to other people, we do it with Jesus right there in the forefront of our thoughts and with the love of God in our hearts.  And because we have such a hard time actually doing this, God sends the Holy Spirit to help us and to teach us how.

    For every single one of you today, we will be praying for the Holy Spirit to be active in your lives, strengthening your faith, filling your hearts with love, and giving you gifts that can be used in order to serve others.  We will be praying for the Spirit of Jesus, who loves you and wants you to stay in that love.

    Jesus has come that we might have life, and have it abundantly (Jn. 10:10).  We rejoice with you today as you affirm your participation in that life of Christ.  Amen.

Easter 7(C) / Confirmation Sunday                    John 17:20-26
May 16, 2010                                Acts 16:16-34
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison