Loving God, you open the door to eternal life for us through your Son, Jesus, and invite us to know you deeply through our life in the Spirit.  Help each of us to continue to grow in faith and in trust this day, renewing us in your love through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    [to the confirmands] I want to see how good your memories are this morning.  Do you remember way back on Maundy Thursday when you got your feet washed?  Do you remember why I told you that you got to be the disciples?  It was because the word “disciple” means “learner” or “student,” and somebody who is taking confirmation classes seems to fit that description!  And so you - in effect - are disciples of Jesus.

    For today, I asked you to think about how your lives are different because you believe in Jesus.  This same question could have been asked of those early disciples, and they would have had quite a bit to say about it.  Many of them changed careers, or left their families behind, or followed Jesus around from place to place for a few years.  Life was never the same again for any of them once they had encountered Jesus.

    Now, because you’re a little bit younger than those disciples, you might not see quite such dramatic changes in your lives.  However, your lives will still be different from the lives of people who don’t believe in Jesus.  And so, let’s hear from you about the difference that Jesus makes.    [Speeches]

    Thank you for helping the rest of us to think about how our lives are different because of Jesus.  Now - I’ve got one more thing for all of you to think about this morning.  In our first reading from Acts, the risen Jesus gathers with his disciples, and as they are watching, he is lifted up and taken into heaven.  Jesus ascends into heaven, and he leaves his disciples behind.  How come?  Why wouldn’t he just take all of his followers with him?  Why would he leave them here?

    [They have a job to do.  They are here to continue Jesus’ work.  They will be able to spread out over the whole earth, instead of just being in one place at a time like Jesus was.] Jesus promises them - and us - the power of the Holy Spirit and sends them into the world as witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

    We, too, are in this world - right where God wants us to be.  God pours out the Holy Spirit on us at our baptism and at our confirmation and sends us into the world in order to make a difference.  This morning I’d like to invite all of you to think about the places you go from day to day and the people you meet.  I’d like you to think about your day to day lives and the places and times where you can help care for God’s world and for God’s people.

    You all got blue pieces of paper in your bulletin this morning, and I’m inviting you to write on that piece of paper one or two places in your lives where you can help care for God’s world and God’s people.  It might be something you’re already doing, or it might be something that you could start doing – one or two places where you can make a difference for God. [collect and read - results are listed below]

    One person could never be in all of these places doing all of these things.  That’s why Jesus left this earth and then sent the Holy Spirit.  We are now God’s hands and feet in the world, engaging in all of those things that you will hear in the Affirmation of Baptism service - things that are part of our baptismal covenant.  We, too, have been “left behind” for the good of the world and the glory of God.  However, none of us are all on our own.  That same intimate relationship that Jesus experienced with his Father is now open to us, even as we are given the Holy Spirit and woven together into the body of Christ.  Thanks be to God for this most precious gift!  Amen.

Easter 7(A) / Confirmation Sunday                        Acts 1:6-14
June 5, 2011                                    John 17:1-11
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2011 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved

• Treating others the way you want to be treated: kindness, respect, love
• Taking care of residents at a seniors complex / helping seniors
• Taking in orphan dogs
• Being conscious of the environment at your home
• Feeding the hungry
• Recycling to help preserve creation
• Visiting shut-ins to give hope & share Jesus’ love
• Helping with refugees
• Providing food for the food bank
• Visiting friends (& others) in the hospital and praying for them
• Caring for animals & hummingbirds
• Loving one another
• Picking up garbage & using water wisely – part of caring for God’s creation
• Being genuine
• Smiling and saying “hello” to people
• Praying for and with others
• Making good environmental choices
• Saying a kind word when dealing with people
• Supporting Christ’s church
• Working with young children and their families / teaching
• Singing in prisons & nursing homes
• Giving to the poor
• Helping the needy and the lost
• Visiting lonely residents at Deer Lodge Center / Fred Douglas Lodge / Park Manor / St. Joseph’s
• Inviting people to church
• Showing compassion, kindness & helpfulness at a personal care home
• Serving as a volunteer
• Loving and forgiving yourselves and others
• Setting an example everywhere you go
• Helping the homeless
• Showing Christ in all you do
• Offering love and prayer at home and at work
• Sharing the Good News / gospel with others
• Teaching people to worship
• Helping children (one at a time)
• Planting & caring for grass & flowers
• Sharing your experience of God’s healing power at work in your life
• Sharing your gifts
• Volunteering at a food bank
• Sharing God’s peace by example
• Helping / caring / being kind