CONFIRMATION SUNDAY: The Church as a Body of Believers
Christo Möller
Transcribed by PulpitAI (with edits)
Introduction
Good morning, church! I’m excited to be here this morning because it’s Confirmation Sunday, and we get to celebrate these students, who have done Confirmation for the last two years. I had to do that with them, and I loved it. I loved doing it with them. This group has really been amazing. For every challenge that I gave them, they stepped up, and they did whatever I asked in terms of emailing our missionaries, doing extra work, doing extra tasks—they did it all. So we’re super proud of them. And a little bit later, I’ll explain just exactly what Confirmation means here at Salem Covenant, but right now we want to ask them to give their testimonies. They’ll explain how they came to know Christ. They’ll share two of the Covenant Affirmations that speaks to the them most, and also their favorite Bible verse. As we start this, I’d like to ask you to please pay attention to the screen for Lucy’s testimony.
Lucy Henrickson’s Testimony
This is my favorite verse, Philippians 4:14, “I can do all things to Christ who strengthens me.” The reason why this verse is important to me is because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, because he can strengthen me every day, even if I don’t know that he’s doing it.
These are my two affirmations:
“We affirm the church as a fellowship believers,” because I like doing church with other people.
We have affirmed the Bible as our anchor and our guidance through God, and he gives us an anchor every day.
Caleb Gilbertson’s Testimony
All right, good morning church. So, my name is Caleb Gilbertson. First off, I want to say a big thank you to Christo. He was amazing! It was great to be in a Confirmation class with him.
And second off, I want to give a big congratulations to all of my fellow classmates. They survived having me in their class, so… All right, enough with that.
So, I grew up in a Christian household. Never really got to know Christ until like, I was about eight years old, and I’ll always remember this moment. The mosquitoes were horrible. It was weird. Like, they were just so bad. And so, I was just getting ticked, and so I prayed to God for a plague to send the mosquitoes away. The next morning—okay, mid-July, think about it like this. Mid-July. The next morning was 30 degrees. Yeah, so, and then I was like, “Okay, well God cares at least.” And then, so I knew from that moment on that God cared. And then I asked Jesus into my heart on one of our Confirmation classes, actually, and so now I am a Christian, and I’ve been growing in my relationship with Christ all throughout this time.
So, my favorite affirmation is “the church as a fellowship of believers” first, because you can’t really be a church unless you have other people, you know? So, like, I also like it because I’m a social person, and I like people.
And then my second favorite one is “a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit” because we’re literally guided by God himself inside of us, and I think that’s pretty cool. You know?
So, and then my favorite Bible verse is 1 John 1:8-9.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
I like this verse because it was actually during our Confirmation retreat, and I thought I was doing pretty well, and this verse literally says not to do that, so…
All right. That’s all I got. Thank you.
Quinn Peterson’s Testimony
Good morning. My name is Quinn Peterson, and when I was little, I asked Jesus into my heart but didn’t really know what it meant at the time. As I got older, I asked Jesus into my heart again and again and again because I felt alone and that he wasn’t with me. When I got older, I thought it through for myself and asked Jesus into my heart, and I haven’t felt a need to do it again.
My favorite Bible verse is Joshua 1:9.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. […] Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
I like this Bible verse because it means that I do not have to be afraid, no matter the circumstance. Another reason I like this verse is because it means I am never alone, and when I’m in pain or when I’m afraid, I am never alone.
My favorite affirmation is that “the church is a fellowship of believers.” I believe that it’s important to have baptism because it is what God calls us to do as part of this affirmation, and I also believe the church isn’t a building—it’s the people. (I got lost.) The reason I believe this is because God cares for us, not the building, and he is not in the building; he is in us, and we make up his body. Another reason I believe this affirmation is important because you’re not supposed to spend time with God only alone but also as a fellowship.
My second favorite affirmation is “the reality of the freedom of Christ.” The reason I like this affirmation is because he set us free from our sins. I believe that our freedom from our sins is a gift from God, and we should not keep it for ourselves, but we should share the news of the freedom found in Christ. I also believe that, even though we are free, we are not free to do whatever we want. Because I know these things, these affirmations, and through the knowledge of the Bible, I can bring church to those who cannot go to a building. I share the freedom from sins that is found in Christ through his Word. I can also share with others that they are never alone and that God will always be with them—each and every one of them.
Axel Henrickson’s Testimony
Good morning. My name is Axel Henrickson. I grew up in a Christian home. I don’t really remember much, but I’ve really always been a Christian. I’ve had my mom, my dad—they were really great, and I just wanted to be like them, and so they were Christians, so now I’m Christian.
My favorite verse—I like a lot of verses, but my top favorite is Genesis 1:1.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
This is my favorite. It’s so simple. He created everything—nobody else, nothing else. It was him.
One of my favorite affirmations is, “We affirm the necessity of new birth.” It lists a lot of things, and those are all things I want in my life.
The second one is, “The Covenant Church affirms a conscious dependent on the Holy Spirit.” I believe this helps to always turn us through Christ, which is my main goal. Thank you.
Lorelai Peterson’s Testimony
Hi, my name is Lorelai Peterson, and I’ve lived in a Christian home. I asked and received Christ into my heart when I was only 11 years old.
My favorite Bible verse is John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, and anyone who believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life.” The reason I love this verse is because it shows me how much God loves all of us, no matter how different we are. Also, it shows me that he did not want us to stay in sin.
The first affirmation I’ll be talking about is “the commitment to the whole mission of the church.” This affirmation relates to me because I have hard times learning about things, and I have other struggles in my life. I believe God’s mission for me is to reach out to other people who are like me, who share in some of my struggles, and tell them how God has helped me through them, that he is willing to help that person if he or she lets God in his life.
My second important affirmation to me is “the necessity of new birth.” This is the beginning of maturity with being fully committed to Christ. He has taught me how to love and care for other people, and since I have received Christ as my Savior, my new birth, I have gained eternal life and transformation. And by having a new birth, I can help to transform those around me.
The commitment to the whole mission of the church and the necessity of the new birth tied together to help each other reach out other people like me who share my challenges. I need to be reborn myself in Christ to be blessed with the words to share and pursue my mission and the mission of the church. We cannot be a part of the whole mission of the church if we do not belong and are a part of the church with our own gifts, even when we have our own challenges, and it is only through Christ’s love for us, by his blood, that we are reborn. Thank you.
Confirmation Ceremony
That was great. I didn’t pay Caleb to say that. That was really cool. Thanks, you guys.
I am now going to ask you a couple of questions, of which we hope the answer is “yes” and “I do.”
Answering only for yourself, in perfect freedom to be silent if you cannot yet answer, I now call upon you to respond to the following questions.
Do you confess personal faith in Jesus Christ and desire, with God’s help, to be his disciple?
(Confirmands: “I do.”)
Do you believe with the Church of Jesus Christ that the Bible—the Old and the New Testament—is the Word of God telling the story of God and God’s people in the past and guiding them today?
(Confirmands: “I do.”)
As you continue in your life, do you intend to keep worshiping in Christ’s Church, listening to his Word and responding to his call according to your faith?
(Confirmands: “I do.”)
So be it according to your faith.
We would like to now pray over them, but we also use this opportunity to invite friends, family, Remedy volunteers—anyone who wants to come up and join me in praying over them. If you would please, come closer.
Lord Jesus, I thank you for your people, for your children, Father, that you have created. I thank you, Father, that you have a plan and a purpose for each one of these children. Father, I pray that you will lead them and guide them, that you will be a light to their path. Jesus, I pray now that your Holy Spirit will be with them and will lead them in their days to come—when they feel lonely and scared, Father, that they would know they can look to you, because they’re never alone. Amen.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for all of these young people up here. Lord, in a world where there’s so much darkness, let them be a light. Let their souls be on fire for you, Lord, and just continue to lead their footsteps. I ask that you protect them and protect their decisions as they continue in their walk with you.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your guiding light. Thank you for the gift of salvation that you provided us so that we can be one with you once again. These young people that have now chosen to follow your path, give them the guidance of your light so that they may follow you, that they can lead others from the darkness. In Jesus’ name.
Dear Lord, I thank you for the ability to speak into young lives, for you using any one of us to be a light and a mentor and a guidance, Lord, to go forth and make your disciples. Lord, I pray over their lives as they go ahead and the temptations of the world get stronger and stronger and stronger, Lord, that they can just see your truth. Each one of these kids were created for a rebellion for you, Lord, and I just pray that you use them in mighty ways, that thousands will see your light through each one of them. In your name we pray.
(Is there anyone else who would like to pray? Okay.)
Lord God, thank you for this morning. Thank you that we can celebrate these students, that they committed themselves to two years of studying your Word, and they’ve done so well. Lord, we pray your blessing upon them as they continue this journey with you, spending time with you, growing in relationship with you and with others around them, Lord. We pray your blessing upon them. Lord, we want to bind them to your will, to your plan, in Jesus’ name. We want to loose the plans of the enemy and any attack on their lives. We thank you, Lord, that you are with them, in them, walking ahead of them wherever they go. We pray that they’ll be led by your Holy Spirit in every decision in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.
Thank you. Let’s give them a hand, everyone.
Confirmation and the Affirmations
Before we go into the sermon, I’d like to just quickly explain Confirmation. So it’s basically two years of working through the Old and the New Testament, and then also going through two different Confirmation retreats, where we work through the Six Affirmations that the Covenant is built upon. Those Six Affirmations are quite simple, and if you’ve done our members class, then you will know what they are, but I’m gonna explain them.
The first one is the centrality of the Word of God. As a denomination and as a church, we believe that the Word of God needs to be the center of our lives. The center—everything that you do, every decision that you make, flows from the center, which is the Word of God. The Word of God is also the center of us gathering together, and it leads and guides us in everything that we do.
Then we have the necessity of new birth. We believe that it’s necessary for us to be reborn to be a child of God. Basically, the Bible describes it like this. It says that before you give your life to Christ, your spirit is dormant, or asleep, not alive. And then when you give your life to Christ, your spirit is born. That is saying, “I believe that Jesus died for me and rose from the dead.” Now all the old is past and done and the new has come. We are new creations in Him. We’re part of a new body. We’re part of a new family. In the Bible, when people did that—you were a Jew and you became a Christian, your family would disown you, almost have a funeral because you were not part of them anymore. You’re now a Christian. You lay down your life and start a new life with Jesus. That’s being reborn.
Then we have a commitment to the whole mission of the Church. That is being committed to the mission of the Church, which is to spread the Gospel locally and internationally. Part of that is the Great Commission, right? That we should go out and teach and baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And with that, the Great Command. I’m not gonna go too much into that, but loving others the way that God has loved you. And if you have questions about that, I’d love to explain that to you after the service or another day. I would really love to do that.
Then, the Church as a fellowship of believers. I was surprised how many students here this morning were referencing that affirmation because that is the one that I chose to talk about today. So I’m not gonna explain that exactly right now. We’re gonna skip ahead. We’re gonna talk about that a little bit.
We have a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit. When you give your life to Christ, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you and helps you and guides you. Jesus said to his disciples that he leaves someone behind who is exactly like him—Holy Spirit, God inside of us. And we depend on the Holy Spirit to lead us and to guide us, to speak to us in everything that we do.
Then we have the reality of freedom in Christ. As a denomination and as a church, we believe that we are free in Christ. We have freedom in Christ. Freedom from the Law, because we do not have to earn our salvation. Jesus fulfilled the Law, and so he did it for us. We do not have any sacrifices or anything to make because he was the perfect and final sacrifice. And freedom from sin, like some of the students here explained. We are free from the bondage of sin. We are forgiven. When Jesus looks at us, when God looks at us through the blood of Christ, he does not see a sinner anymore. He sees you as holy and as righteous if you have given your life to Jesus Christ. Amen?
Those are the Six Affirmations.
The Church as a Fellowship of Believers
Today we want to talk about the Church as a fellowship of believers.
When the Covenant first started, coming from Sweden, they came to America, and they were known as Mission Friends. That was kind of cool to see. Every year we do the affirmation videos. I’ve watched them seven times, because we’ve done seven Confirmation retreats, and every time we watch it, I see something else, and something else speaks to me, and something stands out, and it was cool to be reminded that they were Mission Friends. Firstly, the “Mission,” to spread the Gospel, but secondly, the “Friends” really refers to fellowship. Their aim was to spread the Gospel and make small groups, gatherings, meeting together, being friends together, doing life together. That was their aim.
It was funny, at the Confirmation retreat, I was mentioning to the students that the Bible talks about us not neglecting the gathering of the saints. You guys aware of that verse in Hebrews? “Don’t neglect the gathering of the saints.” And some of the students looked at me and they said, “The Bible says we should go to church on a Sunday? That’s a thing?” I said, “Yeah, the Bible says that.” But somehow in our lives, when everything gets tough, the day that we want to rest or cut out of our week is the Sunday, right? A lot of us do that. And then the Bible says, “Don’t neglect this day. As some are in the habit of doing, don’t do that. This is an important day.” The gathering of the saints, being together, gathering together.
Iron Sharpens Iron
Many of you who know me would know that I do not like spending time in the kitchen. The only time that I do like spending time in the kitchen is when I’m eating. I like eating. People would ask me, “What’s my favorite food?” I would say, “Food.” I like food. I like all kinds of foods. But this one thing sometimes happens to me where I step up, and I’m gonna be a good husband, and I’m gonna like get, you know, just be brave, and I walk over to the kitchen, and I go, “Honey, Liefie, can I help you in the kitchen?” Right? And something that sometimes happens to me is I get to cut the salad, which I don’t believe is food, right? So I get to cut the lettuce and the tomatoes and all of those things, and then the worst that can happen is I take a knife, which I pick my favorite knife because it looks nice, and then I take the tomato and I go *squish*. Everything’s out the sides. And I think, “Why do we have this knife? What is the purpose of this knife? It’s really good for nothing. I can’t do anything with this knife. I’m squishing tomatoes over here.” Right?
Proverbs 27 verse 17 says:
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
This scripture here refers to friends, and very specifically refers to believers. Just like iron sharpens iron, believers sharpen each other.
Now, my wife has this iron rod thing, and then she grabs the knives, *tsh tsh tsh tsh tsh tsh tsh*, and then she starts cutting all the food up. Maybe I should learn how to do that, then I won’t squish tomatoes. But I’ve never seen her in a kitchen with a piece of stick, like a branch or a stick or a piece of wood, like *tch tch tch tch tch*, right? Because wood doesn’t sharpen iron. It has to be iron that sharpens iron.
So the Bible talks about two equal parts. Two equal parts sharpening each other. And get this, this is so cool. When the one iron sharpens the other one, the one who does the sharpening isn’t really thinking about himself. You’re not trying to sharpen yourself. You’re sharpening your friend. It’s a selfless act. It’s not, “What can I get out of this? How can I win here? Is this good for me?” No. It’s looking to someone else, saying, “Is this good for them? How can I build them up? How can I encourage them? How can I help them?” That is the sharpening that happens. It’s a selfless act.
There’s the other side to it too. If you are being sharpened, will you let yourself be sharpened?
So take a second here. I know it’s getting hot in here and it’s late. Some of you might be falling asleep. But take a second, look around. If you see someone asleep, don’t laugh at them. It’s fine. So take a look around the room, and then consider the person next to you, behind you, in front of you. Are you willing to be sharpened by the people around you? As a church, as a congregation, if we are one, if we are in unity, we should be saying, “What can I do for the person next to me that can help them, that can uplift them, that can encourage them?” Not, “If I go to church today, what am I gonna get out of it?” If we are gathering as a fellowship of believers, it should be, “Lord, how can you use me? Because I want to help someone. I want to sharpen someone.” Because guess what? A knife that is not sharpened, a blade, a sword that’s not sharpened, is good for nothing. It has no purpose. If I look around the room this morning, I don’t want to see anyone here that feels like they don’t have a purpose. I want us to be able to look at each other and lift up and encourage and sharpen one another.
And that doesn’t mean you’re sitting ready to judge. “What did you… hey, don’t do that! Don’t step… you stepped over… don’t do that.” That’s not what it says. It says, “How can I help build them up? How can I speak life into their lives?” That is the kind of sharpening that we need.
Unity
Hebrews 10:24, it says:
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
How can we spur one another on toward love and good deeds? It’s talking about unity. “How can I help my brother?”
The other side is true as well. Jesus speaks to some of the people, Pharisees, whoever was there at the time in Luke 11, and he says:
“Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.”
He says, “If you’re divided, if you’re not one, if you’re not in unity, it’s gonna fall apart.” Because when we’re divided, we’re not looking out for the person next to me and how I can encourage them and how I can sharpen them. I’m looking to myself. I’m saying, “How can I do this for myself? What can I get out of this?” Maybe I don’t like the new pastor. Maybe it’s about me. That’s not a fellowship of believers, is it? No, it’s looking to the body. It’s encouraging the body. It’s helping the body.
Being “divided” in the Greek literally explains how you’re being put in different compartments. “I’m over here. You’re over there. You’re over here. You’re over there.” We’re not one. We’re not together. I think Paul faced something like that in Galatians when he was saying, when we are in Christ, “there is now therefore no Jew or Gentile.” He was trying to include everyone there at the time, but the different groups that people were creating. “No Jew, no Gentile. No slave, no free. No male, nor female. You’re making all these groups.” In their culture, males were much higher than females. They were creating these groups. My kids at home—thank goodness they don’t do this anymore, but they used to fight all the time about who’s American and who’s South African. Because Christiaan was born in America, and Emma was born in South Africa, and they try and explain to each other how the one is better than the other. And it’s creating groups. So we don’t have that problem here, right? But that happens in our culture. We look at different races, different ages. Am I left? Am I right? Those are the things that put us in different compartments. That does not unify us. It’s fighting for me; it’s not fighting for my friend. It’s not sharpening the one next to me. It’s fighting for myself.
In that portion, “divided against itself,” it says, “If you are divided, you are supporting an attack on yourself. You are coinciding with the enemy to attack your own team.” That’s being divided. That’s not being one. That’s not being unity. Jesus said, “You can’t worship one and the other. You can’t worship two masters.” You can’t have your one foot this side and the other foot this side. You have to be either in unity on the one side or you have to be excluded on the other side. But you have to choose. You can’t be divided. It’s got to be one. It’s got to be unity.
Psalm 133 says it so beautifully. Psalm 133. It says:
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
How good is it? How pleasant is it when God’s people live together in unity? How is it like?
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
When Aaron was anointed as the priest, the anointing oil symbolized him being holy and consecrated. He was being set apart. David writes here, “When we are in unity, it is like us in community being sanctified.” Because we speak into each other’s lives. We’re holding each other accountable. We’re loving each other. We’re showing the world what it means to love each other. We are joining into the process of our sanctification.
And then he goes on. He says, “Unity is good and pleasant.”
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
That dew that it’s talking about, he’s trying to say, “The land is fruitful when the dew comes.” Because on those mountains, there were a lot of snow. I know we know about snow, right? A lot of snow. It melts, and the water and the dew comes down, and it makes the ground fruitful. Anything can grow there.
And then he goes on to say:
… the Lord bestows his blessing…
The other translation says “commands a blessing.” And some of you might be going through a transition in your own life, wherever you’re at. And as a church, we have a choice to make to say, “Am I in unity? Am I part of the oneness? Am I together? Or am I being divided? Am I causing division?” Because where we are together, we’re joining in the process of sanctification. And God commands a blessing when we are together. Isn’t that cool?
This was one of Jesus’ desires for us. One of his desires for us was to be one. Jesus, just before he gets crucified, he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. And in John 17, he prays to be glorified by the Father, and then he prays for his immediate disciples right there around him. And then he prays—believe it or not—then he prays for you. He says, “Father, I pray for those who will hear the message, who will believe one day.” That’s you. That’s me. This is Jesus in the garden, praying for you. And what is he praying? In verse 20, 17 verse 20, he says:
“My prayer is not for them alone.”
(So not for the disciples alone.)
“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Jesus’ desire for you, for me, for us, is to be one, to be unified, to be together, so that the world can see how much he loves us. How will they know that we are his disciples? By the way that we love each other. By the way that we are one. By the way that we are unified.
An Illustration of Unity
I wanted to show a small illustration of what that can look like, and I left my stuff backstage.
Jesus says—here in John 17, he says, “Father, I am in you.” Then he says, when we give our life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is inside of me. But get this, he’s not just inside of me; he’s inside of you too. He’s inside of us. This is the unity that Jesus is talking about. It’s not me alone with the Holy Spirit and Jesus and the Father. It is you and me together as one with the Holy Spirit inside of Jesus, inside of the Father. This is what we should look like. One.
Closing Prayer
As the band comes up, I’m gonna pray for us.
Lord God, thank you that we can be one because of the cross, because of the blood of Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity we have to actually be able to gather together and to sharpen one another, to be selfless, but to look at how I can love my brother and my sister around me. Thank you, Jesus, that you came to forgive us, but also so that we can forgive one another and live together in harmony, live together in unity. Holy Spirit, I pray that you make this message alive in our hearts as we face transitions today, as we face changes in our church, in our congregation, even in our individual lives—that we’ll not look to be alone and not gather, but that we’ll come together; not make decisions based on our own personal wants, but that we’ll choose unity, that we’ll choose the body of Christ. Holy Spirit, help us to encourage each other. Help us to lift one another up. Help us to be life-giving to one another. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
