On Confirmation Sunday, May 6, excerpts from the Confirmands’ final papers were read during the service. They reveal the faith, sincerity and thoughtfulness of these young men. Enjoy!
To have faith in God means to pray and help others in times of need. By praying you are assuring your faith in God by asking him to help to you or someone you know. By helping people you are assuring your faith in God by carrying out Gods will. By helping people you are being like God by thinking of others and loving others enough to give your time to assist them. Having faith in God also means that you know that he is there for you and that he is there for everyone, and he will not abandon you, because you are one of his children, and like a parent he will be around to help you and guide you down the path of life. Confirmation class has provided me with further knowledge about the story of Jesus and the Old Testament, and I am very glad that I have done the class.
For me, to have faith in God is to have the belief that God is real whether or not someone can produce physical and hard proof that he truly does exist, and to trust him like you would a friend as they guide you, while you slowly walk through a maze blindfolded, step by step. My upbringing in the faith gives me the understanding that whether or not there may be something that I would have more fun with rather than helping others, it is undeniably healthier for my soul and much more productive for society to help others who are less fortunate when I see an opportunity, than to stare at a computer screen for endless hours clicking my mouse and pressing keys.
Confirmation class has taught me a lot about my faith that I hadn’t known before. I always knew the main stories of Christmas and Easter, but Confirmation has expanded my knowledge of all the other aspects of Christianity. Never before had I known about the Old Testament and the stories. I thought we as Christians just cared about Jesus’ life, but I’ve learned that there is so much more to the faith than just the Four Gospels. I’ve explored all aspects of the Bible and learned so much more than I thought I would. It has made me regularly think about Christianity after Sunday morning worship.
For me, confirmation class has been a time where I could deepen my understanding of the bible, and the teachings of Jesus, in a comfortable and open atmosphere with my friends, while we had tasty pizza and soda. To me, God is someone who sees all of humanity as his children, who wants to protect and love his children, but at the same time, wants to allow everyone to experience a life that they could call their own. I experience God most when I am helping others with things that they need.
Confirmation has put the “why” in church for me. It has helped explain why Jesus did the amazing things that He did and why we choose to worship that. I have a greater understanding of Jesus and, because of that, of God. I understand God as the one we can turn to when no one is there. No matter when, no matter where, God will listen to whatever you have to say.
Jesus is every human’s way of understanding God. Without Jesus, no one could ever fathom what God is capable of. Jesus is the connection between God and us.
My favorite types of teachings are the parables because out of all of Jesus’ teachings they feel the most enjoyable and interesting because in my opinion, they are very relatable due to the usually apparent morals or lessons that they carry along with them that I can apply to myself to become a kinder person. Church is important because it allows people to come together to pray as part of a congregation, and in the case of our church people are able to express their joys or concerns that they wish for other people to pray for and are able to get the satisfaction of knowing that there is a group of people that are praying for them and their joys and concerns whatever they may be.
Church is a community that God keeps calling me to serve in. He calls me to do good in the world not only for myself, but for those around me. I want to answer this call by becoming a member of the church and going to Down East Maine, serving dinner at the soup kitchen, and sharing my gifts and helping hands with the world. The church is a community that has done a lot for me and it’s a community that I want to do a lot for in return.
My faith in God has led me here. In the past two to three years I have been on a number of soup kitchen trips, mission trips and visited different churches. In the future I plan to continue my faith journey, by getting to church as often as I can, giving back to homeless in mission trips like Reach Out Worchester, and praying often. I also hope I can go to the Down East Maine Mission Trip for as long as I am able to. When I am older and I have my own family, I plan to bring them to church and help them begin their faith journey too. This is just the beginning of my faith journey and there is so much more to come.
Confirmation Class was a really fun time, and it’s helped me understand how our religion works. After attending these classes, I have noticed that I have a better time in church services, knowing the background for the sermons and who was involved in these stories from the Bible. If I did not have God in my life, I feel I would be very different. I would not feel as though there was someone always watching over me. Having that reassurance from God would be missed, and I feel I would not be as cheerful or kind. Having faith in God brings goodness to the world.
Some of my favorite things in church are the songs and the sermons, but most of all, I like the people. The church is important because it brings these people together. Not only are we praying to the same God, but we are rejoicing in each other’s presence. Everyone cares for one another, and we help each other out in our times of need. We are a giant family, and I would like to join this family as a member of the church. I have had a great time in class this year, and I would like to continue with my faith in God and our church.