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May 2, 1999
Pastor: Wayne C. Eichstadt
Website Note: Confirmation Sunday at Immanuel was May 2nd. This week’s entry on the website includes the entire service rather than just the sermon. We pray you will find it edifying and invite any comments you may have. On Confirmation at Immanuel, both pastors participate in the sermon.
Pre-Service meditation: Psalm 119:33-40
Pre-Service prayer
Dear heavenly Father, be with the young people being confirmed today and enable them to remain ever faithful to the promises they make. Remind each of us who have likewise promised faithfulness to You and Your Word to uphold that promise by standing upon Your Word and relying solely upon You. Bless this congregation and your people everywhere together with the work they do for Your saving name. Amen.
Bells & Entrance of Confirmands
Opening Prayer:
Immanuel High School Choir
Holy Ghost with Light Divine
TLH # 234 (st.1,2,6)
Hymn: Let All Things Now Living
WELCOME in the name of our Triune God who alone enables us to stand against sin and remain faithful to His Word. We worship this morning in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen
Martin Luther wrote "the Christian Questions" as a way for children of God to examine themselves in preparation for the Lord’s Supper. This self-examination is important in order to prepare for the Lord’s Supper properly, that it may be received with a true heart and for blessing rather than toward spiritual harm. God says through the Apostle Paul, “Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28).
Let us each examine ourselves this morning using Luther’s Christian Questions. As we examine ourselves in this way we make confession of our sins and then reaffirm the confidence we have in the Gospel which tells us that those sins are all forgiven.
We confess with sorrow our sins as revealed by the law
We confess our free salvation as revealed by the Gospel
We confess God’s Gift in the Lord’s Supper
"Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake it and gave it to His disciples, saying, ‘Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.’
"After the same manner also He took the cup when He had supped, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ "
We should do this so that we learn:
First, to believe that no creature could possibly do enough to pay for our sins; only Christ, true God and true man, could do this;
Secondly, to be frightened by our sins and consider them to be great indeed; and
Finally, to find joy and comfort in Him, knowing that we are saved through this same faith.
First, no better advice can be given to such a person than for him to put his hand on his body and feel whether he still has flesh and blood and believe what the Scriptures say about this;
Next, he should look around to see whether he is still in the world and remember that there will be no lack of sin and trouble, as the Scriptures say;
Finally, he will certainly have the Devil to contend with, who with his lies and murder day and night, allows him no inner or outer peace, as the Scriptures picture him.
King Solomon never had to hear "no." He was able to have everything his eyes saw and all his heart wanted. However, when Solomon looked at it all he declared that it was NOTHING but EMPTINESS. Children of God hear the wisdom of Solomon: Wealth is not having everything we want, but having the riches of Christ!
It’s springtime! The leaves and buds are popping out in the warmth of the springtime sun. Therefore, it is easy to see which are the dead branches and which are living. Fruits of faith will "pop out" in the lives of all who are warmed by the Light of the Son. Children of God grafted to Jesus, the Living Vine, will by no means die but live eternally.
Hymn: Amazing Grace
1. Amazing Grace—how sweet the sound—
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
2.The Lord has promised good to me;
His Word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion
Be as long as life endures.
3.Through many dangers, toils,
And snares I have already come;
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
4.When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun
© Public Domain
Text: Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful!
In Christ Jesus, our Savior and our Lord, dear fellow redeemed but especially you, our confirmands:
TODAY YOU STAND BEFORE THE LORD! Those words are the theme of this service. They describe your situation today as confirmands, for soon you will step forward to stand before your Lord Jesus and make several promises to Him and to your heavenly Father. If you keep your promises, and you should, they will determine your direction in life for the rest of your life.
This is an important day for you. You have studied for two years preparing for this day. You spent many hours reviewing the truths of the Bible. You spent many more hours learning Bible verses and Luther’s Small Catechism. Why did you do this? You did this because your relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship you have. He is your Savior. He re-deemed you from sin and delivered you from Satan. He made you God’s children and gave you eternal life. He is your Lord! He bought you with His own life’s blood, so that you might serve Him throughout your lives. You understand this and are ready to promise to do this. Beyond this, however, you will some day stand before Jesus again on Judgment Day. You will then want Him to confess Your name before His heavenly Father. Jesus says, “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 10:32-33).
Yes, TODAY YOU STAND BEFORE THE LORD! I want to encourage you to stand forever on the confession of your hope, for it is a biblical confession embracing an everlasting hope, secured for you by a faithful Savior!
Yes, your confession is a biblical confession! Confirmands, I hope and pray that you recognize this and understand how rare your biblical confession is! Later in this service you will confess your faith in the words of the Apostolic Creed. You will confess that you believe God created the heaven and the earth as the Bible teaches. A majority of the people in our world do not believe this. You will confess that you believe Jesus is God’s Son, that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, that He suffered, died, but then arose physically from the dead. Many people today, including many professing Christians, reject these teachings. They will challenge your faith in the future and urge you not take the Bible literally, suggesting that it is filled with myths. This is not true. The Bible is, as you will confess, the inspired and inerrant Word of God. God moved the writers of the Bible to write exactly what He wanted them to write. God does not inspire errors! Confirmands, yours is a rare confession in this day, but it is a biblical! It is godly! Rest assured, it is also true!
This past week those attending our midweek Bible class watched a video on "The Roman Age"--an age during which faithful Christians, who believe as you do, were persecuted by the Roman state. The narrator of the film pointed out that the early believers were not killed because they believed in Jesus, but rather because as believers in Jesus, the one true God and only source of salvation, they refused to compromise their beliefs and worship false gods. They remained steadfast and true to God’s revelation in the Bible. This is what you will promise to do later in our service. You will promise to "suffer all, even, death," rather than to fall away from the truths of the Bible! Confirmands, TODAY YOU STAND BEFORE THE LORD! Stand forever on the confession of your hope, for it is a biblical confession!
Yes, stand forever on the confession of your hope, for it is a biblical confession embracing an everlasting hope! Unbelievers listening to our service today would no doubt suggest that your confirmation vows are a bit extreme. After all, to promise to suffer the loss of all, or even to die rather than to give up your confession sounds rather fanatical. It is not fanatical, however, if you understand the nature of the gospel.
Jesus told several parables, which illustrate the tremendous significance and value of the gospel message. He spoke of a man finding a treasure buried in a field, who then went out and gave up everything he had to buy that field. He spoke of another man finding a priceless pearl, who then gave everything he had to purchase it. Your Christian faith gives you something of tremendous significance and value, when it gives you as a gift the hope of everlasting life. I say hope, not in the sense that the gift of everlasting life is in any way uncertain, for it is not. Jesus has secured for us an inheritance in heaven, which is ours as surely as Jesus lives and reigns. It is a hope in this sense only, that we must wait until we get to heaven to experience it!
Dear confirmands, in order to understand the importance of your everlasting hope, consider the recent tragedy in Colorado. Thirteen young people will never graduate from high school and enter the workforce. Their education in mathematics, English, and history means nothing at all now. While you stand before your Lord today in this church, they stood before their Lord’s throne last week and entered their eternal destiny. What mattered is what was in their hearts--faith or lack of faith! What can we say about the two young men who committed these crimes? Would they have done so if they had embraced a biblical confession such as yours? Would they have been so free to murder, if their hearts had embraced the everlasting hope which claims your hearts and fills them with love? Stand forever, confirmands, embracing an everlasting hope, for it will fill your hearts with love, peace, and joy, and move you to live in love, peace, and joy!
Finally, stand forever on the confession of your hope, for it is a biblical confession, embracing an everlasting hope, secured for you by a faithful Savior! The writer to the Hebrews says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful!” The One who has promised so many blessings to us is Jesus. He is our faithful Savior! What has He promised us? He promises that we will not be confused, for He says, “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:31-32). He promises that we will never be alone, for He says, “I will be with you always even to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20). He promises that our future is secure, for He says, “I give them eternal life and that no one will ever snatch them out of My hands” (Jn. 10:28). He promises that we will spend eternity with Him, for He says, “I go to prepare a place for you...I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn. 14:2-3).
We cannot always depend upon the good intentions of our fellow human beings. Even those who love us most cannot always fulfill their promises as they would like. But this is not true for Jesus. Jesus has "all authority in heaven and on earth” (Mt. 28:18). He can and He will fulfill everything He has promised us, for He is our faithful Savior!
TODAY YOU STAND BEFORE THE LORD! Stand forever on the confession of your hope! Then you will be blessed by your Savior and Lord throughout this life, and you will be blessed to be with your Savior and Lord throughout eternity! Amen!
RITE OF CONFIRMATION
Pastor Eichstadt: Dear Students of the Word: When you were little children, you were received into God’s covenant of grace in Holy Baptism. Now, having learned the meaning of this covenant from your instruction in God’s Word, you have come here before God and this Christian congregation to make a public profession of your faith in the Triune God; to dedicate yourselves body and soul for time and for eternity to the Lord your God; and to receive Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of your sins.
You stand today before the Lord’s altar in willing response to the Word of God in Romans 10, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”(Romans 10:9-10).
Having hearts filled with faith and encouraged by God’s grace and promises, lift up your voices to answer the following questions which we ask you in the name of our Lord, and as servants of this congregation.
Pastor Nolting: Do you renounce the Devil and all his works and all his ways?
Confirmands: I do.
Pastor Eichstadt: Do you believe in God the Father?
Confirmands: Yes, I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
Pastor Nolting: Do you believe in God the Son?
Confirmands: Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell, the third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
Pastor Eichstadt: Do you believe in God the Holy Ghost?
Confirmands: Yes, I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
Pastor Nolting: Do you desire to become a communicant member of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church?
Confirmands: I do.
Pastor Eichstadt: Do you believe that all the books of the Bible are the verbally inspired and inerrant Word of God; and that the teachings of this Lutheran congregation drawn from the Bible as you have learned to know them from Luther’s Small Catechism, are true and correct, as the Holy Spirit has led you to know and understand them?
Confirmands: I do.
Pastor Nolting: Do you also, as a member of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, intend to continue steadfast in the confession of the truth of Holy Scripture, and to suffer all—even death—rather than fall away from it?
Confirmands: I do so intend, with the help of God.
Pastor Eichstadt: Finally, do you intend faithfully to conform all your life to the rule of the Divine Word, to be diligent in the use of the Means of Grace, both in Word and Sacraments; to walk in accordance with the Gospel of Christ and in faith, word, and deed remain true to the Triune God, even unto death?
Confirmands: I do so intend with the help of God.
Pastor Eichstadt: Come forward now to give your hand at the Lord’s altar, as a pledge of your promise; and kneeling, receive His blessing.
The confirmands now step forward to receive their blessings and certificates.
CONFIRMATION VERSES & BLESSINGS
Nathan Allan Brandt
Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
May God, our Father in heaven who has called you unto eternal glory through our Lord Jesus Christ make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you, and keep you through faith unto eternal life.
Rosemary Jean Busse
Joshua 1:9
Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
May God, your Creator; the Lord Jesus Christ, your blessed Redeemer; and the Holy Spirit the Comforter ever remain close to your heart and active in your life now and forever.
Samuel Paul Hagen
Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
May God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, give you His Holy Spirit—the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge, of grace and prayer, of power and strength, of sanctification and the fear of God.
Molly Concordia Hanel
Acts 16:31
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.
May God, our Father in heaven, ever renew in you the gift of the Holy Spirit, to strengthen your faith, to help you grow in grace, to increase your patience in suffering, and to preserve you unto the blessed hope of everlasting life.
Victoria Lynn Hanel
Revelation 2:10
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
May God, Who has begun a good work in you, complete it until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, when this present world will pass away and all who by His grace are faithful will receive the crown of life
Alison Mary Hansen
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
May God, who by grace has saved you and promised you the gift of life everlasting, ever be near you to keep you strong in faith, fervent in love, an filled with hope until life’s end when you will experience the joys of heaven.
Amy Ann Hempel
John 15:5
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
May God, who by grace has saved you and promised you the gift of life everlasting, ever be near you to keep you strong in faith, fervent in love, an filled with hope until life’s end when you will experience the joys of heaven.
Brandon Scott Johnson
Revelation 2:10
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
May God, Who has begun a good work in you, complete it until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, when this present world will pass away and all who by His grace are faithful will receive the crown of life
Lee Benjamin Klammer
John 15:5
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
May God, our eternal Father, walk with you throughout your life, as He did with the prophets and apostles of old, so that your life may be grounded in His Word and your testimony confirmed by His promises.
Ross Daniel Libby
Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
May God, our eternal Father, walk with you throughout your life, as He did with the prophets and apostles of old, so that your life may be grounded in His Word and your testimony confirmed by His promises.
Adam Leslie Lueck
Joshua 1:9
Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
May the God of peace sanctify you completely; and by His grace preserve your spirit, soul, and body blameless until Jesus’ promised return at the end of time when you will see the fulfillment of the promises you now accept by faith.
Laura Kay Nolting
Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
May God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, give you His Holy Spirit—the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge, of grace and prayer, of power and strength, of sanctification and the fear of God.
Kimberly Ruth Schultz
John 10:27-28
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
May God, our Father in heaven, ever renew in you the gift of the Holy Spirit, to strengthen your faith, to help you grow in grace, to increase your patience in suffering, and to preserve you unto the blessed hope of everlasting life.
April Johanna Stelter
Joshua 1:9
Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
May the God of peace sanctify you completely; and by His grace preserve your spirit, soul, and body blameless until Jesus’ promised return at the end of time when you will see the fulfillment of the promises you now accept by faith.
Joshua Henry Stelter
Joshua 1:9
Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
May God, your Creator; the Lord Jesus Christ, your blessed Redeemer; and the Holy Spirit the Comforter ever remain close to your heart and active in your life now and forever.
Julie Lynn Strege
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
May God, our Father in heaven who has called you unto eternal glory through our Lord Jesus Christ make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you, and keep you through faith unto eternal life.
Pastor Eichstadt: Upon these your voluntary professions of faith and promises, I, in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ and this Christian congregation, welcome you as communicant members of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church; and invite you to participate with us in all the rights and privileges of the Christian Church for whom Christ “gave Himself…that He might sanctify and cleanse her” (Ephesians 5:26).
Since it is God alone who works in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure, it is only proper that we as a Christian congregation join to pray for our confirmands this morning. Would the congregation please rise for prayer:
Confirmation Prayer:
Almighty and everlasting Father, we thank You for Your grace in sending Your Son to redeem us sinners from the death we all deserve. Especially, this day, we praise You for Your grace in bringing these 16 young people into Your family through Holy Baptism, preserving them in their faith, and now leading them to the confidence in Your truth which they have here confessed. Be with each one of them, pour out Your Holy Spirit upon them so that they may remain faithful to their promise and ever hold fast to the confession of their hope without wavering. Daily increase their knowledge and trust in You, and lead them to greater obedience toward You in sanctified living. Preserve them, O Lord, in the midst of this evil world that is filled with so many temptations. In like manner, we pray for the same blessings upon all your children. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
[congregation is seated]
Pastor Eichstadt: The Confirmands will now sing their class hymn in they which pray: Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways” [TLH #416]
Text: Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Dear Confirmands—dear fellow redeemed:
I look out and see 16 young people with 16 different lives, 16 different personalities, and 16 different futures during your lives on this earth. You may one day live in 16 different states—or even countries. You may drive 16 distinctly different cars. As I look at you I am seeing future mothers and fathers, perhaps doctors, homemakers, pastors, engineers, teachers, civil servants, and all the other callings to which God may lead you.
Will all 16 of you keep in touch with each other throughout your lives? Perhaps, but maybe not completely. Still, an important part of standing before the Lord is that you do not stand alone. TODAY YOU STAND BEFORE THE LORD, not alone, not just the 16 of you, but your congregation stands with you, together with all believers.
An individual believer can remain like an island—all alone, secluded, surrounded by the waters of the world. At times, because a child of God cannot find a visible church which holds to and teaches ALL of God’s Word in its truth and purity – that child of God must remain separate as an island and in those cases God still preserves that individual’s faith through the Gospel. However, if a child of God has opportunity to make use of the Means of Grace by gathering together with like-minded believers in worship and fellowship and neglects that opportunity, he is neglecting what is pleasing to God and what God intends to be for our blessing.
As you stand today before the Lord and leave with the encouragement to "stand forever on the confession of your hope" also leave REMEMBERing FOREVER THOSE WHO STAND WITH YOU. For you see I. We need you in our lives and II. You are our blessing from God.
Confirmands, everyone here this morning needs you—from the members sitting in front of you to the one sitting in the farthest corner of the balcony—We ALL need you. We all need you just as you need all of us. We need each other. We need each other because of what we know about this life.
We KNOW that we are weak sinners who trip and fall into temptation. We KNOW that the world is a place filled with many things that are opposed to God, which contradict His Word, and which form the broad path to eternal destruction. We KNOW that this world is not going to get better, and if anyone tries to tell you otherwise, don’t believe them.
We KNOW these things are true because God tells us so. God led Paul to warn Timothy of these very things in both of his letters to Timothy. “The time WILL come (it was not a question of IF it would come) when they WILL not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires…they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they WILL turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:4) “…some WILL depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons…”(1 Timothy 4:1). Paul was speaking of things that would take place within the religious community IN ADDITION TO the wild wickedness and sin of the "outside" world.
We NEED each other because we can HELP each other in the dangers of this life. Your confirmation text from Hebrews gives us the way God has in mind for us to help one another. “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works…exhorting one another and so much the more so as you see the Day approaching.”
What the writer to Hebrews describes is God’s "buddy system." The "buddy system" works well for swimming, field trips, and things like that because when you are with a friend you have four eyes to watch for danger, you have a pair of arms to help you up if you fall, and someone to run and get help if you are hurt. God’s "buddy system" works the same way.
Together, we have each other to be watchman standing high on Zion’s wall looking out for the enemy from in front and from behind so that if I let my guard down you are right there to bring God’s Word to me to help me get that guard back up. I need you—we all need each other.
Together, we have each other to call us back from our sin. The absolute worst thing that could ever happen to any of us, is that we become entrapped in sin, live in unrepentance, continue in that sin so that gradually our conscience hardly even notices anymore, and in this way become hard in our hearts toward God. It’s never easy to be told we are wrong and sinning in what we’re doing, but we NEED each other to rebuke, correct, and lead back to God’s word when we sin. In Galatians Paul wrote, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourselves lest you also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). In Hebrews, we read, “exhort one another daily…lest you become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).
We need each other also in the ups and downs of life—suffering with one another when one suffers, and rejoicing with one another when someone has reason to rejoice. Its hard to imagine a greater blessing than the comfort of a Christian congregation at the time of a funeral, or their congratulations and prayers for blessing at a wedding, or at the birth of a child. God’s "buddy system" gives you to us and us to you to comfort when someone is sad…to reassure if someone is feeling hopeless…to share in each new blessing from God.
As this world races toward judgment we NEED you. As Satan continually adapts himself and molds temptations into what will be most effective, we NEED each other to minister to each other with the Word. The end of this world is getting ever nearer. The closer we get to that day, the more and more we NEED each other and should seek to provide for that need.
Once you see how we need you, Confirmands, it is not hard to then also see how you become our blessing. As each of us uses the Word and the "Armor of God" to stand against the Devil and hold fast the confession of our hope; and then use that same Gospel Hope to help one another in our need, we are serving others for their eternal good – a great blessing indeed!
In our text, God points out a very important way by which we serve one another and become a blessing to each other and that is by GATHERING TOGETHER FOR WORSHIP. “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some…”
People’s in Paul’s day were not any different than we are. It was easy to find other things to do rather than gather together for worshipping God. Hebrews instructs us not to NEGLECT this assembling together, and for a reason that may be rather surprising. The writer doesn’t speak in the singular: "worship because YOU need to praise God and hear His Word INDIVIDUALLY" (although that is also true). Instead, he says, "assemble and worship because that is a way to serve YOUR (plural) mutual NEEDS!"
Worship is not for individual benefit. If I neglect the opportunity for worship and hearing the Word, I am harming myself—to be sure—by not having the blessing of my fellow believers uplifting me and serving me with the Gospel. At the same time I am harming them because I’m not there to help them in their need.
Consider Jesus’ disciples: When they were afraid on Easter evening—they gathered together. When those who were imprisoned were released they went to the Christian congregation to tell of all that the Lord had done for them and to join in praising Him for His mercy. In Acts, the assembling together is described in this way: “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved”(Acts 2:42). The gathering together to partake of the Gospel and to serve each other with the Gospel proved a great blessing to the early Christian church, and that is exactly what the earthly church in these latter days also needs.
Confirmands, you are a blessing to us when you are here We are all mutually blessed by God through each other’s presence and involvement in the work of God’s Kingdom and the assembling together for worship. You, dear confirmands—having learned these truths and continuing to grow in them—are, next to the Word of God, our greatest asset. You are additional lights proclaiming the wonders of God in a world of darkness. You are the ones whom God will call upon to preserve His truth and to lead with His truth when the generations before you are gone.
Each one of us as children of God stands today before the Lord. REMEMBER FOREVER THOSE WHO STAND WITH YOU. Remember them in your worship, in your prayers, and in all that you do. WE NEED EACH OTHER! “Grow TOGETHER in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Oh, what a blessing that will be! To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen! ( 2 Peter 3:18).
The Communion Liturgy pp. 22-24
O risen Savior, grant us hearts to yield You
Gladly, freely of Your own
With the sunshine of Your goodness,
Melt our thankless hearts of stone
Till our cold and selfish natures
Warmed by You at length believe
That more happy and more blessed
‘Tis to give than to receive. Amen.
Prayers (Special prayer: Hilda Woods’ 90th birthday which was yesterday & communicants)
Lord God in heaven, we thank You for the blessings You grant to Your Church on earth and the fellowship we are now enjoying. Give us all a sincere longing to assemble in Your name to worship You, and to be edified by the preaching and teaching of Your holy name. Help each of us cling to You forever in true faith never releasing our grip on the "confession of our hope." Through the Word heard today, increase our faith and deepen our appreciation for the salvation You have so wonderfully provided to us sinners!
Marvelous are Your Works--O Lord, and great is Your grace. We thank You this day for the 90 years of grace and mercy you have shown to Your daughter, Hilda Woods. We join with her in thanking You for the many blessings—spiritually and physically—which you have bestowed upon her. You have remained ever true to Your promises – we praise You for Your faithfulness. Continue to watch over Hilda, we pray, grant her good health and every needful blessing, and keep her in Your peace, leading her past each milestone in this life all the way to eternal glory.
As the communicants come to the Lord’s Supper—our confirmands for the first time—to receive our Savior’s body once offered now given in bread, and His blood once shed now given in wine…send the Holy Spirit to give joy to our hearts, strengthening to our faith, and new life to our souls. Teach us ever to walk in the way of Your commandments as a fitting response to the love and mercy you have shown. All these things we ask in Jesus’ saving name. Amen.
The Communion Liturgy: pp. 24-29
The Distribution
Communion Hymns:
336, My God, Accept My Heart This Day
315, I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table
The Communion Liturgy: pp. 29-31
Benediction: The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make His face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee; The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace.
C: Amen…amen….amen!
Closing Hymn: # 552 (st. 1,5-8) – Abide with Me!
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Immanuel Lutheran Church 421 North Second Street Mankato, Minnesota 56001 |
Church Office: (507) 345-3027 Pastor Nolting: (507) 387-7035 Pastor Eichstadt: (507) 344-0898 |