|
Maxwell Peterson The last two years in church have been extremely long, due to confirmation every Sunday, but I suppose it’s paid off in the end. I had a lot of fun with it, and it’ll be weird not having to do it every Sunday. What I will remember most about confirmation are the ‘Road Trip’ videos. There have been very few days when the theme song hasn’t gotten stuck in my head, but then again, I guess that was their goal; to make sure you didn’t forget confirmation. At least the overall product was effective and humorous. They weren’t a complete joy ride, though. There were many ‘Road Trips’ that were more mellow. There were some that made you want to get up off the couch and go do something about it. For instance, families who were stuck with maybe one or two rollout mattresses to share between five or six people, and no matter how hard they tried for a better life, always managed to be hit with some other big expense that they couldn’t pay for. Such as these were intended to show where Lutherans stand in community outreach, and possible ways to help those less fortunate than us. I definitely learned a lot from these videos, along with Steve and Pastor Brian telling us about different experiences they had with helping others. My faith helps me most in my life just by helping me live it. It helps me to know that however bad I think I have things, it will always eventually get better. It helps me to understand why things are the way they are. On the other hand, things that happen can be explained by faith. For instance, the big bang, what many people believe to be the origin of the universe, which doesn’t disagree with creation, led to the expansion of the universe. Now, if the rate of expansion had been off by one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would never have reached the size that it is now, and it would have recollapsed. Such an exact number could only be described by a creator who put it in place. The fact that God could do that makes me believe that everything happens for a reason, which helps me live life a little bit easier, knowing that I can put my full trust in God to help me. My favorite Bible story is 1 Samuel 24:2-7*. My reason for this being my favorite is for humor. Saul goes into a cave to do his business. The same cave that David and Co. are hiding in. David cuts off a piece of Saul’s cloak with a knife. When Saul comes out of the cave, he is followed by David, who then proceeds to show him the cloth and says, “See? I could’ve killed you on the throne.” The thing I appreciate most about belonging to Ascension Lutheran Church is how small the church is. You get to know everyone else in the church, and they all know you. The main thing that I wish for our church is for everyone to keep doing what they do, being friendly to everyone else. Right now, I’m interested in music, band and guitar, video games, reading, and just being a teenager. In the future, I plan on either becoming a musician or an astrophysicist. I plan on going to college at U.T. and the University of Chicago. Now, on a completely different note, I’m supposed to say who Jesus is to me. I can’t really answer this in terms of who, so much as I can what. To me, Jesus means love, acceptance, peace, happiness, and all the other good qualities that you could think of. This is me and what I believe.
|
Kale Beckman My name is Kale Beckman. I was baptized on October the 11th, 1992. I have been a member Ascension Lutheran Church my whole life. I have learned a lot over the two years I have been in confirmation. I used to think it was just another bible school class until I was old enough to be in confirmation. But now that I have completed confirmation classes I realize what it really means to me. To me it means that I am confirming my baptism. When my parents and sponsors were there to baptize me, they promised to help me learn about God and to guide me in the right direction. I am confirming that I want to stay on that path and keep learning about God. One of the really fun things I enjoyed over the past couple of years was going to confirmation camp at Camp Chrysalis. It was a really fun way to talk about God and do activities to learn about him and praise him. We had several worship services a day. We would sing songs and some groups would do skits on Bible verses to make it more fun. Another thing that I liked to do at camp was hike up to what everyone called "The Bluff." It was a hike up to a big ledge, and you could see the whole camp at the top. There is a big cross at the top and we did Bible studies up there a couple times. Over all confirmation has showed me that my faith helps me in life. It helps me by doing the right thing if I'm faced with a hard decision. I don't think I could live without my faith. It has helped me overcome times when I'm not sure what to do, but God helps me and I know that he always will. As I go through high school and college I will be faced with new decisions and I know that God will help me through those times too. God forgives our sins because Jesus the son of God gave his life so that all our sins are forgiven. If we ask for forgiveness then God has promised that when we die we will have eternal life in heaven. I would like to thank all the people here at Ascension that support and help me. Also I would like to thank my family for being here to encourage me. Also Pastor Brian and Steven Cox for teaching me and helping me throughout confirmation.
|