"Profession of Faith"

Dear WRC,

This Tuesday the Elders and I had the great privilege of sitting down with 10 young men and women in our congregation who are at the end of their journey through Confirmation and are now ready to stand up publicly and profess their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. In our tradition, that profession of faith has two parts. There’s the part you see when they stand in front of you and publicly turn from sin and pledge their lives to Jesus. But there’s also the part you don’t get to see when they sit with the Elders and have a chance to articulate their faith, demonstrate what they’ve learned, and tell some of their story. As beautiful as the public portion is, I wish you could all be there for the conversations we got to share this Tuesday.

We got to hear from young men and women who have learned how to read their Bibles, and better yet, are doing it!

We got to hear about some of the ways they’ve learned to pray—journaling was mentioned by a few—and hear about how they are finding strength, comfort, and assurance from the time they’re spending with Jesus.

We got to hear about what this church means to them, about the close-knit community that they have found here and how they value belonging to this community and have found they actually enjoy coming to worship on Sundays.

We got to hear about the ways their faith has moved them to help friends, to draw near to the hurting and broken-hearted, and to even give witness to their faith and invite their friends to trust their own.

I made a point of ending each conversation with the same question: What does it mean for you to put your faith and trust in Jesus? I think that’s really the central question. There are all sorts of theological truths that it’s important to know—the Trinity, the person and work of Jesus, the Holy Spirit’s work, understandings of the atonement—but knowing any of that doesn’t make a difference if you haven’t put your trust in what God has done for you in Jesus.

What does it mean for you to put your faith and trust in Jesus? They shared about the relief and joy of handing their lives over to Jesus, about their ability to hand over their anxiety and worry, about the peace of knowing that Jesus was with them and would take care of them. It was so encouraging to be able to hear their answers, not just because it’s evidence that the Holy Spirit continues to work out God’s promises in baptism within the lives of our young people but because it helps me place my trust more fully in Jesus, too.

How would you answer the question? Who might be blessed to hear your answer?

In Christ,

Pastor Andy