Confirmation Begins With Water and Ends With Angels

As we move into the new school year and the beginning of another year of confirmation, I thought I'd explain why confirmation is so important. In a Confirmation Handbook, I wrote a couple of years ago,

Confirmation fulfills Mt. 28:19ff. The Lord commanded us to baptize and teach, not just baptize. As we raise our children, the Church offers some of the teaching the Divine Services, bible studies, Sunday School, VBS, youth program, grade schools, and confirmation.

Confirmation is a summary of everything your children have been taught since their baptisms. In their baptisms they received their faith, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Since then, the Lord has been preparing them to join in with all believers in the Feast of Victory, the Lord’s Supper.

Your children are growing up. They are on their way.

Of course, there is a place and time for fun and silliness. Those of you who know me, know how much I enjoy a good laugh. But then, there is a time to grow up and take seriously our actions and their consequences. The same goes for our Christian faith and life in the Church.

The church's objectives with our confirmands is to teach them God's Word and help parents help them to grow up to be faithful Lutherans. Just as all of our education gives us the tools and information into which we grow, so it is with our Christianity. What they will learn is what Christ taught us and commands us parents to hand down to our children. 

Will they "understand" everything? Of course not. 

However, they will learn a lot. Just as we didn't fully understand why 2+2=4 was so important until we got our first paycheck, so too, do we continue to grow and learn how important our repentance and being forgiven is. 

What confirmation does is summarize what it means to be a Christian and participate in the holy gifts of God, the sacraments.

The Word, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper become more and more meaningful and "understandable" with every crisis, every tribulation, every moment of suffering that we all face. 

As parents we are preparing our children so that we can let them go and learn the easy and hard lessons in life. As Christian parents, we want them to learn that when they sin, God's grace and mercy brings to them the forgiveness for their sins through faith in Christ. That is the Christian life. 

Our children will not automatically grow up when they get confirmed. But they will certainly know that they are members of the Bride of Christ, whose Groom always forgives them and continually calls them home to church every week. And they will certainly know what Church is and what Church isn't.

We all continue to "grow up" until we reach our full maturity in heaven. Then we will be completely "grown up."
marksell@charter.net

Egypt, Jesus, and Turmoil

behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt

Probably the most recognizable reference to Egypt in the bible is Mary and Joseph's flight to Egypt after being warned in a dream by an angel (Matthew 2:13-23). Their flight into Egypt was the result of Herod's paranoia over losing power in the kingdom. The birth of Christ was a sign of peace and comfort for believers, but for nonbelievers, it is trouble. Not only did Christ's family flee to Egypt, but it also brought the death of dozens of infants.

In Herod's paranoid state, he ordered the slaughter of children two years old and younger. The Christian church refers to these as the "Holy Innocents," the first martyrs of the New Testament.

All praise for infant martyrs
whom Your mysterious love ...

It's Been a While - Vacancy Pastor at Faith

Late October, my district president, Pres. Mirly, asked me to help out a vacant congregation in Washington, MO. I started at Faith in mid-November, so I've been busy serving Faith Lutheran Church as they prepare to call a pastor and move forward. However, now that I have my schedule settled and have made it through Advent and Christmas, I will now continue blogging here.


Thanks for every one's help and prayers, especially the help from Immanuel, Wentzville who helped us get through the fall. Pastor Auringer and the sheep at Immanuel are a wonderful group of people and I pray the Lord's blessings as they march on.


I continue to serve Trinity, Edwardsville, IL as there visitation pastor.


You can also see what is going on at Faith Lutheran in Washington, MO through her blog. Faith is on top of a  hill just off of a new four lane highway (100) that connects Highway 44 and the city of Washington. It is a fast growing area and there is much work to be done for the kingdom of God. Currently Faith is considering opening a preschool for the growing community. 

Is Unemployment a Calling (Vocation)?

Has God Called You to be Unemployed?

Unemployment hurts. Unemployment brings stress, suffering, and...  a new call?

The pain of unemployment,

• You're facing the upcoming mortgage payment
• Stressing over which bill to pay this month, or at least partially pay



Suffering Christ

• The dollar menu at McDonald's is the infrequent big night out
• Screening your phone calls... because of collectors
• Depressingly watch credit card bills grow at high interest
• Praying fervently the car doesn't break down
• Thank God for Aldi's, the inexpensive and "basic groceries only" grocery store
• etc. etc. etc.

How can this be a vocation, a call from God?

Practicing what you preach is a real pain.

Youth Ministry & Fun; Either/Or or Both/And

Here's another clip from the show Wretched.

Corpoarte Worship

Lutherans have a Two Kingdom theology that permits us to know the difference between corporate worship and daily worship  The former is the body of Christ gathered around Word and Sacraments, Sunday Services. The latter is the love and service our neighbor in our daily lives.

Daily Worship

In that daily service (calling/vocation), certainly fun, entertainment, and my interests are very much a part of the the daily worship of God. So it is with our youth.

There isn't anything wrong with having fun and teaching the youth what it means to be Lutheran. However, when youth work is only about having fun, or even thinking that the fun is goal of the youth work, then, we are better off investing in an amusement park. However, the substance of youth ministry must be the Lutheran substance, i.e. God's Word and the sacramental life.

The key is let fun be fun; let study be study. There is an important distinction in this method.

Unfortunately, the daily worship, which includes fun and puts people at the center (loving your neighbor) has taken over corporate worship, which centers in Christ's calling  His Bride, the church to repent and receive forgiveness - to become one with Him in the sacramental life.

"Take a dollop of sarcasm, mix it in with conservative theology and voila, you have Wretched TV. Think of it this way. Take John Stewart, remove the potty language and change all of the worldly topics to Christian. That is Wretched."

This guy is hoot. I record his shows and watch them at night. He is a conservative evangelical, meaning, he isn't Lutheran. So I don't want anyone to think that everything he says is what Lutherans believe. But, boy, often he get the Law right when it comes to living rightly. As Lutherans, we always see living rightly as the fruit of faith, yet, it still drives us to repentance to receive our daily baptismal forgiveness. His show is on weeknights at 10:00 pm eastern time.

Is Your Child a "Fake Christian?"

CNN recently ran a story on youth and Christianity (Author: "More teens becoming 'fake' Christians" by John Blake)

(CNN) -- If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning:

Your child is following a "mutant" form of Christianity, and you may be responsible.

Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls "moralistic therapeutic deism." Translation: It's a watered-down faith that portrays God as a "divine therapist" whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem.

Another reason why, preaching theological sermons, attending the Lord's Supper, and strong Confirmation Classes are the most important things in your church.

Satire: Public Relations and the Church

Buddy Christ

Or, Which Jesus Saved Your Soul?

Christianity Today has a funny article, "How to Become a Successful Religion" by Mark Galli. It is a hoot.

It always use to crack me up when people would learn my last name, "Sell." If I had a buck for every time someone would then say, "You're a good salesman." The other comment was, "You've got a good product to sell."  Of course, the comments were always well meaning and said with good intentions. No offense taken.

To: James, President of the Jerusalem Council

Re: Initial Impressions

Shalom Marketing Ltd. was recently contacted by a member of your council, asking us to tell you about our services. He said to make it clear that he was footing the bill for this initial evaluation, with the hopes that our sound advice will encourage the council to hire us to guide your marketing efforts for the next strategic stage in your movement's life.

Oh that Peter. This one really cracked me up.

Christ Instead of Me

"...there is no quality in my heart at all, call it either faith or charity;

but instead of these I set Christ Himself before me,

and I say, “There is my righteousness.”

--Martin Luther, 16th c. Reformer 

 
(Picture is the Lower Panel of “Memorial of the Reformation” Altarpiece, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, [1547] from St. Mary's Church [Townchurch] Wittenberg, Germany. LCMS will soon open an outreach center in Wittenberg, Germany with CPH.)

Pastor Harrison on Wretched Network - Huh?

Two Pastors - Yin and Yang

Or, as I put it, when is it time to grow up?

Here is another video making the rounds. It is from the NRB Network. It is a clip from their late night show called Wretched, a nightly variety show hosted by Todd Friel, which makes its NRB Network debut on Monday,  October 19 at 11:30 pm ET.

From their web site,

Host, Todd Friel, is a former stand-up comedian and longtime radio personality who refers to himself as the “chief of wretches”. While studying to become a pastor, Todd came to a point of reckoning with his salvation. The experience left him with a passion for the truth of God’s Word which, when combined with his wit, makes Wretched a program like no other.

The video is Pastor Matt Harrison, the president-elect of the LCMS (starts in Sept.), speaking to the convention moments after his election compared to another pastor. Todd Friel seems to be making an excellent point.

The Family Blessings

The following is an excerpt of an excellent article by Dr. Gene Edward Vieth, Your Family Vocation. Originally published in the Lutheran Witness, September 2001, a publication of the LCMS.

The church was packed for the funeral of a lady in her upper 80s. She and her latehusband had had a lot of children, and here they were, along with a slew of children and great-grandchildren. Add in the spouses of everyone, plus nieces and nephews and their children, and the church was pretty much filled with family, all coming before God to thank Him for her life and to commend her back to Him.

122 Family Members

What if this woman had not happened to meet her husband back in the 1930’s? What if they had not gotten married? Half of the people in the church, from the middle-aged grandparents to the little kids squirming in the pews, would not exist.

School Rush: Getting Ready for the Fall

The last couple of weeks our family has been preparing ourselves for the "school rush." You know how it goes. Getting the info for school to start, filling out forms, figuring out rides to school, sports, confirmation, etc. Whew.

One of the things that keeps us balanced is to fall back on God's grace and mercy. His forgiveness and the security of our salvation is secure. As much as we want to be on time, have things organized, try to be everywhere for our family, the fact is, we will mess up sometimes. Well, it helps to remember, these things are not necessary for salvation. What was necessary was the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb who paid for all of our sins. He even paid for being late, not being able to be at all the kids events, forgetting the practice, etc.

Pr. Sell

God's Call to be a Dad

Having just spoke about Vocation at a youth gathering, a friend of mine directed me to this video. God calls you into your vocation. According to Romans 12:1-4, God calls each Christian into many vocations. The word vocation (vocatio Latin) means to call. Our many vocations, or calls, are our daily worship of God. One of those vocations is being a mom or dad. Here is a video that makes that point, called, "Dad Life." Yes, this is the one I showed in our Sunday morning bible class, in case anyone was wondering.

Pr. Sell

Pastor Sell Speaks at Youth Conference in Utah and TN

Summer Update

Other than the usual preaching and teaching at Immanuel and shut-ins for Trinity, Edwardsville, I've been involved in a few other things this summer. You might remember that I was scheduled to be the plenary speaker at a Higher Things (HT) youth gathering in Utah and then in TN. WOW! What a hoot. What makes HT attractive is the cost of the conference - about $325/youth - plus travel. They also have these every summer. Next summer, they will have 3 of them. One in IL, one at UNLV Las Vegas, and one in Atlanta.


Given 2010 Logan, Utah

The Utah gathering was a blast as I was able to relive some of my former experiences in Utah, aka, Mormon-land. It was high desert, so, it was a "dry" heat. As the plenary speaker, that meant that I spoke to all the kids at one time. Utah had well over 500 kids.

Sorry about the blurred pics...

I couldn't help but to get a dig in about the Red Wings.

The worship was awsome, the break out sessions were interesting and I was