DPC Confirmation Class

Spiritual Gifts?

2009-05-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we asked what two things you'd save from your burning house (no restrictions) if all your family and pets were out safely. Many of you spoke of things that had sentimental value to you personally. We then asked what would you give your neighbor if their house burned and they were left with nothing. WOuld you give them your grandfather's old guitar? The point: God hasn't just blessed us with material possessions, but also with spiritual gifts. It's by these spiritual gifts that we should be serving others.

Explain what you feel are your personal spiritual gifts from God. How do you think you could use your personal gifts to serve others?

Sacraments

2009-05-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

Last week, Pastor Bryant Anderson taught the class all about the sacraments. He also discussed the differences of what Presbyterians believed vs. what Roman Catholics and a few other Protestant denominations believe.

What are the two sacraments that Presbyterians celebrate, and why are they so important?

Challenge HINT!!!

2009-04-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Gang,
I just wanted to touch base with you all to remind you of the challenge. I thought I'd give you a hint to solving this enigma:

HINT #1:
The two most important commandments ARE NOT an opinion. There is a most important and a second most important commandment (according to someone). So, my challenge to you was to find them, and tie in why you think service is so important to God.

HINT #2:
You won't be able to answer this without opening you Bibles. And unless you have memorized scripture (and a lot of it), you probably won't be able to find the answer without using a concordance, or a Google search.

HINT #3:
Jesus

Hope that helps and that you're up to the challenge. Good Luck!

CHALLENGE!!!!!

2009-03-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

The law: it was laid down by God to Moses because the Israelites were having a temper tantrum due to their fatigue and impatience on their way to the Promised Land; they were rebelling. So God, instead of turning His back on them, gave them His expectations. In a sense, He gave them a Code to live by. However, the Ten Commandments weren't the only rules to live by; rather, they were the umbrella which pretty much encompassed everything else.

I have a challenge for you this week: What are the two most important Commandments and why? After finding the answer, explain how you came to your conclusion. Next, explain why serving others is so important to God. Since this is a challenge requiring a bit of research and a two part summary, you have over two weeks to answer (since we don't have class on Easter morning). (be sure to note the Bible passages you used to get your answers). For those of you who answer correctly and tie in how service fits into everything, you will receive a pretty cool prize in class on April 19th.

Rules, Rules, Rules!

2009-03-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

So, this past Sunday we took a look at the Ten Commandments. What I'd really like to hear is what your impressions were after reading Exodus 20:3-21. What are your feelings about the Ten Commandments? Did something strike a chord? Did anything jump out at you that you haven't really thought about before? Consider the first four Commandments. Which one of those four do you think gives you the biggest challenge. What can you do to challenge yourself to improve in that area(s)?

A "Sticky" Situation

2009-03-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

We sin. That's no news flash. But this past Sunday, we began to understand the Good News behind God's forgiveness. However, we discussed the "stickiness" of sin and what we should do in order to "un-stick" the sin. Are we forgiven through Christ's death and resurrection? Sure. But one thing we should strive to do is acknowledge our sins, confess them to God, and repent.

We talked about repentance. In your own words, please explain what the word repent means. Then, tell us why repentance is important. How do you feel about confessing and repenting?

What questions do you have regarding this lesson? And if you have learned something special to your heart, please share it with us.

The Holy Spirit

2009-03-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

Over the past three weeks, we've have mainly spoken about two things: The Holy Spirit and Prayer. When we took a look at how the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we also began to understand how the Holy Spirit fits into the "Three-in-one."

I warned you all that this blog would be somewhat "bigger," so hopefully, your responses will be reflective and well thought out:

Please consider the Holy Trinity--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This will serve as a good exercise to help you prepare your personal statement of faith. Consider the following: Who is God the Father; what did He do and what does He do? Who and what is Jesus? What did Jesus do for us? Finally, who and what is the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do for us?

Lastly, consider prayer. What is it? Why do we do it? How can we do it? When should we do it?

Worship

2009-02-19T17:54:00.001-08:00

Dr John taught all about worship last week. I would love to hear your thoughts on what worship is, how we worship, and why we should worship. There are all sorts of ways people worship (even within the Presbyterian Church (USA)). With that in mind, what are your thoughts or questions concerning worship?

Fill Me In!!!

2009-02-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

I must say that I miss seeing you all in class. Two Sundays ago, I was at the Winter Retreat, and I was teaching an adult class for parents about understanding you all this past Sunday.

Ok, so you started looking at who Jesus is. Over the course of the last month or so, we've been looking at the stories of the Bible and how they pertain to us today. Many of you are really starting to feel comfortable enough to ask those questions that many of us grapple with even as adults. I want to encourage you all to still pose those questions, either in class, or on this blog site.

So, now we're getting into some of the more abstract stuff. Who was and who is Jesus? Since I wasn't in class this past week, I thought it would be cool for you all to just tell me about this past Sunday. I want to know what jumped out at you during the class. What did you learn that you hadn't known before? Did anything imparticular resonate with you? Did anything strike you as difficult to grasp or understand? Please share your thoughts!!!

For those of you who may not have been in class on Sunday, please be sure to look over your class notebook by reading the session summary. Tell me how you perceive Jesus. What questions do you have about him or his existence? Why do you feel compelled to publically profess your faith in him by being confirmed?

Being the Change

2009-02-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

Last week, whether you were on the winter retreat or if you came to class, we learned how important it is that we do what we can to help all of our neighbors (everyone in the world). The sad reality is that far too many people in the world can't even provide the most basic needs for themselves. We learned that there are things such as physical poverty and spiritual poverty, and often times, those who suffer from spiritual poverty are more often than not those who are wealthy (people like us...)

We learned that one of the ways we can become less spiritually impoverished is by being satisfied with "enough." In your own words, explain how being satisfied with "enough" may not only make us less spiritually impoverished, but also help those who are physically impoverished.
Why is it our responsibility to do what we can to help the poor and the hungry? Reflecting upon what poverty is and how God expects us to do something about it, what can you do personally to "be the change" in the world to help the marginalized whether they present themselves to you wither locally or globally?

FAQ's

2009-01-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

This week, we considered the practicality of why chatechism is a good method to understand the mysteries of our faith. We know that through questions and answers, much of the understanding that our oldest and original ancestors had impact us to accept the truths that we try to understand today.

We discussed how most of you probably struggle with much of the philosophies and mysteries of why we believe what we believe. Of course, this is normal. But by understanding the history of questioning and answering, you may begin to understand how our views were molded. The point: much of our ideology and beliefs that we hold true (or think are true, and are trying to prove are true), have truly been passed down to us since the beginning of time, from the time Christ walked among us, until even now, through parenting. Therefore, the mystery of faith really hasn't changed much.

For the last 2,000 years, however, society has slowly and constantly become more and more splintered. Due to enlightenment, modern medicine, industrialization, etc., many of us have been wooed and tempted to question the Authority simply because there is so much "stuff" to discern between dichotomies such as Creationism and Darwinism. We have so much knowledge and have become so disconnected from the origins of time, we can't help but question our faith. Part of our Christian journey is to slowly, through meditation and prayer and reading our Bible, be at piece with the concepts and ideologies we have inherited and accepted as our own.

We are here to help encourage you to listen and learn why and how Christianity makes sense. Much of the mysteries of our faith cannot be proven; however, they can't be disproven, either. Therefore, in order to help you connect with certain truths that most of our fellow church members believe, we encourage you to question so we can try to answer them accordingly.

Many of you had awesome questions, but we didn't have much time to answer the many questions I'm sure you still have. This week, I'd like for you all to consider some of the questions you are struggling with. Read the other questions some of your peers have asked. If you feel you can answer them or have follow up questions, please post them as well.

This is My Story

2009-01-20T13:39:00.001-08:00

This past Sunday, we took a look at how and where we came from using the Bible to understand the stories of our ancestors. Using the "Bible in 50 words" activity, we accounted a few of the many amazing things that occurred throughout history. We learned about the Covenant God made with Israel, how Israel couldn't hold up to their end of the bargain, ultimately leading to why God emptied himself to walk with us and then die for our sins. We learned about the unfaithful acts from some of our ancestors, and some of the heroic faithful acts many performed.

With the lesson in mind, consider why the Christian Church holds the Bible in such high esteem. Do you think the majority of Christians treat the Bible as the greatest tool we have to live a better life for God? Why, or why not? How do you think you, personally, may grow in faith and live as Christ would have us live using the Bible more faithfully?

We Belong to God

2009-01-14T06:49:00.001-08:00

This past Sunday, we discussed what it means to belong to certain groups. We talked about how one of the most basic human needs is to belong to something "bigger than" themself. We learned that no matter how many types of groups we belong to, we were created to live in communion with each other. We looked at 1 Corinthians and Galatians and summarized that no matter what group you belong to, we, together, make up The Church. Therefore, whether we recognize it, or not, we belong to God.

However, belonging is often a subjective term which relates to the individual considerring what it truly means to belong. Considerring the groups you may belong to (including your family), what is important about true belonging? How is it sometimes challenging to belong? Evaluate your views about how you, personally, belong to God. Discuss why you feel you belong to God, or why it's hard to accept that you truly belong to God.