Covenant Presbyterian Church, Frazer, PA

Today, Luke 14 was in the spotlight, with parables of feasts - and pathetic excuses not to attend. As Christians and regular participants in Christian activities like church, youth group, and confirmation class, maybe we're like the first group that the rich man invited to his feast ... and don't we have a lot of lousy excuses not to partake of a rich, Christian life. I went to church last week. I need to listen to my iPod instead of praying. I'm too busy.

Perhaps Jesus needs to move to the front of our to do list.

For next week, please read Luke chapters 23 and 24. (And yes, we know that we're diving into Easter just in time for Christmas. A keen sense of timing was not one of the criteria for teaching confirmation.)

December 2 - Congregational Meeting

This week, the confirmation class attended the congregational meeting. After all, they'll soon be able to participate and vote as full members of the church.

Afterwards, we discussed what happened and what they learned. Most of the students were amazed at the amount of money that it takes to run a church. Then we talked about where the money came from (the National Presbyterian Church? the Covenant Trust Fund? the dollars that they put in the collection plate each week?) That, unsurprisingly, led to a discussion of stewardship and the theological basis of tithing.

There was some surprise at the lack of disagreement during the meeting. We assured them that there have been less placid meetings in the past, and what some of the disagreements have been about. A few students offered to liven up the next congregational meeting after they were confirmed!

Next week (Dec 9) - please read Luke 14. We're skipping ahead.

November 4 - Luke 6

Well, it was supposed to be Luke 6 AND 7, but we never got past Luke 6.

We spent most of the time discussing how Luke 6 applies to our lives. In Luke 6:27-28, Jesus commands us to "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Fortunately, "mistreatment" is rare in our group, but teens still have plenty of conflict with their parents or with other teens. One lesson to take from Luke is that loving relationships are more important than conflicts, even conflicts about important stuff like shoes!

We didn't even brush the surface of the many parables or the "Sermon on the Plain" from Luke 6:20-26. (So-called because Jesus went down from the mountain and stood on a level place.)

For next week, please read Luke chapters 7 and 8. Note the spiffy link to Bible Gateway, there. You can even print the chapters out and bring them with you!

October 21 - Luke 4, 5

We discussed Luke chapters 4 and 5. In particular, in Luke 4:12, Jesus says to Satan:

Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'

and we talked about whether we ever put God to the test. (For example, "I'll believe in You if You help me pass this test.")

Then we spent a while discussing Luke 5:27-32 where Jesus shared supper with Levi and a group of tax collectors. That raised a number of interesting questions about whether we would be willing to admit a modern day dog-kicking, brother poking teenage sinner into our class, whether we'd be able to force him to behave, and what in the world repentance means.

For next week, limber up those pancake muscles 'cause we don't have confirmation class. But on November 4, we'll be back with Luke chapters 6 and 7.

October 14 - Luke 1, 2, 3

We broke into three groups to discuss chapters 1,2, and 3. Each group did a quick summary of each chapter. We discussed the lineage of Jesus and how it puts Jesus in direct lineage to God and other important Old Testament people.

We discussed some different challenges presented by Luke. Did angels really appear and was there really a voice at Jesus' baptism? Is what Luke is telling us the truth or is Luke making some things up to prove a point?

We had a long discussion with the term 'why'. (Why did Luke write this? Why was it written this way? Why not write it another way?, etc). We got to the point of trying to understand that we take what Luke says on faith. We concluded that we believe because of faith.

On tap for next week: Read Chapters 4&5.

Sunday, October 7 - Luke 1

This morning we talked about where Luke fits into the Bible and how it differs from the Old Testament and other books of the New Testament. Some of the other key points we discussed:

Luke was a well-educated physician.
It's believed that he wrote his Gospel about 50 years after Jesus' death and resurrection.
He wrote to provide a full and rich description of Jesus' life and teachings for new Christians
.. which, come to think of it, makes him a great resource for our confirmation class
We dove into Luke 1 and spent a lot of time time talking about Gabriel as a messenger of God, along with Zechariah's reaction, doubt, and punishment.

For next week (October 14), if you haven't presented your timeline, please finish it and bring it in. Also, make sure that you've read Luke 1, 2, and 3. We'll talk about Luke 2 and 3 in class.

[ Back ]