Issue link: https://discover.cph.org/i/991805
9 U n i t 1 — L e s s o n 1 7 P Do you hold all the prophetic and apostolic Scrip- tures to be the inspired Word of God? R I do. P Do you confess the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, drawn from the Scriptures, as you have learned to know it from the Small Catechism, to be faithful and true? R I do. P Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord's Supper faithfully? R I do, by the grace of God. P Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death? R I do, by the grace of God. P Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confes- sion and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it? R I do, by the grace of God. P We rejoice with thankful hearts that you have been baptized and have received the teaching of the Lord. You have confessed the faith and have been absolved of your sins. As you continue to hear the Lord's Word and receive His blessed Sacrament, He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. C Amen. P ________________, the almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you the new birth of water and of the Spirit and has forgiven you all your sins, strengthen you with His grace to life everlasting. C Amen. P Let us pray. Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank and praise You for Your great goodness in bringing these Your sons and daughters to the knowledge of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and enabling them both with the heart to believe and with the mouth to confess His saving name. Grant that, bringing forth the fruits of faith, they may continue steadfast and victorious to the day when all who have fought the good fight of faith shall receive the crown of righteousness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C Amen. Note: You are confirming your belief that the Bible is God's Word and that it's true! Note: You are confirming your belief that the teaching of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, as found in the Small Catechism, is true to God's Word. Note: You are pledging to faithfully attend worship and receive the Lord's Supper! Q: ese questions are heavy. How does pledging that you'd rather die than give up your faith make you feel? Note: Here, the response turns from R to C, meaning the whole congregation is now involved in saying the Amen. Note: At this point, you will likely kneel before the pastor. e pastor will lay his hands on you, say your name, and give you a blessing. Look this prayer over. Circle or underline one word or phrase that sticks out to you. Why does it stick out to you? (Name) These three notes are huge! You may want to ask your learners these questions: • Do you think most confirmands actually believe or live out these pledges? • Why do you think so many people go through the Rite of Confirmation and then stop regularly attending church? • Will you stay committed to your pledge after Confirmation? Option: This is a big ques- tion and not to be taken lightly. Consider showing a short online video testi- mony of a Christian who has endured hardship and suffered for the faith (pre- view the clip beforehand). After watching, get student reactions and ask them to think through what it would be like to endure the same thing for the faith. Option: Share some stories of what it's actually like to experience the Rite of Confirmation. Maybe ask the parents of the youth to write in or share with their children stories of what the Rite of Confirmation was like for them. For students who do not read at grade level, this prayer is long and has many challenging words that they may not understand. Read the prayer out loud while students follow along, tracking with their finger or a ruler. Then go back and help them underline or highlight words that they don't know. If you've already spent a lot of time reading through the text individual- ly, this might be something you work through togeth- er as a class or even skip if time is tight.