This Sunday at 10:00am Bishop Martin Townsend will be presiding and preaching. He is with us to confirm, receive, and reaffirm six adults. We will also be having our Saturday 5pm and Sunday 8am services, and I will be preaching for those services. My focus will be on "Following Jesus." The Gospel reading this week, Mark 10:17-31, has people asking Jesus how they can follow him and what it means to follow him. The man with many possessions was told that he would have to sell all that he had and give the money to the poor. We hear that the man was upset because he had many things and did not want to part with them. Then Peter makes the statement that he and the other disciples had given up everything to follow Jesus - what would that mean for them? Jesus says that they will gain more than they could ever imagine.
The adults who will be making a mature affirmation of their faith are, by their action, stating that they want to follow Jesus. Confirmation is a sacrament: the outward sign is the laying on of hands by a bishop and the inward grace received is strength for the journey from the Holy Spirit.
Jesus wants us all to follow him. What does that mean to you? What might we have to give up or reorder so that such a journey is possible? What does God want you to have that is more valuable than any material possession?
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