Emma Young
Hello everyone, I’m Emma. This year we for Confirmation class I learned many things. Each month we had to do something in categories and come back and tell Pastor Tom and Sandra about our experiences. These experiences really made me realize new perspectives of my life. One of the things I did that impacted me was talk to someone with a different religion. I talked to Mrs. Stolper from our Church because her husband is Jewish and she’s Christian. After talking to her I realized that the past weeks I’ve been talking to my friends about their views on religion, and it’s made me realize that everyone doesn’t believe the same things I do. And hearing their views on religion helped me realize what I believe.
I believe Jesus was the Son of God and was brought to the earth to spread the word of God to the people. He was a follower of God and taught people about God. He sacrificed himself for his beliefs and for the other people who believed in God.
To me the Holy Spirit is the part of God in us. But to be honest when I first started writing my speech I wasn’t quite sure what the Holy Spirit is. So talked to some of the deacons here at MCC and they helped me figure out what I believed it was. Also when we had to write in our papers about the things we did for Confirmation Class we had to say where we say God. I always say God in other people, and now I know this is the Holy Spirit.
I believe that God is always watching over us no matter what we are doing, or where we are.
If we are having a good time with friends or family, or helping others in some way I believe God is always watching over us. What I mean by that is he is not some weird person following us around but more as a family member, watching out for you. And like God a Church is there to support you like family. We always have each others back. When we first moved to Massachusetts and found MCC it was the one Church I was excited to go to every sunday. The Church provided me with friends, love, and knowledge. I love MCC which is why I’m getting Confirmed.
I would like to Confirm my Baptism and become a member of MCC for many reasons. MCC is like my family, and it has taught me so much about my faith and I would like to continue learning more.
Without MCC I wouldn’t have had the opportunities I’ve had, to experience God. Without MCC I wouldn’t have known any of you, I wouldn’t have experienced bible school, or gone on youth group trips. For the future of the Church I would love Youth Group to be longer. Youth Group is so fun, and love spending time with my Church friends. I would also love for more people to attend Ubuntu, which is once a month the youth group makes food and anyone from the church can come and eat with us. The rest of the food goes to people who can’t make meals for themselves.
Lastly my Journey with the Church has been amazing. I can easily say that it is one of my favorite places to be. I would love my Journey with the Church to continue which is another reason why I’m confirming my baptism. Thank you for making my journey with MCC great and I hope in the future with this Church is even more amazing.
Nathan Rippy
Hello, My name is Nathan Rippy. I have been in this church for 9 years and I am happy to finally become a member of this church and a formal member of Christianity. Over the course of confirmation class I have learned about many different religions and other beliefs. This class has helped me come to the conclusion that I still have some subjects that I am unsure about. I have realized that the bible is a book of faith and not a history textbook. Some things in the Bible are not possible at all, like Jesus walking on water, but I realize the bible is a book of faith and I am willing to follow it. I think Jesus was created so God could be able to appeal to the humans, because Jesus was a man and was in human form and so he was more accessible to the average humans. Over my many years at MCC I have learned a lot and met a lot of people. These people have all been kind and welcoming to me which is something that I really appreciate, and I feel like without them I would not be standing here today. I feel like the church is a great place and it will stay a great place if everyone keeps doing what they are doing. Through confirmation class I have also learned a lot about God and religion, and I think my conclusion on God and what he does, is that God is everywhere and sees everything, he also makes everything happen for a reason, one persons misfortune could lead to another persons success.Through confirmation class we have talked about and learned many different ways of praying, Honestly I do not pray very much but perhaps that will change as I get older. So far in my life nothing that bad has really happened but I do know that people in this church get comfort when things do not go their way, and I am happy to be joining a community where I will be looked after. I also want to contribute to this church, for instance being welcoming to the newer families that join the church because that simple act of kindness can go a long way. Overall, MCC’s community is great and very welcoming which is the main reason I would like to become a part of MCC and a part of Christianity.
Joey Pendleton
I liked confirmation class a lot and had a lot of fun. Pastor Tom and Sandra have been very helpful throughout the whole process and helped me greatly in figuring out what I think about Jesus, God, and this church. Before confirmation, I didn’t think too much about God outside of church. Even when I was in church I tended to just listen to what people said about God and didn’t usually relate what they said to personal events. During confirmation, I had to write about things I did and where I saw God. This helped me connect God and my personal life much more than before.
I believe in God. I think that God doesn’t just go to or stay in specific places, I think that God is everywhere. I don’t think that God is as clear-cut or simple as the Bible makes him out to be, although I and a lot of other people still pray to God as if God were a person. I also don’t think that God plays a role in every single decision in one’s life. I think that for the most part, people make their own choices and shape their own lives, but God steps in when he needs to.This could be to help someone in the moment or make a decision that might change their lives years later. God will only step in when he has a reason and won’t randomly change the course of events. I also think that God is a pretty general idea and that many religions like Christianity, Judaism, Islam and even some less related ones like Buddhism are all different ways of worshipping the same God.
I think that Jesus was a really good person who did great things. Jesus helped others, preached kindness and started a whole other way of thinking about and worshipping God. Jesus definitely had a connection to God. I’m not so sure it was close enough to call Jesus his son, but it was possibly closer than to anyone else. It’s like how earlier I mentioned that God plays different roles and appears more or less times in peoples lives just depending on the person. So because God played a big role in Jesus’ life, a lot of Jesus’ preachings came directly from God. Some of Jesus’ preachings were definitely just inspired by God, and came from him, but that issimilar to the preaching of anyone, regardless of their connection to God.
One big question I have about Jesus is his miracles. I’m not really sure if the miracles were actual events or more symbolic, representing how the idea of Christianity heals. Assuming the writings about miracles were literal and they really happened, I still don’t know if it was Jesus performing the miracles or God working through him.
I think that in general, church helps to build a connection with God, and is a very good thing to participate in. However, I think that sometimes churches, other than MCC, can actually become a barrier between someone and God even though they are trying to do the right thing. It may end up distracting someone from the purpose of God and their religion with all the ceremonies and holidays. And while this isn’t intentional and I haven’t seen it happen at MCC and am not at all worried about it happening here, it can still happen, and is an interesting thing to think about.
One thing I hope is that we are able to grow as a church and welcome more people to the MCC. Other than that, I hope we don’t change too much, because right now, we have a great church that I love being a part of.
I think that this church is heading in the right direction, and we have a great confirmation program, so I want to be confirmed, and become a member of MCC.
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