How Do We Recognize God’s Voice

Can you find the other cow in the room, if you have a bag over your head and there is also barking, meowing, and oinking going on?

Can you find the ball on the floor and get it into the bucket if you are blindfolded, 7 people are giving you directions, and only ONE is telling you the right way?

With this and a reading of Jesus’ account of the sheep knowing the shepherd’s voice (John 10:2-5) we began our conversation about the Bible.

We pondered this statement from some PC(USA) confirmation material:

“The scriptures reveal who God is.  It is God’s story told in a very human book, divine revelation through the people of God.  The words on the pages, however, are only words on pages without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  God is revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus Christ is the primary expression of God’s self … The bible is the written word of God revealing Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

…which left us with looks like this on our face:

It helped to hear the story of the Barmen Declaration and how the writers used the Bible to help them hear God’s voice and stand against  the Nazi supported “German-Christian” movement.  This story also led us to think about the voices that are distracting or different from God’s voice in our lives.

In the end, we prayed to be able to continue to hear God’s voice, stay true to ourselves and God, and use the witness of the Bible well in our lives.

Images of God

As we await God in human form during this Advent season, it seemed only appropriate that we think about what our image of God is in the first place.  Confirmands, mentors, and leaders drew and sculpted some ideas.  Enjoy…

Confirmation 2010 Begins

How do you get middle schoolers out of bed on a Sunday morning?  With the promise of food and a chance to meet new mentors, of course!

Our confirmation program got off to a great start  in November with the first of our monthly group meetings.  Four of Columbia’s middle schoolers gathered in the youth room for breakfast biscuits from Pastries A Go Go, to hear the overall plan for the confirmation program, and to meet their mentors.

Mentors and confirmands will meet twice a month over the next six months to discuss everything from the Trinity to the afterlife.  But the first session was about getting to know each other, so they began with newspaper-style interviews about their lives and families.

With all those meetings looming ahead of them, what was the most important question?  ”Favorite place to hang out and talk.”  Overwhelming answer: Chick-fil-A and Dairy Queen.

Check back in the coming weeks to find out more about our confirmands and mentors and their experiences as they explore what it means to follow Jesus.

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