The events of this morning make one very glad that we are all Christians and our Lord is present in this place. We are going to ask in a special way that our Lord through the presence of the Holy Spirit come and visit the confirmands, dwell in their hearts and change their lives. The scripture says that when a seed is planted, it has to die before it bears fruit meaning not that it actually loses its life but that it changes its form. That analogy that was used by Jesus is a very good analogy for what happens when the Holy Spirit dwells within the heart of a person. We sometimes call that the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We sometimes call it confirmation when a person is confirmed in their faith through the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a life-changing moment. The scriptures that Jill read, especially the epistle, talks about the change that comes about that makes a person a new creation. So that is what we are asking to happen here this morning in this ceremony of confirmation, that our five confirmands will experience the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a very profound way and it will enable them to be new creations, on fire with Christ, willing to give their lives for the spread of the Gospel, the Good News, and willing to transform themselves into God's image and likeness as we are all to do. We use this moment, too, as a time for all of us to reaffirm our own commitment and to once again invite the Holy Spirit to dwell within us at the same time.

I am aware that when people are born into this sinful world, they make sinful choices which contaminate their personalities and contaminate their souls. Some people become pleasers and tend to withdraw. They rescue and help other people. They are very nice folks but they get taken advantage of frequently. They fail to love themselves. Other people hurry all the time and yet they feel stuck and seem to get nowhere. They don't love themselves or anyone else. Some people make decisions which make them feel superior to others and they become like anger balls and can bash other people at the drop of a hat.

When a person receives the Holy Spirit and becomes a new creation, then this old person drops away. The opportunity is for the new person to arrive and come about inside that person. It frequently doesn't happen in a flash as it did on that first Pentecost. More often than not, it is a gradual process as a person begins to internalize the fact that they are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that God dwells within them. When that happens, then this radical change can take place and the person first learns to love God with all their heart and soul and strength and mind. Then they learn to love themselves and then they learn to love their neighbor. As they integrate this great command, their lives become transformed emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It is an incredible process. It is a conversion experience. It is something that words really have a difficulty describing because it is so profound of an effect that can take place in a person. So this is what we are looking for when we invite the Holy Spirit to come in and dwell within us and today in our confirmands.

This indwelling enables a person to know God better. It enables a person to get into the Bible and study it to a deeper degree. It enables a person to reach out in ministry and mission to persons who don't know the Lord. In that sense, it is a tremendous call to use our gifts in serving others so that others can be introduced to Christ through our own personality. We may be the only Bible that other people ever “read”. So within ourselves, if people don't meet Christ, they may never know Christ. When we invite the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, we are asking the person to take a risk, a risk to take the adventure of living for Christ. When one does, one achieves a sense of joy that permeates themselves in everything they do. This morning as we go through our confirmation service, we are asking for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Paul, in Ephesians, gives an explanation of this that I would like you to attend to. He said, “For you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light. For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.” Then he goes on to say, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual singing. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This was the advice that he gave to Timothy and Titus, his first confirmands. And to the others that he prayed for that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So it is a celebration this morning as we call the Holy Spirit to visit upon our confirmands and enable them to experience the joy of this time as they become new creations. The seed will die (the old confirmand) and blossom into a new creation and they will be capable of bearing much fruit.