This month we celebrate the gift of God’s presence in our
lives in the person of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost Sunday is May 23^rd,
and it was on Pentecost that a new day dawned. Because of the doorway opened up through Christ’s finished work we have
unrestricted access to the presence of God. We can go boldly before God as
the author of Hebrews says (Hebrews 4:16).

It’s in Jesus that we see most clearly who God is, and he
inspires faith in us. Through him, we come to know God as trustworthy. It’s
in the relationship of faith that we cling to God and are united to him, and he
communicates to us his very presence.

The Christian life is meant to be lived out of the power
of this presence in our lives. Jesus said we’d receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes upon us (Acts 1:8). We are ever filled with this presence as we
live and abide in the person of Christ, which means abiding in his word,
abiding in his body, the church, receiving what he has accomplished
in faith by receiving the sacrament of his body and blood, and by stepping
out in faith to walk with him in newness of life.

God means for us to live a Spirit-filled life! It’s
the presence of this Spirit that marks us out as different from the world. He,
the Spirit, is the source of the love by which others will know we are
Christians.

Children of believers naturally come to know and trust Jesus
when they are little. I’ve not met a child of a believer who did not love
Jesus when they were young. The Bible tells us that the faith of children
is real faith. In fact, we as adults are to become like them and not the
other way around. And yet, we know that as children get older, they must
come to understand why they trust Jesus, and so we give them the opportunity of
confirmation instruction.

Likewise, children eventually become responsible for
feeding that faith they were given as a child. As we just said, we are
to abide in Christ that we might have the Spirit. It is to be an ongoing
relationship with Christ. In confirmation instruction, we encourage the children
to practice daily devotions and to attend church regularly. We tell them
plainly that faith is a gift that comes from being where Christ promises to
be found. He’s the source that inspires our trust in God.

This month as we have our confirmation service, please pray
for our confirmands that they will remain faithful and ever abide in Christ.
Also, as they make their public profession before us and state their commitment
to be faithful church members make it your aim to be a good example by
renewing your commitment to be a growing Christian, one who is daily abiding in
Christ and the presence of God he gives to us.

Praise God! He has given us his Holy Spirit, his very
presence in our lives! Praise God! He has shown us how to be renewed in
this relationship by pointing us to the places where he is to be found!
Praise God! He is with us always, even to the end of time! We don’t have
to go it alone!

May you be renewed in joy of God’s presence in your life! May
you be renewed in the Holy Spirit!

Pentecost Blessings!