"Who Do You Say That I Am?" Mark 8: 27-30; Exodus 4: 10-17

This sermon completes the sermon series, "Jesus Is the One Who..."  We finish where we began -- with Jesus asking the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?"  This Sunday we also receive the Confirmation class and witness their profession of faith and anointing.  They are the live sermon illustration as they answer the question, "Who do you say that I am?" with " You are my Lord and Savior."

they have learned, or at least have been presented with, lots of information to help them with that answer.  They could remember (probably don't) that John Calvin defined Jesus by three offices:  prophet, priest, and king.  They could remember their mentors describing their commitment to Christ and people they have known who have seemed most Christ-like to them.  They could remember some of the stories they read from the Gospel of Luke (or the other three Easter stories that they also read).  But all that becomes informative background material as they step forward and claim for themselves Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

I'm thinking about reflecting on the Jesus we know from a historical standpoint, the Jesus we profess in the moment, and the Jesus who calls to new places as the broad outline of the three points.

I think this quote from Sara Miles speaks to the ongoing aspect of our faith journey:  “conversion isn't, after all, a moment: It's a process, and it keeps happening, with cycles of acceptance and resistance, epiphany and doubt” Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion, Sara Miles (97)

Another thought:  "I wondered , now that his days were dwindling, how important ritual was.  'Vital,' he said.  But why?  Deep inside, you know your convictions.  'Mitch,' he said, 'faith is about doing. you are how you act, not just how you believe.'"Mitch Albom, Have a Little Faith:  a true story (44)