Julius: The first reading, which will be the basis for the message this morning, from Acts chapter 20. Always keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure, savage wolves who will not spare the flock will come in among you. Even from your own group, men will rise up. twisting the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, be always on the alert. Remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning each one of you with tears. And no, I entrust you to God and to the word of His grace, which has power to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. told this joke before, but I'll tell it again, because it's funny. Up north we had bats in the church and it was very hard to get rid of them. And one of the pastors up there said, well just confirm them, then you'll never see them in church again. it's a sad, it's a dark joke, but there's some reality behind it, right? Sometimes it seems like, ⁓ once you confirm the young people, well then they enter this difficult part of their lives, first their summer. So easy to not go to church in the summer. And then high school, and then it seems like, well, maybe they just vanish after that. It can be the sad reality for confirmation. Is this the last we're gonna see of them? And I am not worried about that with Persephone and with Beckett. You guys are great in class and you give great, mature answers. You could tell you've got a wonderful faith, but more than that, I know you've got great families and they've set a wonderful example for you and they bring you to church. And so I expect that you'll keep growing in that way and you have a wonderful congregation that supports you. So I don't think this is the last time I'm gonna see you, especially since I still have three more confirmation classes after confirmation class, just to show you don't know everything yet. We still got more to learn. And I'll expect to see you in church and Bible study and Sunday school and all those things. But if this was the last class I got to give you, what should I say? And maybe you can think about that to parents and friends and congregation. If you got to give a piece of advice to our conformance today, if it was the final word you would give them as life gets more difficult as this faith they've been studying in class in grade school becomes something that becomes real out there in the world and challenged, what would you say to them? Remember this. And would it line up with what the apostle Paul says in Acts chapter 20? Now here the apostle Paul isn't talking to confirmation students, but he is talking to students that he has had for three years. Well, we've had class for three years. And he's not talking to confirmation young adults, but he's talking to people that he has trained up to be pastors in the church in Ephesus after he leaves. But what he says, his last words to them apply very well to us today. And so what does Paul say? He says, his own blood. I know that after my departure, savage wolves who will not spare the flock will come in among you. Even from your own group men will rise up, twisting the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, be always on the alert." Remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning each one of you with tears. Three years with tears. Happy to say I haven't cried in confirmation class yet, no matter how difficult memory work was going. No, for three years he's warning them, even with tears. And he says it's because this is the last time he's talking to them. He says, after my departure. And he's not just saying I'm leaving Ephesus for a while. No, the apostle Paul knows that his days are numbered. He's going to die soon and he's definitely never gonna come back to Ephesus again. So he says, here we go, here's my last words. And what does he say to the future pastors of Ephesus after he leaves? Well, he says, watch. Keep watch over yourselves and keep watch over the church of God. And this primarily applies to someone like me, the pastor of this flock. And Beckett and Persephone, you with everybody else, the adult members of the congregation now, you can hold me to this in a special way. Pastor, are you keeping watch over yourself? Are you keeping watch over the flock? Are you praying for me? But we can also apply this very well to you and to everybody here who confesses Jesus as Savior. Keep watch over yourselves. Keep watch because confirmation doesn't mean the end of challenges to your faith. In some ways, it means it's only going to get harder now. Confirmation doesn't give you superpowers. It's a great thing to do. The Bible says, believe, therefore we speak. So you should confess your faith publicly, say, this is what I believe and hold me to it. But confirmation, really all it does is paint a giant target on your back. Or in the words of Good Shepherd Sunday, it makes you look like a big, juicy, fluffy sheep out there in the field that the devil, the The prowling lion and his wolves want to devour. In some ways, standing up and saying, is what I believe makes it more dangerous for you. And so Paul says, keep watch. Because savage wolves will come. Savage wolves, not friendly wolves, will come in and he says, they will not spare the flock. Now you might think, okay, that's easy, keep watch for the wolves, pretty obvious. But Jesus tells us, remember that wolves come in sheep's clothing. They'll look just like you. And as you guys move on to high school, you're going to meet a lot more people. And as you go out into the world and get jobs, you're going to meet a lot more people. And they're going to seem like super nice, friendly people. And a lot of them who seem like people that they know a lot about God. And they're going to start telling you things that contradict what you learned in confirmation class. Really? Your pastor taught you that? Sounds like a crazy person. Really? Is that what the Bible says? I don't think God would say something like that. They'll sound nice. The wolves really only want to get even a little nick, just a little bite, just a little scratch. That's enough to spiritually infect you and to lead to unbelief and spiritual death. Watch out, Paul says. You see the tears in his eyes? Please, please watch out. And he doesn't just say watch out for people out there. He says watch out because from your own group, from your own group people will arise, drawing you away from the flock. You're joining as adult members in a way of this congregation, this flock. And it's a wonderful congregation, Mount Olive, and lots of wonderful people supporting you. And Paul says, watch out for them. Watch out for them. From your own group, your own people, your own congregation will come challenges. As you grow up in a congregation, you start noticing that more. People maybe that you looked up to, adults in the congregation, you know what you're going to find out? Is their flawed? And your pastor, who I know you thought he was the most funny, awesome person all the time in class, you're gonna wind up realizing that he's no perfect shepherd. And you might get disenchanted. Say, man, what am I doing here? Let's go somewhere else. And why, why will this happen? You know why. Because the devil likes to pounce on sheep that are drawn away from the flock. Yes, we are a group of wandering sheep, but that's the point. We're a group. that Jesus has gathered together, imperfect people, imperfect pastor, he's here to shepherd us. Don't be drawn away. So that could be Paul's last words. Is that enough for you? Okay. Keep watch. You're getting confirmed. Careful now. If that was it, I hope you would make me take confirmation class again. Because the main point of confirmation class isn't what you are supposed to do. The main point is always what God, what Jesus has done. Even here, these are commands of God, which is the law, right? And you learned there's different uses of the law. Curb, mirror, guide. The law as mirror. What does it do? It shows us our flaws. It shows us our sins, like in a mirror, and shows that we need a savior. That's primarily what these words are doing for me right now. It says, keep watch over yourself and over the flock. And so I go, okay, Jesus forgive me for not keeping watch over myself as well as I could. For sinning, Jesus forgive me for not keeping watch over these conformants, praying for them as much as I should. Forgive me, I need a savior. And you do too. Family, friends, have you prayed enough for your conformant? Never enough. Have you really kept watch over them? given the best example, know your sinners too. So you confess, I need a savior in conformance. The main thing you're confessing up here isn't I know it all now, I'm invincible. No, you're saying I believe that I need a savior too. That's the main point of confirmation class. And that's really the last word that Paul gives. He says to these people he's about to leave and never see again. He says, I entrust you to God. and to the word of his grace, which has the power to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. If this were our last class, that'd be the last thing I say to you. I entrust you to God and the word of his grace. I entrust you to God. We had pastors conference this last week and so we had President Treptow from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary down and presenting to us pastors and he said, always ask, what should we call you? President, President Treptow, Pastor Treptow, he says, you could call me anything, just don't call me Pastor Earl, I don't like that. But he says his favorite thing for people to call him is just Pastor. And he says, if you know Pastor, then you already know the name of the next guy. What is he saying? I'm here for a little while, pastor, but I'm gonna be replaced by a guy named Pastor, and he'll be replaced by a guy named Pastor, and what does Pastor mean? It just means shepherd. In other words, the person isn't important. It's the good shepherd behind the person. This pastor isn't important. Who's important? The great good shepherd that I have been sharing with you. And so if I entrust you to anyone, if this were the last time I was gonna see you, I would say, I entrust you to God. To thee, good shepherd, and the word of his grace which is able to build you up. Now we memorize that in confirmation class. What's the main point of the Bible? Not to be a rule book. Not to tell you how to live a pretty good life and be blessed and get rich. No, these words are written, we memorized, these words are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. We memorized from infancy you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. That's what we memorized. This word is powerful enough to give you faith. It's done that. It did that in baptism. It's keeping your faith alive still. And it will keep your faith alive as you go forward and hear more and more about Jesus and His grace. And what specifically did we hear about His grace in this reading from Acts? It said, flock of God purchased with His own blood. God has blood? I thought we learned God is a spirit. But even this you understand because you learned about how God the Son is the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep because God wanted to save people and because that would require blood. What did God do? God the Son came into this world and He took on your flesh and blood. He became human to be the perfect confirmation student for you. to memorize everything perfectly, to keep watch perfectly. He did that for you. That's how God sees you. And he did that so that he could die. God can't die, but Jesus could. True God. He took on human flesh so that he could die, so that he could spill his blood for you, to take on your spiritual wounds so that by his wounds you would be healed. True God and also, or true man and also true God, so that the blood that he spilled would be infinitely valuable, enough to buy you back and to promise you heaven, enough to gather the entire flock of God from around the world, purchase us all back from sin and death and the devil. That's God's grace. And that blood is what He gives you in the Lord's Supper. If you want a last word today, then it really doesn't matter what I say, but think about the last word that Jesus gives you. He memorized, when did Jesus institute the Lord's Supper? On the night he was betrayed. It's pretty much his last word of grace to his disciples. And what did he say? He said, take and eat. This is my body. Take and drink. This is my blood for the forgiveness of sins. That was Jesus' last word to his disciples. You are forgiven. I am gracious. You know, Beckett and Persephone, if you're anything like anybody else in this room, then you're not gonna be perfect after this. And you're gonna go through difficulties and you're gonna go through doubts and you're gonna go through troubles and you're not going to live perfect sin-free lives. And when you stumble and when you fall and when you have doubts, you're gonna feel like I should stay away. I better stay away from pastor. ⁓ he's gonna be so disappointed now. He's gonna be so surprised that I'm a sinner too. I better stay away. I can't come to church with my doubts. I'm gonna stay away. But what does Jesus' last word say? When you feel guilt, when you feel sin, when you're ashamed, when you realize you're just like everybody else in this room, this is the place you should be because when you come forward to the altar, Jesus has one last word for you. You are forgiven. I'm the same good shepherd I've always been. I love to gather wandering sheep. The further you wander, the harder I chase. That's His word for you. And what do I say at the blessing after communion? You get to hear it for the first time today. May this strengthen and keep you in the true faith until life everlasting. If it was up to me to keep you in the faith after this point with my very smart last words, I would be crying for three years night and day like Paul. If it was up to you, I would be very worried. But because I can entrust you to God and the word of his grace, I know that I actually never have to say last words to you. Even if this was the last time I got to see you on earth, even if it was the last time your family and your congregation got to see you on earth, we still know that we would get to see you again. because Paul says, entrust you to God and the word of his grace, which has the power to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. To give you an inheritance, to give you eternal life, to give you heaven. And so if this were our last class today for you and everybody else in the room, I would say, yes, keep watch. And yes, keep in God's word of grace. But most of all, I'd say, hey, see you later. See you at the next class where we get to sit at the feet of our good shepherd and learn more about his grace in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.