PART THREE: Celebration

In Part Three of this rite of passage, you will share your learning with your peers, family, and church community. In this major movement of the process, you will write a personal testimony to be shared before the church. As you reflect on the past weeks, you will also seriously reflect on your commitment to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Last, you will enjoy a ceremony of celebration that initiates you into parenting duty and family life. The final stage of this process is meant to encourage you, celebrate God’s work in your life, mark this significant milestone, and present you before the church community as an active member who takes life, faith, and parenting seriously, for the glory of God.

Personal Testimony

Bearing Witness: Recounting God’s Work in Word and Deed

Overview

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering. As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For not only did the message of the Lord ring out from you to Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone out to every place, so that we have no need to say anything more.

The very existence of Christian people in the world is a standing witness to the highest glory of God’s name … there are characteristics which, as Christian men, we are bound to put forth, and which manifest in another fashion the excellencies of our redeeming God. The world takes its notions of God, most of all, from the people who say that they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus Christ. ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image’ nor any likeness of the Divine, but thou shalt make thyself an image of Him, that men looking at it may learn a little more of what He is.

God wants us to bear witness to his workings in our lives. As we grow in our faith, our transformed life (deed) and our verbal testimony (word) attest to God’s gracious work in our lives. At this time, you will write a testimony of your experience through this rite of passage. Reflect on the community study and outdoor experiences. Remember where you were at the beginning of this process and how far God has brought you. Use your reflections in this study to write a personal testimony that you will share before your church community, bearing witness to God’s gracious dealings with you and your earnest desire to parent your children as a sacred and noble calling before the Lord and before the church.

Personal Testimony

Use this space to record a personal testimony that you will share before the church community.

Personal Testimony

Community Confession

We Confess Together: Stating My Commitments to a Responsible Life

Overview

This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed; we are to spend and to be spent, not to lay ourselves up in lavender, and nurse our flesh.

At this point, you should review your commitment to embrace your parenting duty. Reread the community confession and discuss it with a spiritual mentor, parent, or church leader. Explore what makes you excited about this commitment. Talk about what makes you hesitant. Seek God’s help in prayer as you prepare your heart to repeat this statement at your celebration ceremony.

Community Confession

Community Confession

Review this community confession of commitment and responsibility. Discuss it with a spiritual mentor, parent, or church leader.

Community Confession

By God’s grace and through faith in Christ, our home belongs to the Lord. As priests, we will nurture our children in God’s fatherly care. As stewards, we will pass on the faith of our fathers. As shepherds, we will lead our children as God shepherds us. As teachers, we will instruct our household in the fear of the Lord. As protectors, we will entrust our family to God’s safekeeping. As overseers, we will build Christian hearth and home as a heritage from the Lord. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. For God’s glory, for our good, and for the sake of the world! Amen and amen!

Discussion Questions

Searching the Text

Responsibility Commitment

Prayer

Celebration Ceremony

Celebration Ceremony

In the Assembly: Celebrating a Major Life Milestone

Overview

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.

The Child is father of the Man.

The final part of this rite of passage is a celebration ceremony for all that you completed over the course of the previous weeks and months. This is a time to give glory to God, encourage the church, and mark your transition into another phase of life and maturity. Use the following space to design the order of this ceremony.

Celebration Ceremony

Celebration Ceremony

Use the space below to plan out a celebration ceremony for the conclusion of this rite of passage. Include your peers, spiritual mentors, parents, and church leaders in this process.

In Part Four of this rite of passage, you are given blank space for your personal reflection and devotional study. Throughout the weeks of this journey, there will be many things worth recording. You will experience moments and conversations that you will want to remember. You will glean timeless truths and biblical teachings that will serve you for the rest of your life. You will become aware of yourself with renewed insight and specific detail. Since this is only a beginning phase in your journey, you are certain to encounter questions and concerns that you will want to explore further. In support of the very important practice of spiritual journaling, this journal space is meant to encourage you to begin healthy habits of spiritual and devotional reflection.