CATECHISM

 

Do you know what this is? This is a copy of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. It’s called the Small Catechism because Martin Luther first wrote a larger version of this, and it is called The Large Catechism.

Do you know why Martin Luther wrote these two catechisms? He wrote them because as he travelled around Germany, he discovered that parents were not teaching their children the Christian Faith. So, he wrote the Small Catechism for parents, particularly for fathers to help them teach their children.

By the way, the word catechism is a Greek word which means to echo. You know what an echo is. You shout a word and the sound bounces back to you. The catechism echoes the words of Jesus Christ. That means when I teach from this, I teach only what Jesus taught.

Now there are four parts to the Small Catechism: Ten Commandments, Apostles Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and the Sacraments. I mention all of this because our first reading today is the Commandment to keep holy the Lord’s Day, and in my sermon for the adults, I am going to review that Commandment for them and why we should keep it.

We keep it because God loves us so much that He gave us His Son who saved us from Satan, sin and death, and made us His children. We keep the Lord’s Day holy because we love Our Father.

With that, let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their parents the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.