Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Faith, Children, and the Basics

Being a Christian of the Lutheran flavor I have been reclaiming a faith tool that we utilize in the Small Catechism prepared by Martin Luther in a response to the deplorable condition of the Church. Martin Luther saw in his day the cost of lazy preachers and the lack of teaching the basics of faith to the people of the Church. He prepared the Small Catechism based upon the old Roman model of faith which brought the focus on the 10 Commandments, the Apostles' Prayer, the Lord's Prayer, and the Sacraments.

So, he began with the 10 Commandments with a listing and an explanation of each, each article of the Apostles' Creed with explanations, each petition of the Lord's Prayer and explanations of each, the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper with explanations of each along with an explanation of the importance of Confession and how it reminds us of the promise within Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

As I study these I see the value of having a tool to teach the basics - as families how are we setting an example to our children about our faith?

Do we just say, "Do as we say, not as we do?"

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