Book of the Week: Luther's Small Catechism

My friend Dave Moerbe, a pastor in Alabama, inspired me to have a book of the week and to start with Luther's Small Catechism.  Dave serves an LCMS congregation in an area where Lutheranism is relatively unknown and this presents challenges.  I admire that he has met these challenges by teaching and preaching and without compromising.  He features on his congregation's website both a book of the week and a weekly focus on an individual section of the catechism.

The catechism is something that most of us take for granted.  We used it in confirmation and now it sits on a shelf.

That's pretty much what happened with mine, until college.  In college, being a pre-seminary student and a PK (pastor's kid), I regularly had people ask me questions about God and the Bible.  Usually I knew the answer, but I had a hard time knowing where to go to show others the answer.

Until I picked up my catechism again.  There I found answers to questions and Bible verses to back up the answers.  I found a wealth of information that I had taken for granted.

Now, as a pastor, I am amazed at how I am only beginning to grasp those "basic" things that the catechism teaches.  As I've studied God's Word I am amazed at how the catechism truly does capture the meaning of God's Word.

Daily dying to sin and rising to righteous living is far more profound than I realized as a 7th/8th grader.

So if you haven't done so lately, pick up that catechism and page through it.  I'll bet you'll find something that draws you in, something you needed to be reminded of, or something you didn't know before.  And if you don't have one, see me and I'll get you one or you can order one here. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jesus's Whip

Image
After reading about Jesus making a whip and then driving out the moneychangers, I wondered what ever happened to the whip. So I wrote a story of what could have happened to that whip. The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. He found those who were selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons in the temple courtyard. He also found moneychangers sitting there. He made a whip from small ropes and threw everyone with their sheep and cattle out of the temple courtyard. He dumped the moneychangers' coins and knocked over their tables. He told those who sold pigeons, "Pick up this stuff, and get it out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that Scripture said, "Devotion for your house will consume me."   (John 2:13-17) What do I do with this this? The man looked at the whip and wondered what to do with it.  He had just witnessed Jesus use the whip, which Jesus had fashioned with His own hands by ta
Read more

20 Ideas for Holy Week

Image
Oftentimes Christians feel like they should do something during Holy Week (besides attending services on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday).  So here are some ideas that you might consider using during Holy Week.  Consider picking one or two things and then make sure you put plans in place to make it happen. Read a gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) from start to finish, either by yourself or with your family. Pick a hymn and learn it by heart (listening to it on an mp3 player, spotify, YouTube, etc., can be help you do this). Memorize Scripture. Here are some good verses, that you might not yet know, but are very much worth memorizing.      Colossians 2:13-14        Romans 6:3-5      Revelation 1:17-18     John 20:21-23 Review the catechism , using each day of Holy Week to review one of the 6 chief parts. Pray for your pastor and all pastors as they prepare to proclaim the gospel. Pray for your fellow church members, going through a directory a
Read more

What are the Benefits of Receiving the Lord's Supper?

Image
In my Bible Class we've been going through 1 Corinthians, but recently we've stalled for several weeks in chapter 11, because it has given us a great opportunity to take a closer look at the Lord's Supper. As we've been going through what the Bible teaches us about the Lord's Supper, a lot of questions have come up, so I wanted to try to address many of those questions in a series of posts. What are the benefits of receiving the Lord's Supper?  Forgiveness of Sins The chief benefit of receiving the Lord's Supper is receiving the forgiveness of sins, as Jesus said "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28). But didn't we already receive forgiveness in baptism?  And in the service itself, don't we receive forgiveness through the absolution?  So, why do we need to receive forgiveness again? The very life of a Christian is one of repentance.  One reason God has given these
Read more