Previously this site presented “One Simple Weekly Catechism Reading Plan.” We also offered a bulletin insert for promoting that plan. When one pastor saw that plan discussed on Facebook, he sent a private message. He said he liked that weekly plan and that in his own private devotions, he too covered a chief part of … Read more
Lessons For Lambs These are mentioned here because of the “Catechism Corner” that each contains, and the rest of each bulletin also is, well, frankly, amazing. Consider how this Catechism Corner puts the Catechism before little children each week, and how it shows parents the ease of using little portions of the Catechism. Lessons for Lambs … Read more
G. H. Gerberding, The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church (Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1887). This book is a tonic against the errors of revivalism, decision theology, Enthusiasm, etc. It explains plainly and in positive terms how sinners are saved in the Lutheran church. Among many other things, it speaks significantly to the use … Read more
“We have spoken of the importance and benefits of home training and instruction. We endeavored to show that Christian parents are under the most solemn obligation to instruct their children in the truth of God’s Word. We also endeavored to show that, in order to give their children a clear understanding of the saving truths … Read more
In response to the post, “One Simple Catechism Reading Plan,” a pastor commented on Facebook that he was going to print the post as a bulletin insert. If that reading plan has value for his congregation, then perhaps it also has value for other congregations. So here is a link to a revision of the … Read more
Luther kept reading the Small Catechism every day. It is a prayer book and a meditation book and a life book. It keeps offering more for prayer, meditation, and living. It comes to us in daily life, when we know it well, frequently think on it, and pray from it. There are many good reading plans for … Read more
“In spite of numerous adamic attempts to put the Lord Jesus Christ in the unemployment office and take over his work with blueprints for the building of the church according to our own schemes and tools of our making, the Lord Jesus Christ alone remains the architect and builder of his church. In those regal … Read more
The child must be instructed. Begin early. Let it learn to pray as soon as it can speak. … We quote again from Luthardt: ‘Let it not be objected that the child cannot understand the prayer. The way of education is by practice to understanding, not by understanding to practice. G. H. Gerberding, The Way … Read more
From the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s Lutheran Witness, a web exclusive article in “The View from Here” column by Stan Palmer, December 2, 2011, that bears repeating. How to Reclaim Parental spiritual Responsibility in Advent
A valuable article by the late Rev. William E. Thompson, “Catechesis: The Quiet Crisis,” Concordia Theological Quarterly, Volume: 56 Number: 2 in 1992, p. 99-122. He begins: Like many young pastors upon their ordination and installation, I had a firm confessional resolve and a definite direction for ministry which were mandated by my ordination vows. … Read more