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My Grand Project

Catechisms

Summarize beliefs (concise)

Accessible for the masses (accessible)

Examples

Westminster Catechism

Luther’s Small Catechism

New City Catechism (52 questions)\

Problem: We get in our own way!!!!

Still struggling with generations of ‘human interpretation’

Still struggling to combat generational arguments

Solution: I wrote my own.

Beliefs in this confession of faith highly align with those understood by the early church and church fathers up until 1000 A.D. It was around this time that Christians began diverging and specializing into their own specific faith traditions, undoubtedly infusing personal ethos into their belief system. While many modern theologians have proven their dedication to the truth through their scholarship, the corpus of Christian thought appears to have diverged around this time. Emphasis on the Divine Council would have been common across all major churches prior to this date. The discourse on the local church would be very familiar to the apostles and early church figures. While age itself is not the arbiter of truth, it certainly plays a significant role in aiding modern believers in challenging their current theological beliefs.

Learn What This Means (1)

Matthew 9:9–12 CSB

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him. 10 While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick.

Put yourself in Matthew’s shoes

Called by Jesus

References Hosea 6:6 ; look just verses prior

Hosea 6:1–3 CSB

1 Come, let’s return to the Lord. For he has torn us, and he will heal us; he has wounded us, and he will bind up our wounds. 2 He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up so we can live in his presence. 3 Let’s strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.

The roadblock —> Culture influencing faith

Dumb phrase: “That’s just not how I was raised.”

Dumb phrase: “That just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Less Dumb but still kind of dumb phrase: “That’s how I’ve always heard it taught.” (could be good, but BE CAREFUL)

QUESTION EVERYTHING… but do it honestly so you hear where God is correcting you

Learn What This Means (2)

Matthew 12:1–8 CSB

1 At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry: 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence—which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? 5 Or haven’t you read in the law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

....BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!!!!!!

Matthew 12:9–14 CSB

9 Moving on from there, he entered their synagogue. 10 There he saw a man who had a shriveled hand, and in order to accuse him they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 11 He replied to them, “Who among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out? 12 A person is worth far more than a sheep; so it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored, as good as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him, how they might kill him.

The roadblock —> Generational belief

Had evolved from good intentions

Fundamentalist Maccabeans (led to Pharisees)

The true sign the Pharisees were totally lost is in losing sight of the Sabbath.

They had turned it into “just another rule”; God intended it for something divinely profound.

If you don’t know what the meaning of God achieving “it is good” on the final day, then you don’t know why the Messiah is coming back!!!