Sermon Tone Analysis

The church connection without limits, with its pastors Nora Piñero and Gabriel Amador present their program connected.

Hello how are you, welcome to "CONECTADOS", my name is Gabriel Amador and we want to welcome everyone who joins us.

I would like to talk today about a very important point of the Protestant Reformation, THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM, before we start, let's clarify these points:

What does the word CATECHISM mean?

The word catechism means chain questions and answers.

You may also wonder, well, is that Heidelberg catechism Biblical?

The answer is yes.

The Heidelberg Catechism was inspired by the Book of Romans.

Also, you might wonder who were the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism?

Well, the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism were two (02) young Ursinus and Olevianus, these were two young theologians.

One had been a student of John Calvin and the other had been close to Martin Luther, they were the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism.

So we have: The Heidelberg Catechism, written in 1563, is a confession of faith that offers comprehensive instruction in Reformed doctrine and theology.

Traditionally attributed to the theologians Zacharius Ursinus and Gaspar Olevianus, the questions and answers are organized to be preached in 1 year, or what is the same, in 52 weeks or Lord's Days.

That is, they were originally intended to be taught every Sunday of the year.

It should be understood that "The Heidelberg Catechism" is one of the four Standards of Unity of the Reformed Church in America, conveying beliefs that are fundamental to the denomination.

Let's look back a bit, what is the history, behind the Heidelberg Catechism!

The Heidelberg Catechism was composed in the city of Heidelberg, Germany, at the request of Elector Frederick III, who ruled the province of the Palatinate from 1559 to 1576.

The new catechism was conceived as a tool for teaching young people, a guide for preaching.

in the provincial churches, and a form of confessional unity among the various Protestant factions in the Palatinate.

An old tradition credits Zacharias Ursinus and Gaspar Olevianus as co-authors of the catechism, but the project was actually the work of a team of university ministers and theologians under the watchful eye of Frederick himself.

Ursinus likely served as the team's lead writer, with Olevianus having a minor role.

The catechism was approved by a synod at Heidelberg in January 1563.

In the same year a second and third German edition, each with minor additions, as well as a Latin translation, were published at Heidelberg.

The third edition was included in the Palatinate Church Order of November 15, 1563, at which time the catechism was divided into 52 sections, or Lord's Days, so that a Lord's Day could be explained in a worship service. in the afternoon every Sunday of the year.

The Synod of Dort approved the Heidelberg Catechism in 1619, and it soon became the most ecumenical of the Reformed catechisms and confessions.

It has been translated into many European, Asian and African languages ​​and remains the most widely used and warmly praised catechism of the Reformation period.

And you may wonder what is the structure of the Heidelberg Catechism?

Well, the Heidelberg Catechism is structured as follows: 129 questions, divided into 52 parts, corresponding to the 52 Sundays of each Year.

The I section; It speaks OF THE MISERY OF MAN, OF THE REDEMPTION AND OF THE GRATITUDE THAT WE OWE TO GOD; Section II INCLUDED A DISCUSSION OF THE APOSTOLIC CREED; The third section talks about the 10 commandments and the Our Father.

These creeds and confessions are important to us at Boundless Connection Church, as we are part of the Reformed Churches of America denomination and as such we are a confessional church, we affirm specific statements called Creeds and Confessions.

These statements are based on the Bible and were written a long time ago to respond to problems, which, by the way, are still facing man today.

Explaining them in details, what the Church believes on these issues.

For that reason, I wanted to share with you all this topic, and talk about the Heidelberg Catechism, its origin, history and structure, with the primary objective of instructing us and building each other up.

And to conclude, thanks for connecting this week, Gabriel Amador says goodbye to you.