The Small Catechism – part 10
Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Philippians 3:10
Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
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From the Confessions: The Small Catechism
Then, after you have taught them this condensed catechism, take up a large catechism, and give them a richer and fuller understanding. Expand on the meaning of each commandment, petition, and article, with its various uses, benefits, dangers, and difficulties, as you will find these abundantly discussed in many books written about these topics.
Pulling It Together
It is inconceivable that a person would say of the one she loves, I’ve had enough of him; it’s time for a new stage of life. Even so, being Christian is not something that finally happens, or a chapter of life from which one graduates. Being a Christian means following Christ for one’s entire life, and with one’s whole life. And the reason for this is clear: you want to know him more and more. A Christian wants to know Jesus with more than head-knowledge; she desires heart-knowledge. She wants an intimate relationship with Christ. That does not happen in a brief span of time. It happens over a lifetime.
So, we do not begin and end with the teachings in The Small Catechism. We move on to larger and deeper things. We move through a life together, one grace after another, growing up in salvation (1 Peter 2:2), so that we may more fully know him whom we love.
Prayer: I want to know you, Lord. Amen.
Click here for resources to learn the Ten Commandments.
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Author
Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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