Catechism

I am ashamed to say, when I first read through the book Family Driven Faith, I had no idea what a catechism was.  Well, that is not entirely true.  I thought it had something to do with the Catholic religion and only the Catholic religion.

But, after researching it just a little bit further I found out there are a few different ones, depending on denomination.  The ones that I looked over are all set up the same way.  Short, poignant questions, with concise answers meant to help believers get a firm foundation of their faith.  If taught week by week, it could take up to two years for the Westminster Shorter.  That is a huge commitment of time.

Of course, I was intrigued and so purchased it about a year and half ago.  It immediately went up on our shelves.  It was kind of overwhelming.  The one I bought is called Training Hearts, Teaching Minds and it is a daily devotional type book set up weekly, based on one of each of the catechism questions.

About 3 months ago, God placed on my heart this idea to form a multigenerational LifeGroup where parents and kids go to a Sunday school class together, instead of being separated out in to age appropriate classes.  I ran it by hubby and a good friend and then we went to our Pastor.  We got approval from our church leadership body and we (us and our good family friends) started a new class.

So, for the past 5 weeks at 9:30 on Sunday mornings, currently four families (about 20 of us ranging in age from 3 years old to 45 years old) gather in a class room and are going through the catechism together.  Our current "teacher" is a good friend and he teaches Science to 5th graders.  He has been perfect in setting up his teaching time in such a way that engages the kids yet teaches the parents.

What I like about learning the catechism is that it has helped me understand some of the more profound questions about God, Jesus and man.  Our very first question was "What is man's primary purpose?"  The answer is "Man's primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."  The next six days of the devotion go through Scripture and bible stories that support the question and answer.  We read it almost every night, right after dinner, at the table.

Up until we learned that question, memorized the answer and read through some Bible passages explaining that, I can tell you I would not have known concisely what my primary purpose was.  I was created to glorify God!  In all that I do.  And enjoy Him forever.  Thanks to Jesus.  It definitely shows that my life has a purpose!!  No matter my circumstances.

Another questions was "Who is God?"  If you have ever thought about that question, it is a mind bender.  I know in my heart and I read in the Bible who He is.  We learn about Him in church and through daily devotions and Bible study at home, but I don't know if I could concisely/precisely answer that question in a manner that sounded somewhat intelligent, until we went through the question about a week ago.  "God is a spirit, whose being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth are infinite, eternal and unchangeable."

These are Biblical truths being taught to all of us.  It is so cool to hear EG respond to the answers.  Does she necessarily get what she is saying, probably not totally.  But, she is building a foundation on the rock of Biblical truth and scripture.  In other words, she is a getting a great start.

I don't know the future of our Multigenerational LifeGroup and I hope we will continue on with our catechism regardless.  But, I know it serves a purpose right now in encouraging families, our family, to worship, praise and learn about God together.  We will continue getting a firm foundation based in truth.

A great start for us all  . . .