Class Begins
Wednesday, April 24th
7:00 - 8:30 pm
please see calendar here for full schedule
What is Christianity?
Christianity is the life and salvation God has given in and through Jesus Christ.
What is the Bible?
The Bible is God’s own Word and truth, without error. (2 Peter 1:20b-21; John 17:17))
The Apostle Peter writes, “…no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke by God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20b-21).
What is the central teaching of the Bible?
The Apostle John writes, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples (after He rose from the dead), which are not written in this book (the Bible); but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:30-31)
The Bible teaches that God created a perfect creation (a universe without death, decay, conflict, pain, etc.) in six days. He created man and woman on the sixth day and gave them free will by creating the tree of knowledge of good and evil and told them not to eat of it. It is the one place Adam and Eve could worship God. They could worship Him as God by not eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. However, by the temptation of Satan, Adam and Eve ate the fruit, and because they did this, all of God’s perfect creation was subjected to sin and the curse. Now mankind knows the results of sin. Things like death, sickness, arguments, loneliness, addictive drugs, miscarriages, and the like are an everyday part of this world. As terrible as those things are, what is even worse is that we are now separated from God.
God is holy, perfect, without sin, and He cannot dwell with sin and sinners in His majesty. Mankind is therefore separated from God. We cannot be in His presence today, and not for eternity. Our eternal home, because of our rebellion against God, is hell (eternal separation from God).
Yet God has great love for us. A deeper love than we can comprehend. Even though Adam and Eve sinned, and ruined God’s creation, God made a good news (Gospel) promise to Adam and Eve. When speaking to Satan, in the presence of Adam and Eve, after they sinned, God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15). This ‘offspring’ of Eve is Jesus. The whole Bible is the message of how God promised to send a Savior for mankind. It is all about how Jesus was coming. How He came and died and rose so that we would have forgiveness of all sins, and how He will come again.
Who is Martin Luther?
Simply put, Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a Catholic monk, who after studying God’s Word, came to realize that the Roman Catholic Church was in error with regards to teaching and practice. Luther desired to reform the Church, not divide it. He wanted to return the Church to the Word of God alone, and to the central teaching of that Word; we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus.
The Catechism
Luther’s Small Catechism, published in 1529, covers the Six Chief Parts of Christian teaching. In Luther’s words, the catechism “is a short summary and epitome of the entire Scripture.”
The six chief parts are:
Christianity is the life and salvation God has given in and through Jesus Christ.
What is the Bible?
The Bible is God’s own Word and truth, without error. (2 Peter 1:20b-21; John 17:17))
The Apostle Peter writes, “…no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke by God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20b-21).
What is the central teaching of the Bible?
The Apostle John writes, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples (after He rose from the dead), which are not written in this book (the Bible); but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:30-31)
The Bible teaches that God created a perfect creation (a universe without death, decay, conflict, pain, etc.) in six days. He created man and woman on the sixth day and gave them free will by creating the tree of knowledge of good and evil and told them not to eat of it. It is the one place Adam and Eve could worship God. They could worship Him as God by not eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. However, by the temptation of Satan, Adam and Eve ate the fruit, and because they did this, all of God’s perfect creation was subjected to sin and the curse. Now mankind knows the results of sin. Things like death, sickness, arguments, loneliness, addictive drugs, miscarriages, and the like are an everyday part of this world. As terrible as those things are, what is even worse is that we are now separated from God.
God is holy, perfect, without sin, and He cannot dwell with sin and sinners in His majesty. Mankind is therefore separated from God. We cannot be in His presence today, and not for eternity. Our eternal home, because of our rebellion against God, is hell (eternal separation from God).
Yet God has great love for us. A deeper love than we can comprehend. Even though Adam and Eve sinned, and ruined God’s creation, God made a good news (Gospel) promise to Adam and Eve. When speaking to Satan, in the presence of Adam and Eve, after they sinned, God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15). This ‘offspring’ of Eve is Jesus. The whole Bible is the message of how God promised to send a Savior for mankind. It is all about how Jesus was coming. How He came and died and rose so that we would have forgiveness of all sins, and how He will come again.
Who is Martin Luther?
Simply put, Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a Catholic monk, who after studying God’s Word, came to realize that the Roman Catholic Church was in error with regards to teaching and practice. Luther desired to reform the Church, not divide it. He wanted to return the Church to the Word of God alone, and to the central teaching of that Word; we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus.
The Catechism
Luther’s Small Catechism, published in 1529, covers the Six Chief Parts of Christian teaching. In Luther’s words, the catechism “is a short summary and epitome of the entire Scripture.”
The six chief parts are:
- The Ten Commandments
- The Apostles’ Creed
- The Lord’s Prayer
- Baptism
- Confession
- The Lord’s Supper
