wfn.org | Text of "The First Catechism"

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8-October-1997 
97396 
 
    Text of "The First Catechism" 
    to be submitted to the 210th General Assembly (1998) 
 
1.  Who are you? 
    I am a child of God. 
 
2.  What does it mean to be a child of God? 
    That I belong to God, who loves me. 
 
3.  Do you have to be good for God to love you? 
    No.  God loves me in spite of all I do wrong.  God's love is a free 
gift that I do not deserve and cannot earn. 
 
4.  How do you thank God for this gift? 
    I promise to love and trust God with all my heart. 
 
5.  How do you love God? 
    By worshipping God, by loving others, and by respecting what God has 
created. 
 
6.  What did God create? 
    God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. 
 
7.  What is special about human beings? 
    God made us, male and female, in God's own image. 
 
8.  What does it mean that we are made in God's image? 
    It means we are made to reflect God's goodness, wisdom, and love. 
 
9.  Why, then, do we human beings often act in destructive and hateful 
ways? 
    Because we have turned against God and fallen into sin. 
 
10.  What is sin? 
    Sin is separation from God, because we have closed our hearts to God. 
 
11.  What happens because of our sin? 
    Our lives are full of sorrow and death.  All our relations with others 
are confused.  Our relationship with God is broken. 
 
12.  How does God deal with us as sinners? 
    God hates our sin, but never stops loving us. 
 
13.  What did God do to help us? 
    God chose the people of Israel to make a new beginning.  They received 
God's covenant, and prepared the way for Jesus to come as our Savior. 
 
14.  What is the covenant? 
    The covenant is an everlasting agreement between God and Israel. 
 
15.  What is in this agreement? 
    God promised to be Israel's God, and they promised to be God's people. 
Israel vowed to worship and serve only God.  God vowed to bless them, and 
through them, all the peoples of the earth. 
 
16.  How did God keep this covenant? 
    God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt, gave them the Ten Commandments 
through Moses, and brought them into the land that God had promised. 
 
17.  What are the Ten Commandments? 
    The Ten Commandments are the law of God.  When God gave them to Moses, 
God said, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 
out of the house of slavery: 
    (1)   You shall have no other gods before me. 
    (2)   You shall not make yourself a graven image. 
    (3)   You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 
    (4)   Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 
    (5)   Honor your father and your mother. 
    (6)   You shall not kill. 
    (7)   You shall not commit adultery. 
    (8)   You shall not steal. 
    (9)   You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 
    (10) You shall not covet what is your neighbor's. 
 
18.  What is the main point of these commandments? 
    You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and 
strength; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 
 
19.  Did the people keep their covenant with God? 
    No, they turned away to worship other gods and did not love each other 
as God commanded. 
 
20.  What did God do when these people kept turning away? 
    Although God judged the people, they were not left without hope.  God 
sent them prophets to speak God's word.  God gave them priests to make 
sacrifices for their sins.  God called kings to protect the needy and 
guarantee justice.  At last God promised to send the Messiah. 
 
21.  How did God keep that promise? 
    God sent Jesus to be the Messiah.  Another word for Messiah, which 
means "anointed one," is Christ.  Jesus is called the Christ, because God 
anointed him to be the Savior who would rescue  us from sin and death. 
 
22.  Was Jesus just another human being? 
    No.  Although he was truly human, he was also God with us.  As someone 
who was truly human, he could understand all our sorrows.  Yet because he 
was God with us, he could save us from all our sins. 
 
23.  What was Jesus like? 
    When Jesus spoke, he spoke with God's authority.  When he acted, he 
acted with God's power.  The people were amazed.  He was also gentle and 
loving.  He cared for us in all our needs as a shepherd cares for the 
sheep. 
 
24.  What did he do during his life on earth? 
    He called disciples to follow him.  He fed the hungry, healed the sick, 
and forgave sins.  He taught people not to fear, but to trust always in 
God.  He preached the good news of God's love and gave everyone hope for 
new life. 
 
25.  How did Jesus Christ prove to be our Savior? 
    He sacrificed his life for us by dying on the cross.  He showed his 
victory over death by rising from the dead.  He removed our guilt and gave 
us new, unending life with God. 
 
26.  How do we know that Jesus is Lord? 
    After he died and was raised from the dead, he appeared to his 
disciples, both women and men. He revealed himself to them as our living 
Lord and Savior.  Through the preaching of Holy Scripture, he continues to 
reveal himself to us today. 
 
27.  What does it mean that Jesus ascended into heaven? 
    After his work on earth was done, he returned to heaven to prepare a 
place for us and to rule with God in love.  He also remains with us here 
through the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
 
28.  When was the Holy Spirit given to the first Christians? 
    On the day of Pentecost. 
 
29.  What happened on the day of Pentecost? 
    When the first Christians were gathered together in Jerusalem, the Holy 
Spirit came down on them like a mighty wind.  They all began to speak in 
different languages.  A crowd gathered in astonishment. Peter preached to 
them the gospel, which is the good news about Jesus. 
 
30.  What did the events of Pentecost mean? 
    The Holy Spirit filled the first Christians with joy by revealing what 
Jesus had done for us.  The Spirit inspired them to understand and proclaim 
the gospel, and to live a new life together in thanksgiving to God. 
 
31.  How do the events that began at Pentecost continue today? 
    The Holy Spirit moves us to understand and believe the gospel, and 
unites us into a new community called the church. 
 
32.  What is the church? 
    We are the people who believe the good news about Jesus, who are 
baptized, and who share in the Lord's Supper.  Through these means of 
grace, the Spirit renews us so that we may serve God in love. 
 
33.  What comfort does the good news give you? 
    That I belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who died and rose 
again for my sake, so that nothing will ever separate me from God's love. 
 
34.  What does the Holy Spirit do for the church? 
    The Spirit gathers us to worship God, builds us up in faith, hope, and 
love, and sends us into the world to proclaim the gospel and to work for 
justice and peace. 
 
35.  Why do Christians gather for worship on the first day of the week? 
    Because it is the day when God raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. 
When we gather weekly on that day, the Spirit makes our hearts glad with 
the memory of our Lord's resurrection. 
 
36.  What do we do in Christian worship? 
    We adore and praise God.  We pray, sing hymns, and listen to readings 
from Holy Scripture.    We also give offerings to God for the work of the 
church, and commit ourselves to serve God and our neighbors.  Above all, we 
hear the preaching of the gospel and celebrate the sacraments. 
 
37.  What is a sacrament? 
    A sacrament uses visible signs to communicate God's grace for us in 
Jesus Christ.  We celebrate two sacraments in Christian worship: baptism 
and the Lord's Supper. 
 
38.  What is baptism? 
    Through baptism I am adopted and welcomed into God's family.  In the 
water of baptism I share in the dying and rising of Jesus, who washes away 
my sins.  I am made one with him, and with all who are joined to him in the 
church. 
 
39.  Why are you baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Spirit? 
    Because of the command Jesus gave to his disciples.  After he was 
raised from the dead, he appeared to them, saying:  "Go and make disciples 
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and 
of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19). 
 
40.  What is the meaning of this name? 
    It is the name of the Holy Trinity.  The Father is God, the Son is God, 
and the Holy Spirit is God.  And yet they are not three gods, but one God 
in three persons.  We worship God in this mystery. 
 
41.  What is the Lord's Supper? 
    In the Lord's Supper I am fed at the table of God's family. Through the 
bread that I eat and the cup that I drink, the Lord offers me his body and 
blood.  He joins me to himself, and allows me to share in his own eternal 
life.  As I remember that he died for all, and therefore also for me, I 
feed on him in my heart by faith with thanksgiving. 
 
42.  Why do we pray to God? 
    Because we are created to live with God, who desires the prayers of our 
hearts.  Our hearts also long for God, for we need God's help and guidance 
every day. 
 
43.  What do we do when we pray? 
    When we pray, we adore God, we confess our sins, we give God thanks, 
and we pray for the needs of others and ourselves. 
 
44.  How did Jesus teach his followers to pray? 
    He taught them the words of the Lord's Prayer. 
 
45.  What is the Lord's Prayer? 
    Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your 
will be done, on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  Save us from 
the time of trial and deliver us from evil.  For the kingdom, the power, 
and the glory are yours now and for ever.  Amen. 
 
46.  What do we mean when we pray to God as "Our Father"? 
    As Jesus taught us, we call upon God like little children who know that 
God cares for them and loves them.  Because Jesus prayed to God as his 
Father, we too can pray to God in this way. 
 
47.  When we pray to God as our Father, do we mean that God is male? 
    No.  Only creatures who have bodies can be male or female.  But God is 
spirit and has no body. 
 
48.  What do we mean when we pray to God "in heaven"? 
    We mean that God draws near to us from beyond this world, and hears our 
prayers. 
 
49.  What do we ask when we pray "Hallowed be your name"? 
    We pray that God's name will be honored in all the world and everywhere 
treated as holy, because God's name really stands for God. 
 
50.  What do we ask when we pray "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on 
earth as in heaven"? 
    We ask God to fulfill God's purpose for the whole world.  We also ask 
God to make us able and willing to accept God's will in all things, and to 
do our part in bringing about God's purpose. 
 
51.  Why do we pray "Give us today our daily bread"? 
    Because all good things come from God.  Even in our most ordinary 
needs, God cares for us completely. 
 
52.  What do we ask when we pray "Forgive us our sins"? 
    Telling God we are sorry, we ask God not to hold our sins against us 
but to accept us again by grace. 
 
53.  Why do we continue with "as we forgive those who sin against us"? 
    Because we are to forgive others just as God has forgiven us. 
 
54.  What do we ask when we pray "Save us from the time of trial and 
deliver us from evil"? 
    We ask God to protect us, especially when we most need it.  We pray for 
God to free us from all desires that would lead us to sin, and to shelter 
us from the powers of evil that may threaten us. 
 
55.  What does it mean to pray "For the kingdom, the power, and the glory 
are yours, now and for ever"? 
    We praise God for being able and willing to do everything we have asked 
in this prayer.  We give ourselves to God's wise and gracious care, because 
we know that God can be trusted to make all things work together for good, 
now and for ever. 
 
56.  Why does our prayer end with "Amen"? 
    "Amen" means "so be it" or "let it be so."  It expresses our complete 
confidence in God, who makes no promise that will not be kept and whose 
love endures for ever. 

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