1. Chain the Catechism: A topical study through the Lutheran confessions Apostle’s Creed: 1st Article-Father Memorization Verses: Gal 3:26 You are all… Acts 17:26 From one man… Eph 3:14-15 For this reason…
3. F A T H E R Write an acrostic prayer to your Heavenly Father
4. LSB 605 abCCG|fgAAE|deFFC|DFG- Refrain Father welcomes all His children To His family through His Son. Father giving His salvation, Life forever has been won. 1. Little children, come to Me, For my kingdom is of these. Life and love I have to give, Mercy for your sin. 2. In the water, in the Word, In His promise, be assured: Those who are baptized and believe Shall be born again. 3. Let us daily die to sin; Let us daily rise with Him, Walk in the love of Christ our Lord, Live in the peace of God.
5. Discussion Love and fear. Everything the father of a family says must inspire one or the other. ~Joseph Joubert
6. Discussion Our Mother who is within us we celebrate your many names. Your wisdom come, your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us. Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits and we let go. You support us in our power and we act in courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen (ELCA, Berkley Chapel)
7. Discussion O Sophia, Wisdom and Mother of us all, you are One with many names and images. May we see in all who are gathered here today your multiplicity of blessings. Today we honor your unlocking systems and practices that devalued and demeaned us for so many years and by putting your way of honoring people in its place. Most Holy One. (ELCA, invocation) The Great Goddess is “the arch personification of the power of Space, Time, and Matter, within whose bound all beings arise and die: the substance of their bodies, configurator of their lives and thoughts, and receiver of their dead. And everything having form or name—including God personified as good or evil, merciful or wrathful—was her child, within her womb.” (Joseph Campbell, Neopaganism)
8. Reflection Questions What is the nature of a father according to scripture? Is God seen only as a father? Who are considered God’s children? Does God’s fatherhood mean patriarchal dominance?
9. The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.(Deut. 1:3) But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father, We are the clay, and Thou our potter; And all of us are the work of Thy hand. (Is. 64:8) Then I said, 'How I would set you among My sons, And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!' And I said, 'You shall call me My Father, And not turn away from following Me.‘ (Jer. 3:19) b) (Ab): Formal, Masculine progenitor, father of people/lineage Rcy (Yatsar): Former or Potter, one standing in first relation to his creation, pushing into shape, creating a “fingerprint” or autograph upon the formed. Hlxn (Nachalah): Gift in connection to heritage, part of the right as sons, can be revoked in connection to dis-ownership of backslidden children Exl(Lacham): To do battle, make war, conquer as a representative of the people 1st Article, The Father: OT Exegesis
10. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Gal. 4:4-7) Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. (Heb. 12:8) path/r(pator): Father abba(abba): the personal, Aramaic form of ab. Similar to “papa.” Abba may be a transliteration with father, or could be a continuation of the label of God (informal, formal). a)polamba/nw (Apolambano): To receive a gift in connection with the benevolence of the giver uiÔoqesiða(huiothesia): a son by means of adoption Paideiða (paideia): Disicplining, teaching, chastising, sharpening the mind through knowledge, moral education, development into manhood. 1st Article, The Father: NT Exegesis
11. God the Father is eternal, creator Christ is the son: the relationship that our understanding of father/son is derived (although imperfectly and temporal). Authority over creation, in connection to His creativity Creator of faith and children in the church God the Father is patron, warrior God actively intervenes on behalf of his children God protects His children from wickedness, both internally and externally God gives of His inheritance by a sharing of Christ’s victory 1st Article, The Father: Context
12. God the Father is not articulated apart from the 3 persons We are adopted to the Father, by the Son, through the Spirit Father is the progenitor and origin by which the Son and the Spirit testify and point The Father gives all power and dominion to the Son The Spirit is our advocate for the Father 1st Article, The Father: Trinitarian
13. Moreover, we also confess that God the Father has not only given us all that we have and see before our eyes, but daily preserves and defends us against all evil and misfortune, averts all sorts of danger and calamity; and that He does all this out of pure love and goodness, without our merit, as a benevolent Father, who cares for us that no evil befall us. 1st Article, The Father: Trinitarian "The Large Catechism." 2010. Book of Concord. 16 December 2010 <http://www.bookofconcord.org/lc-4-creed.php>.
14. "Ab (Semitic)." 2010. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 16 December 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab_(Semitic)>. Norelli, Nick. "Knowing God the Father Through the Old Testament." 2010. 16 December 2010 <http://rdtwot.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/knowing-god-the-father-through-the-old-testament/>. Norelli, Nick. "Knowing God the Father Through the Old Testament." 2010. 16 December 2010 <http://rdtwot.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/knowing-god-the-father-through-the-old-testament/>. Kirby, Donald. "An Old Testament Concept." 2010. 16 December 2010 <http://donaldkirby.blogspot.com/2007/06/god-as-father-old-testament-concept.html>. "Using Abba to Address the Creator of All as Parent and Teacher." 2010. Suite101. 16 December 2010 <http://www.suite101.com/content/bible-study-scriptures-supporting-god-as-father-a137532>. "Interlinear Study Bible on StudyLight.org." 2010. 16 December 2010 <http://www.studylight.org/isb/bible.cgi?query=heb+12:7&translation=kjv&ot=bhs&nt=na&sr=1>. "Alpha and Omega Ministries, The Christian Apologetics Ministry of James R. White." 2010. 16 December 2010 <http://vintage.aomin.org/John175.html>. Cherie. "AnglicansUnited.com » Goddess and Mother Prayers Prominent in Gay ELCA Service." 2010. 16 December 2010 <http://www.anglicansunited.com/?p=8171>. Bibliography
15. 1st Article of the Apostle’s Creed:Father Why is the first person of the Trinity called “The Father”? SS: God is the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ M: and also my Father through faith in Christ. T : He is also the Father of all people because he created them. W: Strictly speaking, there is only one human race, because all human beings are equally children of Adam and Eve and are equally redeemed by Christ Th: We are Prodigal Sons
16. SS Creeds: God is the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ Matthew 3:17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” John 14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 1 Chronicles 17:13 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you,
17. M and also my Father through faith in Christ. John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Galatians 3:26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. Isaiah 63:16 For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us;you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. Matthew 6:9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
18. T He is also the Father of all people because he created them. Malachi 2:10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? Acts 17:26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
19. W Strictly speaking, there is only one human race, because all human beings are equally children of Adam and Eve and are equally redeemed by Christ 1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Ephesians 3:14-15 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
20. Th We are Prodigal Sons Luke 15:11-32 The Parable of the Prodigal Son 18 … “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. Matthew 7:11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
21. Conclusion God is the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ and also my Father through faith in Christ. He is also the Father of all people because he created them. Strictly speaking, there is only one human race, because all human beings are equally children of Adam and Eve and are equally redeemed by Christ. Prayer: Loving and tender Father in heaven, I confess before You, in deep sorrow, how hard and lacking in sympathy is my heart. How often I have sinned against my neighbor. How often I have felt no true pity for his trials and sorrows, and have neglected to comfort, help, and visit him. O Father, forgive this heavy sin. Give me grace ever to alleviate the crosses and difficulties of those around me, and never to add to them. Let my charity show itself not in words only but in deed and truth. Teach me to judge as You did, with forbearance, with much pity and indulgence. And help me to avoid all unloving judgment of others. Amen. (Johann Arndt, 1555-1621)
