Overview
On September 10, we will be starting a preaching series titled “Framework”. For 10 weeks we will be exploring 10 ways that a Reformed Worldview shapes our everyday living. A document from the Christian Reformed Church Faith Formation Ministries states it this way:
“You may ask yourself, “What difference does being Reformed really make?” Our Reformed identity is much more than a set of theological principles. It’s a biblically-based framework for building a life that is deep and rich and shaped by the knowledge that ‘I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, in life and in death – to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.”
As a part of our 10-week journey through “Framework”, we are inviting the Providence family to download the New City Catechism from the app store. You will find 52 question and answers that have helped shaped a Christian Worldview for over 500 years. The New City Catechism is a shortened and modern version of the Heidelberg Catechism. The Heidelberg Catechism was developed during the Reformation Age and has been one of the key confessions that has helped shaped Reformed theology. The Heidelberg Catechism has three movements to its format. When I was younger, it was expressed as the 3 G’s (Guilt, Grace, Gratitude) or the 3 S’s (Sin, Salvation, Service). You will notice the New City Catechism has 3 movements as well.
We encourage you to use the New City Catechism for the next 10 weeks as part of your daily devotions. You will notice a question, an answer and then some additional resources on the bottom such as a commentary, a bible passage to support the answer and a prayer.
Parents, there is also a Children’s Mode that offers a simpler question and answer portion. This would be perfect to use around the dinner table or tucking your kids in bed each night.
No matter if you use this on your own, in a family setting or in a small group; the importance is getting the Providence family reading and thinking about the same theological concepts and Bible passages together.
Please join us in praying for the Holy Spirit to grow us in maturity and develop deep roots as we consider the Framework in which our faith in Jesus Christ takes shape.
-Pastor Toby
Part 1: God, Creation & Fall, Law
Week 1 | September 10 - 16
1. What is our only hope in life and death?
2. What is God?
3. How many persons are there in God?
4. How and why did God create us?
5. What else did God create?
Week 2 | September 17-23
6. How can we glorify God?
7. What does the law of God require?
8. What is the law of God stated in the Ten Commandments?
9. What does God require in the first, second, and third commandments?
10. What does God require in the fourth and fifth commandments?
Week 3 | September 24 - 30
11. What does God require in the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments?
12. What does God require in the ninth and tenth commandments?
13. Can anyone keep the law of God perfectly?
14. Did God create us unable to keep his law?
15. Since no one can keep the law, what is its purpose?
Week 4 | October 1 - 7
16. What is sin?
17. What is idolatry?
18. Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished?
19. Is there any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God’s favor?
20. Who is the Redeemer?
Part 2: Christ, Redemption, Grace
Week 5 | October 8 -14
21. What sort of Redeemer is needed to bring us back to God?
22. Why must the Redeemer be truly human?
23. Why must the Redeemer be truly God?
24. Why was it necessary for Christ, the Redeemer, to die?
25. Does Christ’s death mean all our sins can be forgiven?
Week 6 | October 15 - 21
26. What else does Christ’s death redeem?
27. Are all people, just as they were lost through Adam, saved through Christ?
28. What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith?
29. How can we be saved?
30. What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Week 7 | October 22 - 28
31. What do we believe by true faith?
32. What do justification and sanctification mean?
33. Should those who have faith in Christ seek their salvation through their own works, or anywhere else?
34. Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through Christ alone, must we still do good works and obey God’s Word?
35. Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through faith alone, where does this faith come from?
Part 3: Spirit, Restoration, Growing in Grace
Week 8 | October 29 – November 4
36. What do we believe about the Holy Spirit?
37. How does the Holy Spirit help us?
38. What is prayer?
39. With what attitude should we pray?
40. What should we pray?
Week 9 | November 5 - 11
41. What is the Lord’s Prayer?
42. How is the Word of God to be read and heard?
43. What are the sacraments or ordinances?
44. What is baptism?
45. Is baptism with water the washing away of sin itself?
Week 10 | November 12 - 18
46. What is the Lord’s Supper?
47. Does the Lord’s Supper add anything to Christ’s atoning work?
48. What is the church?
49. Where is Christ now?
50. What does Christ’s resurrection mean for us?
51. Of what advantage to us is Christ’s ascension?
52. What hope does everlasting life hold for us?