August 9, 2011

THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS

Polycarp burned at the stake

Commendations to the 45 adults of LCOS who were directly involved in this year’s Vacation Bible School which featured ‘THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.’  

The ‘fathers’ of whom the title speaks are the Church Fathers who, after the New Testament era of Church history, confessed the apostolic faith ‘at all times and in all places,’ even though it often cost them their lives.  So, to the left, you see POLYCARP being burned at the stake because of his confession of Christ. 

Arius being confronted by Athanasius

 

Other ‘Church Fathers” introduced to the children were ATHANASIUS who vigorously defended the faith against heretic Arius who taught that Jesus was less than fully God. The heated controversy between Athanasius and Arius resulted in the Church’s writing of and adoption of the Nicene Creed which states so clearly that Jesus Christ is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made….” 

 

 

 

Ambrose of Milan defending the Church to the Empress

The third Church Father that the children learned of was AMBROSE, the fourth century ‘father’ who, despite protests from the Empress [see photo below], defended the Church and  expressed his faith in Christ through hymns and liturgy written for the Church….and used throughout the centuries and by the Church yet today.  Examples?   “Savior of the Nations, Come,”  the Te Deum, sung so often with the Order of Matins [and written by Ambrose for the baptism of one of his students named Augustine!] 

 Augustine being informed of the Fall of Rome

Yes, AUGUSTINE!  Perhaps the best known of all the Church Fathers.  Converted to the Christian faith by the Holy Spirit through the faithful  witness of Augustine’s mother, Monica.   Augustine was the Church Father who emphasized the absolute necessity of God’s grace in creating and sustaining the Christian faith.  He wrote the famous “The City of God,” spoke the famous words, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee,” as well as “Do not seek to understand so that you may believe;  believe that you may understand.”   The teachings of Augustine, especially his emphasis on the grace of God and his dispute with a heretic named Pelagius who taught that salvation depended upon the ‘free will choices of man,’  not the grace of God,  had a great impact upon Martin Luther.

 

The final church father introduced to the children was John CHRYSOSTOM,  John the ‘golden-mouthed’ …so called because of his great skills as an orator and, more importantly, because of the priceless teachings of the faith which he lifted them from the Scriptures and so powerfully communicated to the Church.

 Chrysostom distributing the Sacrament of the Altar

Each day the 60+ children enrolled in the VBS met these notable church figures of the past and learned from them the importance of being bold confessors of the faith in each generation.  Each day the lessons focused on one of the chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism as it related to each church father.  They were led on adventure tours where they met Biblical characters which are linked by Scripture to those catechetical parts….like Moses with the Ten Commandments and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and John the Baptist who was even eating real locusts!!!

VBS Children meet John the Baptist showing the children his meal of locust and honey and speaking to them about baptism into Christ.

 
 
  
And, each day, the children began the day with the singing of a morning litany and pastoral lesson in the sanctuary and learned ancient hymns of the faith and  were fed snacks specifically designed to incorporate the lesson for the day and worked their snacks off in a coloseum-like arena, and made carefully thought out crafts which visualized the lessons of the day and gave the children the opportunity to creatively express the theme of the week…..and, each day each child went home with “The Daily Didache” which included “Patristic Profiles” introducing parents to the Church Fathers considered, and the Verba Fidei, the words of faith which were verses of Scripture which the parents were to teach their children, and “The Parents’ Points” which hi-lighted the catechetical theme of each day so that parents could review it with their child. 
An excellent VBS, developed, composed and coordinated by our own Pastor J. Bestul and our Children’s Ed Coordinator Alyssa Delaney and taught by superb teachers and musicians and creative craft instructors and a dedicated snack crew and handymen and actors/actresses!  It was, indeed, an intergenerational endeavor.  In the midst of it all….our Lord Jesus Christ, the heart and core of all that the Church ‘believes, teaches, and confesses’  in each generation.   Next year’s VBS?   The Reformation!
 
 

Catechesis in the Classroom

Filed under: Uncategorized — Pastor D. Bestul

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