A short look at confession. Used as part of a weekly catachism class for adults.

1. The Catechism

2. Agenda Agenda Introduction Objective Discussion Closing Next Week

3. Introductions Who am I and who are these people sharing the table with you

4. Who are we? Turn to someone you don’t know and tell them Your Name Ask them their name and one of the following questions: What is the greatest thing you accomplished in the last year What is the biggest thing you are looking forward to in the next year What city were you born in What does your first and last name mean? Where did you get your education and what did you focus on or what was your favorite subject What is your favorite time of year and why

5. Objective Why am I here today

6. Objective: For The Course To gain a greater understanding of the Creator of the Universe To Gain a greater understanding of the Lutheran understanding of the Christian Faith

7. Discussion The Essence of the Thing

8. Prayer Prior to Studying the Bible Almighty God, heavenly Father, you give all the gifts of life and living, and you bid us to love you with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. During this time of study and learning and writing, grant to us the protection of your Holy Spirit, that we become neither weary nor proud, and that in all things we might, with our words, bring honor and glory to your Word, Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.Amen.

9. Schedule *Feast or Festival †Commemorations

10. Objective: Week Six To gain a greater understanding of The Office of the Keys and Confession

11. Some Bible Verses “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” -- (Matthew 16:19 ESV) “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” -- (Matthew 18:15-20 ESV) And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” -- (John 20:22-23 ESV) When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. -- (Revelation 1:17 - 18)

12. Some Bible Verses Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. -- James 5:13-17 ESV

13. What is the Office of the Keys? The keys are an office and power given by Christ to the Church for binding and loosing sin, not only the gross and well-known sins, but also the subtle, hidden, which are known only to God -- The SmalcaldArticles 3:7

14. What is the Office of the Keys? “…the keys belong not to the person of one particular man, but to the Church, as many most clear and firm arguments testify. For Christ, speaking concerning the keys adds: “If two or three of you shall agree on earth…” Therefore he grants the keys principally and immediately to the Church, just as also for this reason the Church has principally the right of calling. For just as the promise of the Gospel belongs certainly and immediately to the entire Church, so the keys belong immediately to the entire Church, because the keys are nothing else than the office whereby this promise is communicated to every one who desires it, just as it is actually manifest that the Church has the power to ordain ministers of the Church. And Christ speaks in these words: Whatsoever ye shall bind, etc., and indicates to whom He has given the keys, namely, to the Church: Where two or three are gathered together in My name. Likewise Christ gives supreme and final jurisdiction to the Church, when He says: Tell it unto the Church.” -- A Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope compiled by the theologians assembled at Smalcald - 1537

15. What Does This Look Like? (Pastor): Almighty God, our maker and redeemer, we poor sinners confess unto You that we are by nature sinful and unclean and that we have sinned against You by thought, word, and deed. Wherefore we flee for refuge to Your infinite mercy, seeking and imploring Your grace for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. (all): O most merciful God, who has given Your only-begotten Son to die for us, have mercy upon us and for His sake grant us remission of all our sins; and by Your Holy Spirit increase in us true knowledge of You and of Your will and true obedience to Your Word, to the end that by Your grace, we may come to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. [Mecklenburg, 1545]

16. When is this done? Sunday Morning Services Daily at Compline Service of Corporate Confession & Absolution Triduum (Maundy Thursday) An expanded version of the (Service of Corporate Confession & Absolution)

17. So what is Personal Confession & Absolution? Confession embraces two parts: the one is, that we confess our sins; the other, that we receive absolution, or forgiveness, from the confessor, as from God Himself, and in no wise doubt, but firmly believe, that our sins are thereby forgiven before God in heaven. – Luther’s Small Catechism

18. What sins do we need to confess to our Confessor? Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even of those which we do not know, as we do in the Lord's Prayer. But before the confessor we should confess those sins alone which we know and feel in our hearts. – Luther’s Small Catechism

19. Can you be more specific? Here consider your station according to the Ten Commandments, whether you are a father, mother, son, daughter, master, mistress, a man-servant or maid-servant; whether you have been disobedient, unfaithful, slothful; whether you have grieved any one by words or deeds; whether you have stolen, neglected, or wasted aught, or done other injury. – Luther’s Small Catechism

20. So what does this look like? You should speak to the confessor thus: Reverend [Pastor] and dear sir, I beseech you to hear my confession, and to pronounce forgiveness to me for God's sake. – Luther’s Small Catechism

21. Here is what a confession looks like I, a poor sinner, confess myself before God guilty of all sins; especially I confess before you that I am a man-servant, a maidservant, etc. But, alas, I serve my master unfaithfully; for in this and in that I have not done what they commanded me; I have provoked them, and caused them to curse, have been negligent in many things and permitted damage to be done; have also been immodest in words and deeds, have quarreled with my equals, have grumbled and sworn at my mistress, etc. For all this I am sorry, and pray for grace; I want to do better. In particular I confess before you that I have not faithfully trained my children, domestics, and wife [family] for God's glory. I have cursed, set a bad example by rude words and deeds, have done my neighbor harm and spoken evil of him, have overcharged and given false ware and short measure.” And whatever else he has done against God's command and his station. – Luther’s Small Catechism

22. Wait a second: “I can’t find any sins” But if any one does not find himself burdened with such or greater sins, he should not trouble himself or search for or invent other sins, and thereby make confession a torture, but mention one or two that he knows. Thus: In particular I confess that I once cursed; again, I once used improper words, I have once neglected this or that, etc. Let this suffice. But if you know of none at all (which, however is scarcely possible), then mention none in particular, but receive the forgiveness upon your general confession which you make before God to the confessor. – Luther’s Small Catechism

23. The confessor says: God be merciful to thee and strengthen thy faith! Amen. Dost thou believe that my forgiveness is God's forgiveness? Penitent: Yes, dear sir. As thou believest, so be it done unto thee. And by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ I forgive thee thy sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Depart in peace. But those who have great burdens upon their consciences, or are distressed and tempted, the confessor will know how to comfort and to encourage to faith with more passages of Scripture. This is to be merely a general form of confession for the unlearned. – Luther’s Small Catechism

24. So what about the rest of us? “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. “ -- (1 Peter 2:9-12 ESV)

25. Objective: Week Seven To gain a greater understanding of The Sacrament of the Eucharist

27. Objective: Week Eight To gain a greater understanding of “The Christian Life”

28. Christian Q/A Do you believe that you are a sinner? How do you know this? Are you sorry for your sins? What have you deserved from God because of your sins? Do you hope to be saved? In whom then do you trust? Who is Christ? How many Gods are there? What has Christ done for you that you trust in Him? Did the Father also die for you? How do you know this? What are the Words of Institution? Do you believe, then, that the true body and blood of Christ are in the Sacrament? What convinces you to believe this? What should we do when we eat His body and drink His blood, and in this way receive His pledge? Why should we remember and proclaim His death? What motivated Christ to die and make full payment for your sins? Finally, why do you wish to go to the Sacrament? What should admonish and encourage a Christian to receive the Sacrament frequently? But what should you do if you are not aware of this need and have no hunger and thirst for the Sacrament?

29. Objective: Week One To gain a greater understanding of the Bible To gain a greater understanding of the overall narrative, themes, plot, and characters of the bible