The Second Command
Joseph & the First Visit of His Brothers
The First Command
Joseph in Pharoah's Court
The Hiding Place: Lessons at a Brook
The Cupbearer & the Baker
Catechism Memorization for April 28
Middle School Memory Work:
Q1. How did Jesus teach us to address God?
A. He commanded us to say, “Our Father in heaven”.
Q2. For what are we to ask first?
A. We should pray first that God may be praised and glorified.
Q3. May we also pray for ourselves?
A. Yes. Jesus teaches us to pray for the needs of our bodies and our souls.
Q4. Can God answer our prayers?
A. Yes. He can and will answer, because all kingdom and power and glory belong to Him.
Q5. How do we confess our faith that God will hear and answer prayer?
A. We confess our faith by saying “Amen”, which means it shall surely be.
How to Understand the Ten Commands
Joseph in Potifar's House
Catechism Memorization for April 21
Middle School Memory Work:
Q1. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is calling upon God in petition and praise.
Q2. Why must we pray?
A. Because God gives His grace and Holy Spirit only to those who ask.
Q3. How should we call on God in prayer?
A. We should pray in reverence, submission, and faith.
Q4. In whose name are we to come to God?
A. We may come to God in prayer only in the name of Jesus our Savior.
Q5. For what may we pray?
A. We may pray for all we need for body and soul, as Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer.
What Makes a Good Action Good
Joseph’s Beginning
Catechism Memorization for April 14
Middle School Memory Work:
Q1. What law has God given us for our daily lives?
A. He has given us the Ten Commandments.
Q2. Why must we try to keep this law?
A. Because God has rescued us from the slavery of sin through Jesus Christ.
Q3. Which laws are found on the first table?
1. You shall have no other gods.
2. You shall not make an idol.
3. You shall not misuse God’s name.
4. You must keep the Sabbath day holy.
Q4. Which laws are found on the second table?
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony.
10. You shall not covet.
Q5. How does God want us to keep His law?
A. We must keep His law with love in our hearts for Him and for our neighbors.
High School Memory Work:
Q1. Why does God forbid all covetousness?
A. God forbids this sin, so that no desire contrary to his will may arise in our hearts. (James 1:14, 15)
Q2. But can those who are converted to God keep these commandments perfectly?
A. No, even the holiest men in this life have only a small beginning of this obedience. Yet they desire to live according to all God’s commandments. (Romans 7:21, 22)
Q3. Why, then, must this law be so strictly preached?
A. God will have his law strictly preached, so that we may learn to know our sinfulness better, may daily seek forgiveness in Christ, and may continually ask for the grace and help of his Holy Spirit. (Galatians 3:19; James 2:12)
Putting on Our New Clothes
Church Membership
Catechism Memorization for April 7
Middle School Memory Work:
Q1. What fruit does a saving faith in Jesus produce?
A. Saving faith produces good works.
Q2. How can we know which works are good in God’s sight?
A. God approves works which are done in faith and in obedience to His law.
Q3. What is God’s law?
A. God’s law is His rule for our lives, briefly stated in the Ten Commandments.
Q4. Can we keep that law perfectly?
A. No, every day we still find sin in our lives.
Q5. What must we do when we see such sin in us?
A. We must again turn to God and ask to be forgiven for Jesus’ sake.
High School Memory Work:
Q1. What does God forbid in the sixth commandment?
A. God forbids not only murder but also the roots of murder, such as envy, hatred and desire of revenge. (Matthew 5:21, 22)
Q2. How does God restrain killing in this present world?
A. God has instituted government and given it authority to punish evildoers and to promote the welfare of those who do good.
Q3. What does the seventh commandment require?
A. That since my body and soul are temples of the Holy Spirit, I must keep both pure. Therefore God forbids all unclean acts, gestures, words, thoughts and desires. (Hebrews 13:4)
Q4. Why does God mention only adultery here?
A. Adultery is the most grievous form of this sin, by which marriage as the symbol of Christ’s union with his church is destroyed. (Ephesians 5:32)
Q5. What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?
A. Here God forbids all deceit and robbery, by which we try to take our neighbor’s goods for ourselves. (Deuteronomy 25:13, 16)
Q6. Against what does the ninth commandment warn?
A. It warns not only against false witness but also against all lies, slander and backbiting as the proper works of the devil. (John 8:44)