Dear families and friends –
Welcome to a weekly post reflecting on the truths of our faith in Jesus Christ that are reflected in the New City Catechism. The NCC is a teaching tool that is built around many of the most famous catechisms in our Christian tradition and distilled down to one each week. Every week, one of our staff or leaders at Signal Pres will post a short reflect or prompt too encourage all of you reading it! (for more on the NCC – including what it is, how to use it, and where to find more resources – please visit their web page here.)
#1: (you can find each question and answer at the link above)
Welcome the grand and wonderful truth that we are not the “Lords” of our own lives. That is such good news. The 1st question of the NCC asks a question that every person asks and answers – regardless of what you say you believe. Everyone has some deep down conviction about what gives them life and hope. It shows up in what we say, how we act, how we think, what we love, and so much more.
The great truth this answer reflects is that we are not our own, but that we belong to God! That this truth is the most basic, fundamental, and critical of all – we are God’s! And second that we are God’s because of his son and our savior, Jesus Christ! Not only did he make us for himself and his purpose, but he saved us for himself and his purpose as well. Draw this out a little bit in conversation by thinking about something you have made, or that belongs to you, or that you have rescued. What does that say about your relationship to it? About your responsibility to it? Now think about God making you and saving your for himself and his purpose. What ways do you think, speak, act, feel, and love that reflect that fundamental truth that you belong to God?