Drawing from the Well, 4/11/16

Today marks the beginning of a new series that I intend to post on Mondays (in addition to other content I will post throughout the week). I have entitled it “Drawing from the Well” to picture the satisfying refreshment of plunging into a deep source and bringing up life-giving, life-sustaining truth. In this case, the well is the a collection of documents from various periods of church history that outline the Christian faith in summary form, such as the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, etc., as well as confessions and catechisms from the modern period. I think these documents are a rich source of teaching that we could be using, not only for our own benefit, but also for the benefit of our children, but that are too often neglected.

My goal in this first post in the series is simply to outline what I hope to accomplish with it. My main objective is to provide some basic theology at the beginning of each week that parents can use in the training of their children throughout that week. So, for example, next Monday I will focus on the first line of the Apostles’ Creed and offer some reflections on it that will aid in understanding and in communicating its meaning to children. My hope is that I can help parents accomplish two things for the week:

(1) Lead their children to memorize that particular line (which will be built upon each week, until they have the whole creed memorized);

(2) Take some time to teach the meaning of that line, to reflect on it biblically, and to discuss it with their children with the goal that, over time, they will not only memorize the words, but also internalize the message. Over time, imagine how much of a grasp on the whole spectrum of theology our children may be able to develop if we discipline ourselves to teach it to them day-by-day, week-by-week.

I envision these discussions with our children being incorporated well into times of family worship, or simply in day-to-day conversations. As parents, it is our responsibility to teach the faith to our children. Let’s not neglect the rich sources of the past that previous generations left to us. If you are so inclined, make sure you check in every Monday to draw from the well.

Update: Beginning December 6, 2016, I intend to post in this series on Tuesdays instead of Mondays.