OUR SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH & SCHOOL
  • Home
  • School
    • What We Offer
    • Staff
    • Preschool >
      • Preschool Packets
    • Kindergarten - 8th Grade >
      • Overview of our Curriculum
      • Parent Handbook 2018-2019
      • K - 8th Enrollment Form
    • Prices for 2022-2023
    • Donations
  • About Us
    • Pastors and Staff
    • What We Believe
    • Our History
    • Photo Gallery
  • Visitors
    • Visitor Information
    • What's a Lutheran?
  • What About?
    • What about Jesus?
    • What is Baptism?
    • What is the Sacrament of the Altar?
    • What is Catechesis?
    • What is Pastoral Care?
    • What is Worship?
    • What are Hymns?
    • What about Personal and Family Devotions?
    • What about My Children?
  • News and Events
  • Resources
    • Sermons
    • Links
    • Fascinating Finds
  • Mercy
  • Pastor's Blog
  • Church Podcast

I Don't Want the Lord to End Up in This Box

11/16/2016

0 Comments

 
Pastor Packer has a new post up over at Steadfast Lutherans:

"The goal of all parents, pastors, teachers, and churches should be that they teach their children in such a way they give the children something they can grow into rather than something they will grow out of..."  

http://steadfastlutherans.org/2016/11/dont-want-lord-end-box/
0 Comments

Culture, Catechesis, and the Brain (Part 2)

9/14/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Two great quotes from the article The Neuro Transformers (here).  As I post parts of my research it's good to ask, "How is culture catechising me in ways I'm not even aware? What about my children?"

Culture also affects our brains in less obvious ways. Consider that we tend unconsciously to accept as “normal” that which our culture regards as normal.

Given the way our flexible brains tend to rewire themselves to adapt to our environment, it is easy for us to “catch” the assumptions of false worldviews without realizing we have done so, just as a child learning a language will pick up the right accent without even thinking about it. David Wells grasped this well when he wrote that “worldliness . . . is that set of practices in a society, its values and ways of looking at life, that make sin look normal and righteousness look strange.” The changes in our brains wrought by these societal influences often occur deep below the surface of our conscious awareness, leading us to hold pre-reflective assumptions that are, to quote Herbert Schlossberg. “More powerful than assertions, because they bypass the critical faculty and thereby create prejudice. . . . The simple act of listening to an argument is almost enough to engage it. . . . That bypassed assumption is the pocket of enemy soldiers that was ignored in an effort to engage the main body of the adversary, and it lies in wait to strike from the rear. The false assumption is additionally beguiling because it often appeals to one of the worst instincts—the desire to be fashionable or at least to avoid being associated with the unfashionable or unpopular. 
0 Comments

Culture, Catechesis, and the Brain

9/7/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
I'm working on a paper to present at the October pastors' conference and I have found this Salvo article (here) extremely helpful.  Here are the opening paragraphs:

"One of the themes I’ve been exploring in some of my Salvo articles is how our brains change based on interactions with our social environment.

​In my Salvo article ‘The Neuro Transformers’ and also in ‘Sex & the Kiddies’ I explained just how flexible the human brain is and how the messages we are exposed to in our culture actually change the neuro-circuitry of our brains."

Or to put it another way -- you and your children are constantly being catechized by everything that is around you, whether you are aware of it or not.  And not only is it catechizing you, it's actually changing your brain.

Here's his concluding paragraph:  "Not only can things like memorizing and swimming underwater change our brains, but our brains also change based on the messages we receive from society all around us, and from the cultural environment in which we grow up. This can be a force for good, when the culture around us is wholesome, but it can also be a force for great evil and subversion."

This is extremely important as we consider the environments of our homes and schools.  To be continued...

1 Comment

Fascinating Find: How to Make Worship Kid-Friendly

1/21/2016

2 Comments

 
This article has some great information and it should sound familiar since it is what we do here: How to Make Worship Kid-Friendly

From the article: Them: I like traditional worship, but I’ve got kids, so, you know…
Me: No, I don’t. What do you mean?
Them: Well…I’ve got to have them in contemporary worship.
Me: Oh. Why?
Them: (With increasing annoyance) Well…you know…they’re kids!
I must have had this conversation a thousand times. These are parents, who usually for the most honorable of reasons believe that they need to put their kids in contemporary worship. After all, it’s easy, it seems relevant, and it doesn’t ask for much in return.
The motivation may be pure, but the method is short-sighted, and the results can be disastrous.
I think in the haste to see their kids “connected” or “plugged in” to the church, it’s easy for parents to forget a few things about the purpose of corporate worship.

Also check out our
What about My Children? section of this website. 
2 Comments

Two Fantastic Resources for Family Catechesis and Devotions

1/12/2016

0 Comments

 
I came across two fantastic resources that could greatly help your family with catechizing your children and family devotions.

​The first helps you create a family altar board. What's that?  Check out the link to find out:
         http://www.intoyourhandsllc.com/blog/60-start-a-tradition-the-family-altar-board.html

And the second shows you how to easily break down teaching and reviewing the Small Catechism throughout the Church Year:
       http://lutherancatechism.com/2016/01/one-church-year-catechism-reading-plan/

I hope you are able to utilize both!  


0 Comments

    About

    A place for Pastor Packer to post articles, links, and his own thoughts.

    Archives

    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    Abortion
    Acedia
    All Saints
    Anger
    Apathy
    Ascension
    Augustine
    Baptism
    Bible Study
    Catechesis
    Catechism
    Chemnitz
    Christian Life
    Christmastide
    Church Fathers
    Church Year
    Creation
    Crosses
    Culture
    Daily Devotion
    Death
    Devotion
    Devotions
    Easter
    Evangelism
    Family
    Galatians
    Gerhard
    Gerhardt
    Gospel
    Gospels
    Holy Week
    How Can I Be Saved
    Hymns
    Idolatry
    Isaiah 9
    Lent
    Liturgy
    Lord's Supper
    Luther
    Marriage
    Martyrdom
    Meaning Of Life
    Movies
    Music
    Nehemiah
    New Testament
    Old Testament
    Outreach
    Parables
    Pastoral Care
    Pentecost
    Persecution
    Poetry
    Prayer
    Preaching
    Pro-Life
    Psalms
    Reformation
    Revelation
    Romans
    Sadness
    Sanctification
    Sickness
    Sin
    Sorrow
    Sports
    Suffering
    Ten Commandments
    Trials
    Vocation
    Walther
    Who Is Jesus
    Worship

    RSS Feed

Picture

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Pagosa Springs, is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and is committed to the doctrine of the Lutheran Church as presented in The Book of Concord.   What this means is that we are thoroughly committed to everything the Bible teaches. We are a congregation uniquely devoted to liturgical worship, to catechesis (Christian education), and to the centrality of the Holy Communion and other Sacraments in the life of the Christian.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • School
    • What We Offer
    • Staff
    • Preschool >
      • Preschool Packets
    • Kindergarten - 8th Grade >
      • Overview of our Curriculum
      • Parent Handbook 2018-2019
      • K - 8th Enrollment Form
    • Prices for 2022-2023
    • Donations
  • About Us
    • Pastors and Staff
    • What We Believe
    • Our History
    • Photo Gallery
  • Visitors
    • Visitor Information
    • What's a Lutheran?
  • What About?
    • What about Jesus?
    • What is Baptism?
    • What is the Sacrament of the Altar?
    • What is Catechesis?
    • What is Pastoral Care?
    • What is Worship?
    • What are Hymns?
    • What about Personal and Family Devotions?
    • What about My Children?
  • News and Events
  • Resources
    • Sermons
    • Links
    • Fascinating Finds
  • Mercy
  • Pastor's Blog
  • Church Podcast