For the parent: Read each part aloud and work through the questions together. Your answers are printed in blue italics, so no preparation is needed. Your child uses the Student Edition.
Step 1 · Understand the Collect
A collect is a short prayer the pastor prays for the whole church. Here is today's collect:
Almighty God, You have promised to be with Your Church forever. We praise You for Your presence in this place of worship and ask Your ongoing blessing upon those who gather here. Dwell continually among us with Your holy Word and Sacraments, strengthen our fellowship in the bonds of love and peace, and increase our faithful witness to Your salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Words to know. Dwell: live or stay. Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Fellowship: being together as God's family. Witness: telling others what is true. Salvation: being rescued from sin and death by Jesus.
1. We are talking to ______________. Answer: Almighty God.
2. God has made a promise. He promised to be with His ______________ forever. Answer: Church.
3. We thank God for being with us in this ______________. Answer: Place of worship, our church.
4. What do we ask God to do? Name one thing. Answer: Any of these: bless the people who gather here; stay with us through His Word and Sacraments; help us love each other and live in peace; help us tell others that Jesus saves.
Step 2 · Understand the Gospel
Luke 19:1-10
1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." 9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
1. Why did Zacchaeus climb the tree? Answer: He was short, and the crowd blocked his view. He wanted to see Jesus.
2. Where did Jesus say He must stay today? Answer: At Zacchaeus's house (verse 5).
3. How did the crowd feel about that? Answer: They grumbled. They thought Jesus should not visit a sinner (verse 7).
4. What did Zacchaeus promise to do after Jesus came? Answer: Give half of what he owned to the poor and pay back four times anything he had taken (verse 8).
Step 3 · Find the Collect in the Gospel
Say to your child: Our prayer asked God to stay with us. In the story, Jesus comes to stay at someone's house. Let's find our prayer in the story.
1. The collect asks God to dwell with us. Find the words where Jesus says He will stay. Answer: "I must stay at your house today" (verse 5).
2. The collect asks God to help us tell others about His salvation. Find the word "salvation" in the story. What did Jesus say? Answer: "Today salvation has come to this house" (verse 9).
3. Zacchaeus "received him joyfully." In our collect, what do we do because God is with us? Answer: We praise Him.
Parent note. Jesus came to Zacchaeus's house and brought salvation there. He comes to our church the same way: in His Word, in Baptism, and in His Supper. That is why the building matters.
Step 4 · The Small Catechism
The Third Commandment. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
1. Zacchaeus climbed a tree so he could see and hear Jesus. Where do we go to hear Jesus gladly? Answer: To church, where His Word is preached and His Supper is given.
2. The crowd grumbled when Jesus came. The Commandment says we should not despise His Word. What does "despise" mean? Answer: To treat something as if it does not matter.
Step 5 · Wrap It All Up
Pray today's collect together one more time. Then ask:
1. What does Jesus do for you in this church? Answer: He comes to me in His Word and Sacraments, forgives my sins, and saves me, just as He came to Zacchaeus's house.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible. Small Catechism quotation from Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, © Concordia Publishing House.