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    Obedient Children of a Loving Father: A Bible Study
    Obedient Children of a Loving Father: A Bible Study
    Obedient Children of a Loving Father: A Bible Study
    Ebook92 pages1 hour

    Obedient Children of a Loving Father: A Bible Study

    By Betty Gravlin

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    About this ebook

    What does the Bible say about being obedient to God? What are the most common objections to following Christ? How can one become an obedient child of God? This Bible study attempts to show what Scripture says and ask questions to overcome objections and doubts about faith in Jesus.
    Hopefully, it will lead to greater understanding of the Catholic faith.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBetty Gravlin
    Release dateSep 10, 2012
    ISBN9781301800308
    Obedient Children of a Loving Father: A Bible Study
    Author

    Betty Gravlin

    Betty Gravlin is a cradle Catholic, married since 1985 to Bob. She is the mother of three adult children. She is a graduate of Ave Maria University Institute of Pastoral Theology, Southern Illinois University (MBA) and the University of Arkansas (BA in English). She writes from St. Louis, Missouri.

    Read more from Betty Gravlin

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      Book preview

      Obedient Children of a Loving Father - Betty Gravlin

      Obedient Children of a Loving Father

      A Bible Study

      Betty Gravlin

      Table of Contents

      Copyright Page

      Foreword

      Chapter 1 - Benefits of Obedience

      Chapter 2 - Objections to Obedience

      Objection 1: Refusal to Believe the Gospel

      Objection 2: Refusal to Believe the Gospel Matters

      Objection 3: Culture Does Not Support the Christian Life

      Objection 4: Belief That Sin Is More Fun or an Easier Way to Live

      Objection 5: Don't See the Value of Obedience

      Objection: 6 Don't Understand Catholic Church's Authority

      Objection 7: Don't Trust Catholic Church's Authority

      Objection 8: Don't Believe God's Mercy - Fear

      Chapter 3 - How To Become A Child Of God

      Step 1 - Pray for Guidance

      Step 2 -Humble Surrender

      Step 3 -Change of Heart and Behavior

      Step 4 -Overcome Doubts

      Step 5 -Overcome Fear of Rejection from Culture

      Step 6 -Overcome Fear of God

      Step 7 -Find Catholic Church in Bible, Compare to Other Faiths

      Step 8 -Submit to Catholic Church's Authority

      Step 9 -Grow in Knowledge of Church by Reading the Catechism

      Step 10 -Serve the Church and Neighbor

      In Summary

      Copyright Page

      The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass ̶̶ What Difference Does it Make?

      Copyright © 2012, Betty J. Gravlin, St. Louis, MO,

      Smashwords Edition, All rights reserved.

      ISBN: 9781301800308

      Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

      Foreword

      CCC 1828 The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands before God as a slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a son responding to the love of him who first loved us:1 Jn 4:19

      If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries. Finally if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who commands . . . we are in the position of children. St. Basil, Reg. fus. tract., prol. 3:PG 31,896B.

      Romans 1:5 Through him [Jesus Christ our Lord] we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,…

      St. Paul has three things in mind in his definition of faith: intellectual agreement with what the Church teaches, hope in Christ’s promises, and the obedience of faith. It is this later element that is the focus of this writing. I

      I outlined this book while sitting at a St. Louis Cardinal game that they were losing 13-0 to the Houston Astros, May 5, 2007. St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in 2006, so fan’s expectations were high for them as the season started, but on this day, they went into last place in the National Division Central and finished the year with a losing, below .500 season.

      My dear St. Louis Cardinal’s situation seems an appropriate metaphor for the American Catholic Church after Vatican II. The Catholic Church seemed a winner when I was growing up, but now seems stripped of its glory. For example, the second largest religious group in the US is non-practicing Catholics. I pray that situation will be turned around soon.

      How could this have happened? I have thought about this and what can be done to reverse this state. I have a great zeal for evangelization, so I think often about what I can do to spread the Gospel. I thought that if the message was sent out loud and strong, the converts would come knocking the doors of the Church down. I have knocked on doors for over ten years now to invite everyone who lives in my parish to come to Mass. So far, the results have been a lot of seeds sown, but little to show for the effort. Catholic TV and radio stations haven’t brought a flood of converts either.

      Why is the seed falling on rocky ground, as the parable in Matthew’s Gospel says? Why are Catholic’s so poor at evangelization? Why are young people not continuing in the faith they grew up with? Did they ever really understand the faith?

      It seems to me that there is a rebellion against God and his Church that is at the heart of the problem of evangelizing Catholics. The pre-Vatican II attitude of obedience, while some thought it to be crippling, had kept the laity in line out of fear of hell. Vatican II promoted a more positive theology that taught the laity about morality as being obedient children of a loving father, instead of a fear and guilt approach. It seems the laity were expected to immerge overnight from being told what to do by a parent figure to being treated as adults. That didn’t happen. It seems the American Catholic Church has been stuck in rebellious adolescence since 1968 when Humanae Vitae was published. But is that encyclical the watershed event? I don’t think so. I believe it is a storm that has been brewing since 1517 when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, or Protestant Revolt as others call it.

      I cannot speak for other faiths, but it seems that rebellion is also a problem with other denominations. I see multiple non-denominational mega-churches growing, while mainline denominations are splitting into liberal and conservative factions. What started as Luther splitting off from the Catholic Church has now resulted in 25,000 Protestant denominations in the US. What will solve the problems of this constant division? Will there ever again be unity within the body of Christ?

      With the Protestant Reformation came a questioning of everything considered true up till that time. Philosophers proposed one idea after another that seemed to make man the arbitrator of what was considered truth. There was a progressive evolution of theistic philosophers to atheistic post-modern philosophers that have won the hearts and minds of the culture. An underlying assumption became that if one’s senses cannot perceive something, then it is not real.

      The so-called Sexual Revolution was ushered in on the back of the artificial contraception pill introduced in the 1960’s and legalization of abortion in 1973. Freedom from responsibility came

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