j i packer

In this episode, Father Jonathan and Dr. Matthew continue their series of episodes on the Lord's Prayer, discussing the first two words, "Our Father", exploring what it means to call God "Father" and the significance of the word "our" as well.

What are your thoughts on the Lord's Prayer? Do you have any questions about spirituality and/or Anglicanism/the Prayer Book you'd like us to address?

We refer to:

St Maximus the Confessor's Ecclesiastical Mystagogy.

St Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures

JI Packer, Knowing God

Tertullian and Scott Hahn

In his classic must-read book, “Knowing God”, the late theologian J.I. Packer gives some advice to all Christians that I believe is especially appropriate for parents. As moms and dads committed to leading our kids into a vibrant and genuine life-long faith in Jesus Christ, we should take Packer’s guidance to heart. Packer says that the secret to a God-honoring and Christian life is to take six core truths about the faith and say them over and over to ourselves first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and any time our minds are free. Here they are. First, I am a child of God. Second, God is my father. Third, Heaven is my home. Fourth, Every day is one day nearer. Fifth, My savior is my brother. And sixth, every Christian is my brother too. Repeating these six truths will ground us as parents in our Christian faith. But in an effort to ground our kids as they grow up in a culture that blows their minds and hearts to and fro, we should be saying them out lout with our kids as well.