REED 4

Christian Morality: The Church as Agent

Social Transformation
 What does the Ten
Commandments means?

 Also known as Decalogue, are a set of biblical
principles relating to ethics and worship, which play
a fundamental role in the Abrahamic religions.
 It appears twice in Hebrew Bible, in the books of
Exodus (Exodus 19 and 20) and Deuteronomy.
 History of Ten
Commandment

 It is given by God to be followed by His beloved
people.
 And gave the Ten Commandment to Moses.
 At Mount Sinai after the arrival of the children
of Israel.
 Reasons of TEN
COMMANDMENT:

The commandments Prohibitions against:
include instructions:
 Idolatry
 to worship only God  Blasphemy
 to honour one’s parents  Murder
 to keep the sabbath day  Adultery
holy  Theft
 Dishonesty
 covering.
"I am the LORD your God: you shall
not have strange Gods before me."
 Throughout the history of Israel, the people
periodically abandon authentic worship and
turn to idols. The clearest example of this

occurs in Exodus Chapter 32 when Moses is on
Mount Sinai, speaking to the Lord and
receiving the Ten Commandments, while the
people below become impatient with waiting.
Under Aaron’s leadership, they make and
worship a golden calf, created from their own
jewelry. The first commandment is a
prohibition against idolatry and a call to
worship the living God.

What are the idols in our lives? When we tire
of the seeming obscurity and silence of God,
how do we try to fill the aching void within?

Work, entertainment, money, alcohol,
busyness, food, an unhealthy relationship, just
about anything can become an idol for us, if
we try to make it the meaning and purpose of
our lives.
 What does Jesus say about the first
commandment?

 Jesus said He didn’t come “to destroy
the Law or the Prophets,” what we call the Old Testament
today (Matthew 5:17-19). He didn’t annul the 10
Commandments. He taught their deeper, spiritual
application.
 When asked which commandment was the greatest, He
summarized the 10 Commandments and the whole Bible
this way: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the
first and great commandment.
"Thou shall not take the name of
the Lord, your God in vein."
First thing to come in to your
mind?

How does it helps you to

strengthen your faith with God?
 The use of God's name in a degrading or
in any way disrespectful manner expresses an
attitude of disdaining the relationship we are
supposed to have with Him. Having a
relationship with God demands that we
represent Him accurately, sincerely and
respectfully.
Respect is the cornerstone of good
relationships. The quality of our relationship
with God depends on the love and regard we
have for Him.

It also depends on the way we express respect

for Him in the presence of others.
We are expected always to honour who and
what He is.
 Many who have heard much about
God carelessly assume they know Him and
that they have an acceptable relationship
with Him. Yet they have never learned really
to respect Him. They demean and degrade
Him by flippantly using His name in
everyday conversation
the faithfull are required to honor
the name of God.
It makes sense that if your to love
God with all your heart,soul,and
strength,then your naturally to
respect the name of God with equal
passion and vigor.
”Rememberto keep holy the
Sabbath day."
Exodus 20:8-11

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six
days you shall labor and do all your work, but the
seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it
you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or
daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your
animals, nor any foreigner residing in your town. For
six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the
sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh
day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and
made it holy.”
Sunday recalls the creation of the world.

God, through the church obliges us to make
Sunday holy by participation in the Holy
Eucharist. Our presence must be more than a
passive experience of the work to the priest
and the music from the choir. We should join
actively in the worship, where everyone
present pours out adoration of and love for
God.
LEARNINGS:

 
 God gave us this commandment as our guide to do
great things as we follow His rules. God is loves us
dearly that He doesn’t want us to do things
contradicting His teaching.
 On the other hand, God is a possessive one. He loves
us so much, He provides for us, all we have to do is
to worship Him, respect Him, serve Him and to
enjoy His company.
What are our learnings to the first commandment?

Regardless of our religion, nationalities, and differences, we


must believe that God exist. God is a living God, not some
idol we need to worship. God is a spiritual being and not a
material thing. The Bible clearly shows the perfect, eternal,
spiritual law of God is a law of liberty, it is not some
burdensome restraints against our being, and instead helps us
fulfill the way to live as a human in this world.

He exist, he's our creator, and regardless how many persons

with losing faith like the Atheists argue about, God is, and
always, forever will be with us. There is no need for physical
proofs for God is a spiritual being and his existence lies
within our hearts.
Learning from Third Commandment

 The Third Commandment calls us to keep holy the
Sabbath day. For Christians, the observance of the
Sabbath is transferred to Sunday, the day that Jesus
rose from the dead. God, through the church obliges us
to make Sunday holy by participation in the Holy
Eucharist and by our being prayerfully reflective as far
as possible.
 The more we meditate upon what we are doing, the
more we will worship in spirit and truth and benefit
from the grace that flows from the Eucharist.
 We will grow in our love and worship of God as well
as in respect and love for one another.
Summarization
