Pounding Theses on the Front Door

Last fall, while pushing my then two year old daughter in the stroller on our afternoon walk, I started talking aloud, but more to myself at first, about the upcoming Reformation Day.  I went on to tell her all about Martin Luther, the 95 Theses, and the revolutionary message of Grace, Faith, Scripture and Christ Alone.  Forgiveness of sins and eternal life is ours, not because of the good we do, but because of the love of God, who sent His son, Jesus, to die in our place. By the power of the Holy Spirit, through Word and Sacrament, this faith is ours! To my surprise, she was actually listening!   We got home, and I asked if she’d like to see a picture of Dr. Luther.  The Cranach painting sparked further conversation, and before I knew it this little girl was using her fist as a hammer, pretending to pound the theses to the front door!  With this nugget of inspiration, we began the tradition of pounding Reformation messages on the doors of our home.

Materials:

Paper, I used some old yellowed paper

Markers

Masking Tape

Luther Seal Stickers (Optional)

The process is so simple.  Make up a few Reformation slogans or select some of your favorite Bible verses, maybe from the Reformation Day readings. (Romans 3:19-28, John 8:31-36)  Write them in big, bold letters on the paper.  Older children can copy the verses, but for my little ones I did most of the writing, and then as we talked about each poster, Adelae added a few embellishments in her own hand. 

Adelae added "Jesus Saves"

We also added a few Luther Seal stickers to our posters.  To make these just copy and paste a Luther Seal multiple times into a Word document, then print it on sticky label paper.  If you print them in black and white, you can always fill in the color with red, blue and yellow markers.  Cut them out, and stick! Or, just print them on copy paper, cut and glue.

Finally, pop a few tape rolls onto the back of each poster and let your children use their fist as an imaginary hammer to display your posters on the doors of your home.  As you walk from room to room one can't help but read the verses, and hopefully this will prompt further conversations about the free gift of grace, the forgiveness of sins, and the eternal life that is ours through the saving work of Christ Jesus.