Dr. Luther’s Small Catechism lesson for the week of April 23, 2017:
[VI] THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
IN THE PLAIN FORM IN WHICH THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY
SHALL TEACH IT TO HIS HOUSEHOLD
What is the Sacrament of the Altar?
Answer: Instituted by Christ himself, it is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, give to us Christians to eat and to drink.
How can bodily eating and drinking produce such great effects?
Answer: The eating and drinking do not in themselves produce them, but the words “for you” and “for the forgiveness of sins.” These words, when accompanied by the bodily eating and drinking, are the chief thing in the sacrament, and he who believes these words has what they say and declare: the forgiveness of sins.[1]
[1]Tappert, T. G. 2000, c1959. The book of concord : The confessions of the evangelical Lutheran church. Fortress Press: Philadelphia