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I Believe
by Pastor Jay Fast
This past Sunday we began a new worship series titled “I Believe.” In the coming six weeks we will be looking different core aspects of the Christian faith and how we can share these beliefs with our spiritually disconnected friends and neighbors.
If you weren’t able to be here on Sunday, you can listen to the message online:http://www.harbertcommunitychurch.org/cpt_sermons/i-believe/
In worship I talked about what it means to believe. Each person, regardless of their religious persuasion, has core beliefs, often disguised to us as common sense assumptions. Someone might say that they believe it is important to care for the poor. Another might say they believe in reaching out to refugees. What seldom gets discussed is where these beliefs and convictions come from. Why do we believe what we believe about life? Many of the moral and ethical beliefs underlying western culture come from centuries upon centuries of Jewish and Christian thinking and a Biblical understanding of God.
During this series we are looking at the Apostle’s Creed, a statement of faith originating from around the 2nd and 3rd centuries. This statement has often been taught as a summation of the Christian faith and a tool summarizing the basic teachings of Scripture. The word creed means “belief.” This statement is called the “Apostle’s Creed” because it likely describes the beliefs of the Apostles, who were the first followers of Jesus. It was written by leaders in the early church seeking to preserve their teachings.
The statement is as follows:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and was buried; On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Each week we will look at the beliefs of this historic statement and how these beliefs relate to the vitality of our faith. As we focus this year on “Making God Known” (which is the second half of our mission statement), I hope we will grow in our ability to articulate the substance and beauty of what we believe with friends and neighbors. People are continually looking for meaning, hope, and purpose, something that a secular and materialistic view of the world cannot provide. Join us for worship this Sunday as we look at how the foundation of our faith matters to our everyday lives.
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