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The Message for September 6, 2015

Creed 1: I Believe… help my unbelief

Acts 17:16-34

Rob Miller, Pastor

We all believein something or someone. Whatever we believe –it shapes who we are and what we do. Our beliefs guide us. What do you believe?

Today we begin a 4-week worship series on the Apostles’ Creed. I’ve never preached on the Apostles’ Creed. So this is a first for me. I’m looking forward to it. I hope you are too.

The Apostles’ Creed describes what we believe as Christians.It is the basis for who we are and what we do. According to Webster a creed is -- a set of beliefs or aims that guide someone's actions.

Prayer

Reading Acts 17:16-34(Handout)

In Paul’s day there were many gods – especially Greek gods – too many gods to count. I googled the words “Greek gods” and got 7.4 million hits. There are a lot of gods out there that people worship. Here is a Top Ten List I put together ofGreek gods that were worshipped in Paul’s day.

  • Zeus (Zoos)–god of the sky
  • Hera (Hair'-ah)– god/goddess of marriage and families
  • Poseidon (Po-sigh'-dun) – god of the sea
  • Demeter (Duh-mee'-ter) – god/goddess of agriculture
  • Ares (Air'-eez) – god of war
  • Athena (Ah-thee’-nah)– god/goddess of wisdom
  • Apollo(Ah-paul’-oh)–god of the sun
  • Hermes (Her’-meez) – god of travel
  • Hades (Hay’-deez) –god of the underworld
  • Nike (Ni-key) – god/goddess of victory

In Paul’s day it was hard to keep all these gods straight and to know which one to pray to at the appropriate time and situation.

Paul pointed out to the religious people andthe philosophersthat he noticed all kinds of idols to all kinds of god/goddess that the peopleworshiped. He also noticed an altar set aside to worship an unknown god just in case they missed one. Theydidn’t want to upset any god they might have missed.

Paul sees this as a teaching moment. There was in fact one God they had missed. The God of all gods. The God who made everything. The God of heaven and earth. The God of life. The God who lives not in temples made with human hands but a God so powerful that he inhabits the whole earth. And some day this God - the God of all - will judge the living and the dead. And oh by the way… this Godalso raise a man from the dead. Can any of those other gods do that?

This was all new, a new teaching. Some people believed Paul and some didn’t.

I can’t help but think how we find ourselves in a similar situation today. As I travel around I notice that we worship many different gods too inmany different temples.

We worship:

Possession– the god of stuff with temples called storage units.

Monetary– the god of money with temples called banks.

Cuisine– the god of food with temples called restaurants.

Auto – the god of vehicles with temples called dealerships.

Sports – the god of games with temples called stadiums.

The god of comfort, the god of fear, the god of... you name.

We worship many different gods today. We can turn anything into a god and worship it. And we are really good at it.

Teaching moment - the only God who is worthy of our worship is the God that Paul talked about. The God of all gods. The God who made everything including you and me. The God of heaven and earth. The God of life. The God who lives not in temples made with human hands - but a God so powerful that he inhabits the whole earth – who dwells within us and all around us. And some day this God of all will judge the living and the dead you and me included. And oh by the way… this God raise a man from the dead.

That’s why the Apostles’ Creed is so important. It’s about God. It’s about what we believe when we say we worshipGod –Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Background - The Apostles’ Creed is not found in the Bible. There is no Gospel according to the creed. And it was not written by the apostles. It was written at least 150 years after all the apostles had died. It’s called the Apostles’ Creed because it reflects the theological teachings that shaped the beliefs of the early church. It is a written record of what the apostles believed.

The first creed in the early church was simply this: Jesus is Lord. That was it – plain and simple. Jesus is Lord. That was the creed in the Church for the first 150 years or so. Jesus is Lord.

But then in the 2nd century a guy named Marcion (mar’-see-an), a Christian living in Rome, began to threaten the church's understanding of Jesus as Lord.

Marcion and others like him believed that the God of Old Testament was a tyrant who created a flawed world. He and others believed that the God of the New Testament was Jesus – a God of love and mercy. Marcion suggestedthere were two different Godsin the Bible-- one for the Jewish people (OT) and one for Christians (NT).

Marcion further believed that Jesus was not the Messiah proclaimed by the prophets, and the Old Testament was not to be used by Christians. Instead, he believed that the Christian "Scripture" should be limited to Luke's Gospel and Paul’s letters. Marcion's beliefs developed into a movement that lasted for several centuries.

These false teachings in the early Church needed to be addressed. So around 180 A.D. someChristianleaders living in Rome developed an early form of the Apostles' Creed to address these false beliefs and false teachings of Marcion and others like him.

These Christian leaders affirmed that the God of creation in the Old Testament is the same God in the New Testament – the Father of Jesus, who was born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried and raised from the dead, and ascended into heaven, where he rules with the Father. They also affirmed the belief in the Holy Spirit, the church, and the resurrection of the body.

This was around the time when candidates for membership in the church would go through a period of moral and theological instruction, then at baptism (as adults)they were askedto state what they believed. They responded with the words of this early Apostles’ Creed.

In the third century the words, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins” was added to the creed in response to the question about re-admitting those who had denied the faith to avoid being tortured or killedduring the persecutions of the second and third centuries. Of course, they can be re-admitted.

In the fourth and fifth centuries, Christians in Africa debated the question of whether the church was going to be an exclusive sect of the heroic few or an inclusive gathering of all who confessed Jesus as Lord. This discussion lead to the addition of the word "holy" (meaning - belonging to God) andthe word "catholic" (meaning universal).

Point of clarification anytime you see a small “c” for the word catholic it means the universal church. Anytime you see a large “C” for the word Catholic it means the Roman Catholic Church.

In the fifth century, the phrase "he descended into hell" was added to the creed. By the eighth century, the Apostles’ Creed had attained its present form. We’ve been using this creed as a statement of our Christian beliefs for the last 14 centuries. WOW!!!

The Apostles’ Creed was an oral teaching along with the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. People couldn’t read and write in those days. So by hearing and memorizing this creed they were learning the teachings of the church – the beliefs of the church could be handed on from one generation to the next through this creed. The Apostles’ Creed captured what it means to say –I believe inJesus as Lord.

Now,I’m sure this doesn’t happen to you but it sure happensto me... sometimes… I’ll say the words of the Apostles’ Creedhere in worship but I do by rote and I don’t really think about them. I go through the motion of saying them but they don’t really shape who I am and what I do. They should... But they don’t…

Does that ever happen to you? If so then this 4-week series is just for you.

The word “believe” in the Bible means more than simply saying something is true. “Believe”in the Bible means a deep trust. It means trusting so strongly in something that we are willing to commit our lives to it – and in our case it means we are willing to commit our lives to Jesus and the way he wants us to live. Not just here in church but wherever our faith journey takes us through life.

We are to live lives in such a way that it involves:

Daily prayer

Weekly worship

Regular Bible reading

Serving in and through the congregation

Encouraging others in their faith journey

Giving generously

When we say I believe it means something more than just words. It means we are committed to living by those words.

When I hear the words I believe… I think of a story I heard a long, long time ago about a man named Blondin. I went on Youtube and found his story in this video. Notice that when we say we believe it means we are will to act accordingly. Check it out…

Are you willing to put your entire life in Jesus’ hands? When we profess our faith with the words of the Apostles’ Creed, that’s what we are saying. We are saying I believe in you Jesus as my Lord and I willgladly get into your wheelbarrow. We are saying my life - my entire life is in your hands Jesus. Amen.