We Believe in the Son

We believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

We 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, died and was buried;

He descended to hell. On the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

He will come to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

We believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Calendar of the Church (different from the Jan-Dec. calendar of culture) starts not in January, but in the weeks leading up to the Celebration of Jesus’ birth (Advent).

The church calendar hits its climax at Easter, but it doesn’t begin there…it begins with preparation to receive this Jesus who became one of us.

Problem: As Christians, we tend to jump from baby Jesus to Resurrected Jesus, and forget the life and teaching of Jesus in between.

This kind of thinking has led to a belief that we are all just waiting around for Jesus to come back…that this world and our “fallen nature” are the sinful and evil things God is taking us away from one day (called Escapism).

Truth: The historical fact that Jesus became flesh tells us that Sin doesn’t get the last word on God’s creation!

This was so important that the first 300 years of Christianity, the early church focused on this one single confession of faith: Jesus was in fact the Christ. Here’s what the Church came up with…

Jesus is Fully God

Jesus is Fully Human

Jesus is a Historical Reality (not just a religious symbol)

Jesus is Lord

Psalm 139:13–16 “For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

3 John 2 “Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and are in good health, just as your whole life is going well.”

Truth: It is true that our sin corrupts our purpose, but Jesus came so that you can live THIS LIFE to the full!

John 10:10 “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.”

When we miss the life of Jesus we tend of develop a Fixation on Sin, rather than an Infatuation with the person of Jesus Christ

Not too long back I was having dinner with long-time friend of mine…he was talking about how he really wanted to obey God in his life, but his “flesh” was the problem…what he meant was his “sinful nature”

You’ve probably hear a lot of talk about the bad flesh vs the good spirit….

The word (sarx) that Paul uses in Romans to talk about the desires of the “flesh” is the same word that John uses to describe the incarnation:

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

In other words…What sin came to corrupt, Jesus came to restore!

Your flesh, your nature is not a bad thing! It was created “good” (Genesis 1), and through salvation your nature can be returned to fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

Does that mean I will be without sin??? …no, you will most certainly fail at some point, if not often..

But Jesus’ life means you don’t have to live that way!! (I think that is what I wanted my freind to understand…)

Here’s why it’s important not to skip over this part of the Creed…

It’s been common in the church to talk about Jesus this way…

Receive Jesus as Savior

Ask Jesus to forgive your sins

Ask Jesus into your heart

Jesus paid the consequence of our sins on the cross

Christ died in our place on the cross

[…and all of that is true]

But growing up in the church I rarely, if ever, heard anyone suggesting that I should or could…

Learn the way Jesus thinks, and think that way.

Study the way Jesus talked, and talk that way.

Watch how Jesus obeyed the Father, and obey that way.

Listen to how Jesus read Scripture, and read it that way.

Observe how Jesus walked out holiness, and walk that way.

This Jesus, born of the Holy Spirit to Mary and suffered under Pontius Pilate, is Lord!

[What does that mean the church today?]

Jesus’ life makes him Lord and Master of his Church.

The church is not an organization or an institution…it is a people surrendered to God.

Colossians 1:18 “[Jesus] is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.”

When the world sees the church Monday, they should see the Jesus we preached on Sunday!

We have the creed to remind us, we don’t get to decide what’s best for us. We’ve given up our rights and preferences to follow Jesus!

Jesus’ life means we are his disciples, not just his fans.

A fan is passionate about their team, but doesn’t ever step on to the playing field. A disciple gladly accepts God’s assignment for their life.

A fan can be disinterested when it’s convenient. A disciple is guided not by convenience, but by obedience.

A fan can change her mind whenever she no longer likes what she sees. A disciple carries her cross no matter the cost.

The life of the church is the life of Discipleship!

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Jesus’ life breathes the Holy Spirit (John 20:22) into ours so we can be born again and again, everyday.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

You’re no longer a slave to sin, because of Jesus’ life death no longer has a hold of you.

You no longer believe the lies of Satan. You are a son or daughter of God.

You are no longer drifting and being tossed around by the storms of life. You are anchored in Christ, he is the rock of your salvation!

Would you receive the Power to live free today?!