God Almighty

Essential Beliefs....what’s a christian anyhow?

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 CSB

4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.

The shift from TV to reality TV to streaming our lives means everyone is an expert; the shift from news to cable news to individual commentary means everyone has a hot take. On any given day, you’ll see Christians online arguing about yoga pants, gender roles, nationalism vs. patriotism, guns, the gospel, what revival is and isn’t…

We live in a world where popularity has replaced credibility.

The question is, What’s true and what isn’t ? What matters and what doesn’t?

This is where the NICENE CREED comes into play. It’s our rule of faith. it’s our essential doctrines. It’s the centrality of our confession and profession of Faith (allegiance) to God. It’s Christian pledge of allegiance.

A confession of faith is much more than a personal statement of belief; it’s a public act of surrender.

That’s why the Nicene Creed is so much more than a statement of faith; it is a pledge of allegiance. As theologian Philip Cary put it, “When we say, ‘I believe’ in our baptism or ‘we believe’ in a Sunday liturgy, we are making a commitment that is a pledge of allegiance, joining us to other believers around the world in the Body of Christ, some of whom are bound to get into trouble for keeping this commitment.”[iv]

Living out the Creed’s confession requires dethroning every other “king” in our lives—whether that king is power, comfort, money, or even ourselves. It means aligning our actions with our beliefs so that when people look at us, they see people who not only believe in Jesus but who belong to Jesus and are becoming like Him as well.

The world doesn’t need more Christians who know how to argue their faith; it needs Christians who know how to live it.

WE BELIEVE

Ephesians 2:8–10 “8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

The pro of evangelical movement is that it has made faith personal.

The unintended consequence is that it made faith individual.

we believe NOT I know that…I feel that…I think that.

we are bound together by the TRUTH of YWHY

Ephesians 2:17–19 “17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household,”

“We” is about the strength of a community.

• The power of a community of faith means you don’t

have to carry the weight of belief on your own.

• We carry the weight of belief together!

THE FATHER, ALMIGHTY

Father ⏤ Jesus introduced us to Him this way

Matthew 10:32 “32 “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.”

Galatians 4:6 “6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.””

2. Almighty ⏤ omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent

Genesis 35:11 “11 Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants!”

God’s Omnipresence - Omnipresence is the name for the Christian belief that God is everywhere present and is not limited to any location or physical space

Psalm 139:7 “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

God’s Omniscience - The attribute of omniscience refers to God’s perfect knowledge of both himself and that which he has created.

Hebrews 4:13 “13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”

God knows the moves you make and the motives behind the moves.

God’s Omnipotence — The attribute of omnipotence refers to God’s unconditioned power to do that which he wills in accordance with his nature

Matthew 19:26 “26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.””

illus: nicknames based on character traits. This is more than nickname, it’s proper names and titles revealing traits of YHWY.

CREATOR OF THE VISIBLE + INVISIBLE

Two errors we tend to make:

• It’s all about the “visible”: Materialism and Naturalism (biology, chemistry)

• It’s all about the “invisible”: Escapism (heaven, spiritual realm; generic spirituality)

• Christianity claims that God is the God of the visible and the invisible!

• A clue right at the beginning of the Creed: The Creator of the visible and the invisible will be the Redeemer of the visible and the invisible.

Genesis 1:1 “1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Isaiah 40:28 “28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?

1. God is the source.

James 1:17 “17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Why is God the source of only every good gift? Evil is not a reality; it is a negation, a deprivation, a lack of the good…the created substance.

Evil is not a created substance; it is the corruption of a created substance. It’s a shadow.

But the good that we experience and that we express…these are all gifts from God.

Creation is the channel, but the Creator is the source.

Your friends, your work, your family...these are all what joy comes through not where joy comes from.

He who made it, also sustains it. He is the creator almighty.

illus: mouth writes a check body can cash.

God has power to keep promises and provide all you need.

2. God is the author of your story.

Psalm 139:13–18 “13 For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. 16 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. 17 God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! 18 If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you.”

• Ancient creation myths: made on accident; made to be slaves to the gods; gods were upset

• Genesis: made on purpose; made with delight

Isaiah 42:5–7 “5 This is what God, the Lord, says— who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it— 6 “I am the Lord. I have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will hold you by your hand. I will watch over you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations, 7 in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.”

The One who made you, made you on purpose and for a purpose.

You don’t have the carry the weight of writing your own story.

God created you; He can restore you.

Let HIM write your story…don’t self-author it.

Your failure or attempts to do it on your own, don’t disqualify you

3. God is enough for you.

Ephesians 3:20–21 “20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

God wants relationship with you

See God as loving Father

Approach through relationship not rules or self-knowledge or right/wrong.

Give God your whole heart.

What are you rooted in? Truth of God or cultural interpretation of God, your feelings or idols?

Have you confessed your allegiance to God?

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Talk it Over (being honest & open with friends, a spouse, or your Group)

The message was centered on what WE believe about God. What is one idea from Sunday’s message that impacted you?

Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 aloud. What are some Truths you observe?

The first stanza of the Nicene Creed describes what we believe about God. What word or phrase echoes in your heart or soul the most? Which one is the hardest for you to profess with confidence?

One thing that was stated in the message was, “we live in a world where popularity has replaced credibility.” How have you seen this to be true? What are some ways we can counter that reality and grow?

What do you think it means that God is the source of life, and why is this important to know?

In what ways is the sufficiency of God demonstrated in His being the one true God?

What are some things that we might give too much power or significance to in the place of God? In what ways do these things tempt us to believe that God is not enough?

Read Psalm 139. What are truths about God in this Psalm?