I Believe in God

What you believe in says a lot about you.

If you believe in yourself, then you are called confident.

If you believe in the goodness of others, then you are an optimist

If you believe that nothing’s going to work, then you are a pessimist

If you believe in the existence of Santa, then you will be in for a rude awakening one day.

Belief is an essential piece of human existence.

There’s something to belief that makes us human.

A dog doesn’t have to believe in something greater than themselves, but humans have to believe something.

We just got back from camp, where one of the main things we talked about was that you should believe in God, you should commit to Him!

But sometimes it can feel like all that we’re looking for in telling you guys about the faith is to get you to make the statement, “I believe,” and that’s it.

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

James 2:19 ESV

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

So you see, believe is essential, but what your belief looks like matters!

And so, we come to this new series on the Apostle’s Creed

The Apostle’s Creed is an ancient document that was finalized in the 8th century, but was pulled from a document called the old Roman Creed from the 2nd century.

It’s a document that’s been around for a long time, and it’s what’s called a creed. A creed is a formal statement of what people believe. Here’s the big benefit of a creed: It solidifies what people belief.

We live in a very individualistic age where people can define anything they want to, however they want to.

So, it’s not completely inconceivable that someone could say, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t believe that God is a Trinity. I believe in all the Jesus stuff, but I don’t like the Trinity.” or, “I believe in God, but I don’t really believe the God of the Old Testament, I believe in the New Testament God.” etc.

The Apostle’s Creed helps us to know what the essentials of the faith are. This document has been used for over 1500 years as a statement of what Christians have historically believed, it would be a huge benefit for us to know this!

So, let’s read it together, there’s a video that will show the whole Creed

What do we mean by belief?

That’s the main question that we have to deal with today.

When you say, “I believe in God,” what do you mean?

Do you mean that you agree intellectually that there is a statistical probability in the existence of a deity that might be over at least some of the world?

Do you mean that you find it likely that Jesus did exist at one point and that He made claims to divinity?

Those things are fine, but they are not what makes you a follower of Jesus.

Mark 9:14-29

This is a beautiful, honest, clear example of what belief looks like.

This man’s son is going to die, there’s no way he can keep playing to luck like he has, and so the man comes to Jesus and begs for Him to heal his son. When Jesus say’s that it can happen for those who believe, he says, “I believe! But help my unbelief!”

Belief is only true when it’s lived out.

This is the essential piece to this!

For the man, he does actually believe that Jesus is going to heal his son, or he wouldn’t have asked! And yet, he says, “help my unbelief,” as a way to say, “Help me to stay sturdy in my faith even when I have that little voice in my head that’s telling me all of the different ways that I am wrong!”

Listen, saying that you believe doesn’t mean that you don’t have questions or doubts, it means that you trust in the God who saves

So, for you, what do you mean when you say that you believe?

Are you trusting in the God who loves you?

Are you intellectually agreeing with a statement?

Are you willing to follow the Lord your God?

Questions

What is your favorite book?

What does belief mean to you?

How can the man in Mark 9 say, “I believe,” and then right after say, “help my unbelief?

What does is mean to live out your belief to you?