Apostles' Creed Sermon - 11

Apostles’ Creed – Holy Catholic Church

Ephesians 4:1-6

1. Introduction – So we finally come to the line you’ve all been wondering about. A few weeks ago, we resolved the issue of ‘he descended into hell” – and in our studying and in our reciting of the Creed we’ve changed it to say, “He descended to the dead.”

a. Today, we come to the other line that makes us Protestant evangelicals a little squirmy. For the past 11 weeks, we have stood and proclaimed our belief in the holy, catholic church.

i. And even though there is an asterisk at the bottom of our PowerPoint slide, many of you probably still are uncomfortable with the word ‘catholic.’ I thought we are a Baptist church? I’m not Catholic.

b. And you’re right. We aren’t Catholic, we are a Baptist Church; we are Protestant evangelicals, but as Baptists, as Protestants, we are part of the lower case ‘c’ catholic church.

i. Catholic with a capital “C” is referring to the denomination – the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic with a lower case ‘c’ refers to the worldwide church of God, and to that church we are all members.

1. Problem solved, shortest sermon ever! Just kidding, in just a little bit we are going to look at some implications of belonging to the universal church of God.

c. So, what we’re going to do this morning is once again examine the words of this line. What does it mean to believe ‘in’ the church? What does it mean when it says that the church is ‘holy?’

i. How does a proper understanding of the church help us develop a well-rounded understanding of the Christian faith?

1. These are all great question, and I’m so glad you asked them cause I’ve spent all week preparing to answer these exact questions.

2. I believe in – So first, what does it mean to believe ‘in’ the church? All throughout this study we’ve been looking at truths and events that we stake our faith on.

a. So far, they’ve all revolved around the work of God, but today, we come to a line that states belief in the church.

i. But to believe in the church is different that belief in God. In this line, the church isn’t the object of our faith, but it is the place where our faith is worked out.

1. It is within the church, in the context of a Christian community, that our belief about God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is practically worked out and thought through.

a. We believe in God, and no other, but we believe that God has established and built up his church in order for his people to learn and grow and see more people come to faith.

3. Holy – And before we dive in to what the church is what it looks like, the writers of the Creed first give 2 modifiers – two adjectives – to describe what the church looks like.

a. First, the Creed states that the church is holy. And as I was preparing this week, I began to wonder which word should have the biggest question mark beside it. We get squirmy when we say the word ‘catholic’ but we can say the word ‘holy’ like it’s no big deal.

i. When we say, “I believe in the ‘holy’ church” – we should think to ourselves ‘are we holy?’ Is that an accurate description?

b. But I want to clear up something about this word ‘holy’ so we can understand its full effect.

c. What this line doesn’t mean is that the church is entirely free of sin. I’ve been in church long enough to realize that this is far from reality. There is no such thing as the perfect church because churches are full of imperfect people who are still struggling with their sinful natures.

i. And this line in the Creed isn’t claiming the moral perfection of church members.

1. The church isn’t holy based on anything about us or anything about what we do. The church is holy because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the place.

d. This word, this adjective, reminds us that we aren’t merely dealing with a human organization or institution – in the church, we also have to make account for God’s Spirit among us.

i. The word ‘holy’ doesn’t refer to moral perfection – it has to do with being set apart by God. The church is holy, because it is a gathering of God’s people who are being set apart to be used by God for a holy use. The big fancy word for this is sanctified.

e. Upon your salvation, you were made holy – you were made a brand-new creation. You were sanctified.

i. But you are still in the process of being sanctified. And honestly, you are never done being sanctified in this lifetime.

f. As the church, as the body of Christ, we are holy, set apart by God – and because of this status, we must also continue to strive after holiness.

i. The holiness that we are proclaiming in the Creed is both a divine gift and an urgent task.

1. We are sanctified, made holy, as a result of our union with Jesus – but we are to also pursue holiness, to be holy as God is holy.

g. I’ve said this word a lot in the past few minutes, but holiness is central to the mission of the church. If we are going to make a difference in our world, then we must be different than the world.

i. And at the core of that difference we find holiness. Not moral perfection, but the presence and working of God’s Spirit.

h. So, when we hear and recite this line of the Creed – I believe in the holy church, it becomes both a statement of identity, but also a desperate plea, for God to help us become what we are supposed to be.

i. The adjective holy is both an affirmation about the presence of the Holy spirit and a call to it – to be more faithful what the Spirit’s presence demands.

4. Catholic – The other adjective the writes of the Creed used to describe the church is the word ‘catholic.’

a. We’ve already seen this morning that the word ‘catholic’ isn’t referring to the denomination of Roman Catholics. – it is a reference to the universality of God’s church.

i. But I want to flesh out some implications of that for us.

b. Very early on in the church’s history, as early as the 2nd century, this word catholic became a reminder that every community of believers was bound together by the gospel.

i. Despite differences is language or ethnic makeup, these communities were part of one church. Look at Acts 9:31. This is what it actually looks like in Greek – and if you look closely, you can even see the ‘catholic’ show up in this verse.

c. So, let’s think about this for our day. God’s kingdom, God’s church, is not restricted by geography, ethnicity, gender, class, or status.

i. The church is the universal assembly, that is made up of people from every tribe, language, culture and place.

1. God is at work in other assemblies, drawing men and women to himself and drawing them together under the banner of Jesus.

d. But when thinking about the universality of the church, we have to avoid to extremes. First, we have to avoid an isolationist approach.

i. We have to avoid thinking that we have it right, and anything else that any other church does it wrong.

1. We have to keep in mind that yes, other churches and other denominations have their holes, but so do we. There is no such thing as the perfect church.

e. But at the same time, we have to avoid thinking that every church is the same, regardless of their theology or their teaching.

i. And this requires some sober thinking in our part, because where right doctrine and truth is being compromised – if the authority of the Bible, the Lordship of Jesus, if the gospel is being compromised, we have to question as to whether we want to or can partner with these churches.

f. Here’s the test – this is what theologian Karl Barth has said about the church. The Real church is the assembly which is called, united, held together, and governed by the Word of the Lord – or it is not the Reach Church.

i. Recognizing the universality of the church isn’t saying that if they call themselves a ‘church’ we should partner with it.

1. Where the is held as authoritative, when Christ is glorified as Saviour and Lord – where the gospel is preached without compromise – that’s a church.

a. When we worship here, we are joined with all kinds of other churches – down the street, across the country, province, country, continent and world – who are worshipping God in Spirit and in truth.

i. And when we worship here, knowing that our praise and worship is somehow joined with the praise and worship of other Christians – we have a dress rehearsal of sorts, for the ongoing praise of God that will happen throughout eternity.

5. Church – And so we come to the word of the day – church. What does it mean to be the church? What does it look like?

a. I find it awesome that when the writers of the Creed were putting down the central tenets of the Christian faith – they included the church.

i. Because it is in the church, in community with other believers, that belief in God the Father, Son and Spirit is lived out, worked out, and thought out.

b. So, what is the church? We’ll, the popular saying is that the church is the people, not the building.

i. Yes, we refer to buildings as churches, but even if this building ceased to exist, the church still world.

1. I saw a news story last summer when I was on vacation that illustrated this best. There was a news story about a church somewhere in the States – part of it caught on fire – burned to the ground.

a. And the news played a clip of the Pastor a couple weeks later at a service and the pastor said this, “The building is destroyed, but the church is just fine.”

i. Is this the view we have the church? What I’m getting at is this – the church is not somewhere we go – it is who we are.

c. The church is the visible gathering of the faithful for the representation of Christ’s presence in the world.

i. The church is not a man-made invention. Sure, we have our man-made traditions, but the very idea of the church is God.

1. He wants us to be a major player in working out his plan on his earth. When disaster strikes or injustices are happening or there are needs to be met – God doesn’t send his angels to take care of it. No, God sends his church, his people – his community.

6. Well-Rounded – But, for so many Christians, I’m talking specifically about Christians, church attendance has become an optional part of the Christian faith.

a. Whether it’s an intentional move or not, church sometimes isn’t given its full weight of importance.

i. It becomes a place where I get my religious fix, where I get my needs met, where I like the music and the teaching.

1. A place to meet my Christians friends. The church becomes a provider for your religious satisfactions and your religious pleasure. It becomes a place where you go to every so often.

b. Well, that’s not the church. Do you know what that is? That’s McDonald’s or any other food franchise.

i. The church is a meeting place of the saints – where we worship together, rehearsing for eternity.

1. And when God established his new covenant people, he created the church, the ekklesia­ the community for his people to live in. You see it throughout the NT. The books of Acts is the story about the spread of the church. Half the NT contains letters to local church. The apostle’s and many of the first Christians gave their lives in order to establish churches. The church and a theology of the church is absolutely vital for your Christian development.

c. The church isn’t an optional part of your faith – here for you to come to whenever you need your fix. The church is an absolutely vital aspect of your discipleship and your understanding of who God is.

7. Friction – So why join a church? How does knowing about the church round out your faith?

a. Well, a number of things have been said and could be said.

i. We join a church to be part of a community; to know others and to be known by others. To love others and be loved by others.

1. To learn from others and allow others to learn from us.

b. But there’s a word I want to use this morning that hasn’t been used much by church growth experts. Why join a church? Here’s my one word answer…Friction. I want you to think about friction for a bit.

c. Many of you know that in my spare time I dabble in cabinet making. I have shop full of wood working tools.

i. And in cabinet making, whatever you’re making, one of the most important parts of making anything is the sanding process. And what is sanding – but friction.

1. Different grits of sandpaper take off different levels of grain in the wood.

d. AS you sand, the paper heats up, creating friction with the wood, and what happens? The friction, the sanding, smooths off the high, rough grain and the wood begins to get smoother.

i. The finer the grit of sandpaper you use, the smoother the surface becomes and ultimately, the better the finished product will look.

e. And as I was thinking this week, I think friction is a great way to describe what it looks like to belong to a church.

i. Let’s be honest, sometimes being in community with other believers is hard. Let’s be honest, sometimes you rub people the wrong way.

f. Sometimes we disagree, sometimes we’re dysfunctional, but like friction, like sanding, we can actually use those times to smooth out some of the rough edges.

i. We usually think of friction as something to be avoided. But we can actually use those opportunities to grow our character – to smooth off those rough patches or our character and polish them up.

g. The Bible actually speaks to this idea. Look at Proverbs 27:17. Iron sharpens iron, the grinding of iron together at first is a difficult process.

i. Sanding wood – at first, sanding is a difficult task, a lot of elbow grease is needed to get the rough top grain off. Lots of friction is involved.

1. But as the layers get sanded down, as you progress to finer and finer grits of sandpaper, it gets easier as the wood gets smoother.

h. So it is with our human relationships. At first, to know and be known, to love and be loved is a difficult process. There’s a lot of rough grain to be sanded off.

i. But, iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. As we live in community with others, sometimes God uses the people around us to do a work on our character – sanding down the rough grain through friction.

i. The church is the place where belief is grown, where it is lived out, and it is also a place where our character is grown.

i. It was God’s plan all along for his people to live in community with each other. Sometimes that causes friction, sometimes things heat up.

1. But we need to fight through the uncomfortableness, we need to allow the rough top grain to be sanded away, so that our character can develop – so much so that a smooth surface is present.

j. As we experience friction, something crazy happens. I’ve learned that if you sand long enough, wood and especially the finishing coat – and begin to develop a polished look – it can even begin to reflect.

i. So as we live in community together, as we do church together and as we do life together, may friction is God’s way of causing us to be the people he wants us to be.

1. Maybe God uses friction so that our rough spots are sanded down and we begin to reflect the light of his love to other people.

a. Why go to church? My answer is strange, but it can work. Friction – so that together we sharpen and polish each other’s character.

8. Conclusion – I believe in the holy catholic church. This week we looked at what it means to belong to the church universally.

a. And we’ve been introduced to next week’s topic – when we’ll study together that we believe in the communion of saints.

i. Next week we’ll look at what it means and what it looks like to belong to the church locally.