Old Words

First the Foundation

Before we move into the old words we are going to talk about, and the importance of what is going to be happening in the next few weeks as we move through November I want to start this series off with a couple of reminders.

First According the The National Congregational Study there are about 380,000 churches in the United states.

According to the 2010 census Ohio has 13,606 churches.

As far as Denominations, it’s estimated that there are about 200 in the Untied states widen that to the known world and that number jumps to 45,000.

We can do a bit more digging and narrow some of those numbers though. As the religion of christianity can be broken into six traditions that include Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Restorationism. Protestantism.

Finally we can dig one more level down to the main denominational bodies in the US. They include: Anglican / Episcopal, Assembly of God, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic.

So which one is the right church. Which church gets it right.

(blind man and the elephant story)

A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: "We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable". So, they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it. The first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said, "This being is like a thick snake". For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan. As for another person, whose hand was upon its leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk. The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant, "is a wall". Another who felt its tail, described it as a rope. The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.

The men began to argue among themselves over who was right, the arguemnt got so heated that they began to come to blows until a man that could see called out..Why are you fighting? The men begin to explain to the man what was causing the disagreement and proceeded to tell them what they had actually seen.

After reading that Parable. Let’s look at a a couple of scriptures real fast before we get into a couple of important definitions.

Matthew 16:18 CSB

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

(expound a bit on the imporatance of realiazing what Jesus did not say)

The second verse I want us to read is this one.

Romans 10:9–10 CSB

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Expound a bit mentioning that these two things actually go hand in hand*

Can I say a bad word?

Liturgy: Ask what people think it may mean?

What most non-denominational, evangelical protestant people think that the word liturgy is a bad word or that it means boring, uninspired and stuffy. I know I used to think that.

What it actually means though is something else entirely.

Liturgy: a form of public worship; ritual.

a collection of formularies for public worship.

a particular arrangement of services.

a particular form or type of the Eucharistic service.

the service of the Eucharist, especially this service (Divine Liturgy ) in the Eastern Church.

Expound we all have a liturgy. etc.

Creed: any system, doctrine, or formula of religious belief, as of a denomination.

any system or codification of belief or of opinion.

an authoritative, formulated statement of the chief articles of Christian belief, as the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, or the Athanasian Creed.

the creed. Apostles' Creed.

Expound a bit on what this actually means. Go back to what it says in Romans 10:9-10

One of the things that I am learning is to shut up and listen and open myself up to God not just some system of how god’s supposed to work and act. (dig deeper here)

The Three Creeds

The Apostles Creed

The Nicean Creed

The Athanasian Creed.

For our intents and purposes we are going to be focusing on The Apostles Creed. Still the other two are worth hearing or Reading.

The Nicean Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again, in fulfillment of the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one, holy apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and 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 into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Apostolic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

The Athanasian Creed

This creed is comprised of 44 different statements pertaining to Christianity.

Historically the Nicean and Apostles creed have been used to explain the very simple truths of what it means to become a Christian as well as the promises associated with it.

What’s the Point

But Pastor Aaron, we’re a Protestant Evangelical Church. We don’t use liturgy, we don’t just repeat things over and over. We don’t memorize things and think that doing so shows how close to God we are.

But that’s not really true is it. We do use liturgy every Sunday, we sing worship choruses that many times say the same things over and over, and we memorize verses and the books of the bible in order. (talk about memorization contests and sword drills.

We do have all of the things that Mainline churches have, just relabeled and re-packaged. If we believe what we say we believe then Jesus came to build His Church. We can learn some things from our more Traditional Liturgical Brothers and Sisters and they can learn a few things from us. (expound a bit talk about ash Wednesday a few years ago)

This Week’s Challenge

Memorize the Apostles Creed. Come back next week ready to dissect it and see exactly where it comes from.