Introduction: Since the first century, the Christian church has commemorated the resurrection of Jesus from the dead by meeting on the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10). The Sabbath was ordained, as the Old Testament makes abundantly clear, for as long as the … [Read more...]
The Apostles Creed 11: He Descended Into Hades
Introduction: And so now we come to an odd one, one which reveals a fairly large gap in cosmology between a child of the biblical era and a child of the modern era. It is also a testing point, sometimes, for the most stalwart inerrantist. Wait, what? You think that an actual … [Read more...]
The Apostles Creed 9: He Suffered Under Pontius Pilate
Introduction: This portion of the Creed points to something that is absolutely unique about the Christian faith. Our God is the God of all things, which means that He is the God of history. History matters, which means that historicity matters, which means the name of a Roman … [Read more...]
The Apostles Creed 8: Conceived, Born
Introduction: We have been working through the Apostles’ Creed phrase by phrase, but this week I thought it important to take two phrases at once. We are talking about that most remarkable of women, Mary. If some have erred through excessive devotion to her, we are not going … [Read more...]
The Apostles Creed 7: Our Lord
Introduction: The foundational Christian confession is that Jesus is Lord. We find this at the very beginning, and there is no hope without it. As we have been making our way through the Creed, we have addressed who Jesus is. But what do we mean by Lord? The Text: I believe … [Read more...]
The Apostles Creed 6: His Only Begotten Son
Introduction: What we know as orthodoxy is of course taught in the Bible. But that does not mean that every orthodox truth is found everywhere in the Bible, or that every verse that is used to defend an orthodox truth is being used appropriately. This means we should look at … [Read more...]
The Apostles Creed 4: Maker of Heaven and Earth
Introduction: We confess the absolute authority of God, and there are layered reasons for doing this. He has authority over us in the first instance because He created us, and in the second because He redeemed us from our sins. We will come to the issue of redemption shortly, … [Read more...]
The Apostles Creed 2: God the Father
Introduction: So we begin the Creed with the statement “I believe.” Believe in what or whom? We do not believe in a generic deity, with details to be filled in later. We begin with the confession that we believe in a personal God, identified by name, and revealed in His Son. I … [Read more...]
The Apostles Creed 1: I Believe
Introduction: Most of the sermons preached at Christ Church are expositional, and seek to unfold and apply the meaning of a text of Scripture. Sometimes the messages are topical, and various passages of Scripture are brought to bear on the selected theme. This is a bit … [Read more...]