The Nicene Creed - One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church

My name is Greg Hampton. If we've never met,

I would love to meet you. Put it on the connection

card at the end or snag me before you leave the

building today, and I'd love to buy you a coffee.

Or even if we've met before 17 times or 700 times,

I would love to grab a coffee with you. Let me

know. Let's get together. Let's talk about life.

Next week begins Advent, so you'll notice some

Christmassy Advent season kind of decorations

up around the building. But today we are finishing

up our series through the Nicene Creed. If you

missed any of those sermons, you can hear those

anywhere that you get your podcasts, or if you

want to watch the whole service and kind of have

it as a time where you also worship the Lord,

the entire service is on YouTube, and those are

up there in perpetuity. So far, we've talked

about the global and historical beliefs about

the Father, about Jesus the Son, and about the

Holy Spirit. But the last section of the Creed

that we're going to talk about today says something

about us. It says that we believe in one holy,

Catholic, and apostolic church. All right, there's

a lot that's in that, those six or seven words.

So we're going to go ahead and jump in. If you

want to, you can open your Bible to Ephesians

2, but I'm going to be reading from the message

today. And so unless you're looking at the message

version, you may get lost pretty quickly because

his translation is rather floral. But feel free

to open up to Ephesians 2 if you would like.

If you happen to not have a Bible and you would

like one. You can take one of the blue Bibles

that are on the tables, or there's ones out on

the bookshelf you can have as well. Download

Bible from any of the digital app stores. And

then we have a tradition of giving the scriptures

our full attention when they're read in the context

of the sermon. And you can do that any way that

you see most fit for you. But if you would like

to join me in standing as we read the scriptures,

this is Ephesians 2, starting in verse 16. Christ

brought us together through his death on the

cross. The cross got us to embrace, and that

was the end of the hostility. Christ came and

preached peace to you outsiders and peace to

us insiders. He treated us as equals and so made

us equals. Through him, we both share the same

spirit and have equal access to the Father. That's

plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering

exiles. The kingdom of faith is now your home

country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders.

You belong here with as much right to the name

Christian as anyone. God is building a home.

He's using us all, irrespective of how we got

here and what he is building. He used the apostles

and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using

you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by

stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that

holds all the parts together. We see it taking

shape day after day. A holy temple built by God.

All of us built into it. A temple in which God

is quite at home. Let us pray. God, we thank

you for the scriptures that they have persisted

throughout the millennia. That we still have

them to learn from, to consider. I pray that

whatever you have for us to learn today, that

it would stick, that it would become a part of

the framework of our faith, that our faith would

become stronger as we become more like your son,

Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thanks, y 'all. You can have

a seat. It may go without saying, but humans

are really good at dividing things. And unfortunately,

the same thing happens in the church because

the church is made up of? People, right? Whether

it's doctrines and theologies or if it's the

worship songs or the preaching styles, people

have a lot of reasons to divide things. Sometimes

that means that they're splitting a church in

half. Sometimes they're just finding a church

that fits what they're looking for just a little

bit better. Research actually tells us that these

are the top five things that people care about

when they're looking for a church. Number one

is beliefs and doctrines. Number two, the preaching.

Number three, the authenticity of the people.

Four, if the church cares for their community.

And five, the unity among church members. Did

you notice that music was not in that top five?

Now for me, it's right up there next to beliefs

and doctrines because I'm a music person. But

people in general, that's not the very top. All

of these things. All of these things hold value.

They matter. They are good and important things.

But all of our preferences and incremental differences

in beliefs are also the reason that there are

tens of thousands of versions of Christianity

around the world. When you take into account

that country by country, even if you have the

same name of denomination, country by country,

they still practice their beliefs differently.

When you take that into account, there's as many

as 45 ,000 branches of Christianity in the world.

That's a lot. I didn't think to put it up there,

but I saw this meme one time, and maybe I've

mentioned it before, but it's like a family tree

of the church, and it keeps branching off and

branching off and branching off. And it's this

little cartoon, and the pastor points right here,

and he goes, that's where we came in and got

it all right. I could list for you 40 different

kinds of Baptists. I could list for you 40 different

kinds of Presbyterians, 40 different kinds of

Lutherans, on and on, every kind of denomination.

We're a non -denominational, so we're part of

an even bigger list of versions of what it looks

like to believe in and practice Christian faith

because we are very good at dividing ourselves.

One of my favorite anecdotes. And I've probably

told this story before too. But it's the story

of the guy gets stranded on a desert island.

And when he finally gets found, he's like, oh,

let me show you around. And there's three buildings.

He's built three buildings on this island. And

they're like, oh, what's this? He goes, oh, that's

my hut. That's where I live. And I'm like, oh,

what's that? Well, that's the church I go to.

Oh, what's that over there? That's the church

I used to go to. Like he's the only guy on the

island. But the creed says that we believe in

a church that is one. Not because there can't

be multiple branches and not because there shouldn't

be differences between congregations. The creed

says that we are one because no matter what local

expression or congregation that you are in, the

scriptures are teaching us that if you believe

in Jesus, that he is the son of God. born, lived,

crucified, resurrected, then you are a part of

the one church. And that's why this line still

matters today, maybe more than ever, because

you can walk down the street right now and find

any number of churches that do not think that

any number of the other churches in town are

a part of the one church. And that's sad. Because

in Ephesians 4, Paul was writing to the church

in Ephesus, and he reminds them, with all humility

and gentleness, with patience, bear with one

another in love, make every effort to maintain

the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

I wonder if we have... spent so much time and

so many years trying to be right that we have

forgotten how to be one. And the creed is reminding

us to believe what the scriptures have already

said. There is one body, there is one spirit.

just as you were called to the one hope of your

calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one

God and Father of all who is above all, through

all, and in all. God is building a home. He is

using us all irrespective of how we got here

and what he is building, one holy Catholic. Apostolic

Church. Okay, but weren't they saying that you

were just supposed to be part of the Catholic

Church? In as much as the word... On the count

of three, everyone say boo back. One, two, three.

Boo! In as much as the word Catholic means universal

or according to the whole. That's what Catholic

means. Universal and according to the whole.

In as much as that's what the word Catholic means,

yes, they want us to be a part of the Catholic

Church, the universal church, part of the whole

church. They used the word Catholic, lowercase

c, because it was inclusive, not because it was

a branch or a denomination. It's saying that

we're all a part of the whole, we're all a part

of the same thing, not because we look the same.

Not because we vote the same, not because we

sing the same songs, not even because we all

believe all the same things exactly the same

way, but because Jesus has brought us together.

And Jesus holds all things together. When we

say this part of the creed, when we say, I believe

in one. holy, Catholic, and apostolic church.

We're standing against our proclivity to be picky.

We're rejecting division for division's sake.

We're saying that we will continue to believe,

no matter what, that we are one. Maybe we don't

feel it, and it definitely doesn't always describe

what we see. So we're saying it because it describes

what we're called to believe. We're saying it

because it describes what we are called to be

practicing. We're saying, I will not let my world

become so small that only people just like me

fit inside of it. I will not let the identity

of the church shrink to the size of my preferences

or even to the size of my own understanding.

Okay, then I just want to talk for a second about

that word apostolic for a minute. Because imagine,

we've probably all heard it. We've probably all

said it when we've said the Nicene Creed. And

it gets used relatively differently. depending

on where you've heard that word. Paul said, God

used the apostles and prophets for the foundation

of what God is building. Apostle just means one

who is sent or a messenger. When we say we are

an apostolic church, we are acknowledging that

the message started somewhere else, that the

message started with the first followers and

it has been carried to us, that we did not invent

it. The first week of this series, Pastor Jen

started and she mentioned Rich Mullins, a Christian

musician back in the 80s and 90s. And in his

song called The Creed, he has a line that says,

I did not make it, no, it is making me. This

started somewhere else. And we get to be a part

of that family. But we're also saying, when we

say that this is an apostolic church, we're also

saying how the message will continue. Because

the church is not and was never meant to be stationary.

The church is meant to be living and active,

carrying the good news everywhere that it goes.

And so it means that Jesus isn't just for us.

Jesus isn't just for me. Jesus is for my neighbors

and my workplaces and my schools and for my family

members. And honestly, the Christmas season is

one of the best times for us to decide that we

are going to be apostolic, that we are going

to carry this with us to someone else. Show of

hands, anyone that grew up. if you're comfortable

doing this, Catholic or Lutheran or Methodist,

okay? Now, raise your hands again if you know,

if you had candles at the front that acolytes

lit those candles, okay? So I used to work at

a Lutheran church. and I taught confirmation.

And part of teaching confirmation was teaching

the students why they would have a candle at

the back, they would have a long thing that was

lit, and they would walk it to the front, and

they would light the candles that were on the

stage. And then often, depending on what kind

of church you were in, you would then take the

light from that again, and then you would carry

it out at the end of the service. That was a

symbol of being apostolic. Because the symbolism

is that Jesus is the light of the world. He has

come into the world hoping that the world will

receive it. And then we as the church are meant

to take this light that we've been standing here

talking about out into the world with us. We're

meant to be evangelical in the sense that We

carry the good news with us. We're meant to be

apostolic in the sense that it was given to us,

and then we then are attempting to pass it along

to others in this long 2 ,000 -year line of the

story of Jesus that goes back before that to

the people of Israel. And you don't have to be

an expert. All you have to know is what your

current experiences are. If your current experience

is the idea that you have seen a glimmer of hope

that you are part of a church that offers family,

that offers belonging, that holds Jesus above

everything, and that says that in all other things

that we will find a way to stand together. There's

a theologian from the 1700s. I'm not sure if

I left that part in my notes, but his name is

Rupertus Maldinius. And this is actually on our

website. If you want to go there with me now.

You don't actually want to do that, but I don't

want to say it wrong. On our website, if you

go to our beliefs page, it says this. This is

a quote from the 17th century theologian Rupertus

Maldinius. In essentials unity. In non -essentials,

liberty. In all things, charity. The point being

that it is not a new idea today that you don't

have to agree about everything in order to be

a part of the same family together. It is a concept

that is centuries and thousands of years. And

we have the opportunity to offer family to people

that need it. I want to bring special attention

to one way that we can symbolically, at least,

but also practically offer a sense of family

to people. Over here in the corner. you'll see

that we've got a display, and those are our ornaments

or our mittens, and those 50 ornaments over there

represent 25 children that are currently in the

DCFS system and are experiencing the foster system.

They are kids that are fostered right now. And

every year, we as a church, we provide gifts.

to the foster parents of those kids so that they

can have gifts for those kids so that those kids

aren't worried or stressed or anxious about,

am I going to have a Christmas this year? And

one of the reasons we do it to make sure that

it's a good experience for these kids is because

they're learning something about family right

now, aren't they? They're learning that there's

something that's happening in their first family,

but they're also going to learn something. about

their new temporary or given family. And our

hope is to be a part of making this temporary

or given family experience as positive as possible

as they learn that their first family is getting

healthy so that they can be cared for there as

well. Does that make sense? And guys, we get

to be a small part of that. They'll never know

your name. Some of the parents, the foster parents

will know that they came from this church. They

will not know who they came from. And those children

will never know that it was from us because the

way that we've designed this is that we bring

these gifts back unwrapped just with the tag

so that they know which kid it's for so that

those foster parents can wrap them as if they're

from them. I don't need to know. The name of

the person that led my mother to the Lord. But

I know that my mother brought me to the Lord.

And we do not need to know who wrapped every

present God has ever given us. But we know who

it came from. We know that it is a gift from

the Lord. So after service today, I want to encourage

you to go over there, sign out some tags, and

we'll bring those back in a couple Sundays. You'll

get an email about it as well. But I want you

to do it not just because it's a nice thing to

do. I want you to grip onto the philosophy of

it, the meaning of it, that this is a small way

that we offer a sense of family to kids that

are learning what a family is right now in the

midst of not knowing. what to feel about family.

Right? Yeah. Let's pray. God, thank you for whoever

told my mom about you and whoever told them about

you. All the way back to the first century, to

the first followers. that we're just trying to

figure out how to understand exactly who you

are and how to lead these little congregations

in being one, in being unified. Help us to embrace

that oneness, that universal, apostolic, and

holy nature of this thing we call church. Amen.