God called Israel to be His people—to reflect His character and make Him known to the world. But again and again, they fell short of that calling. Jesus came to fulfill what Israel had been called to do. His story echoes theirs: He came out of Egypt, passed through the waters of baptism, and entered the wilderness. Where Israel had been unfaithful, Jesus remained faithful.
Through Jesus, God gathers His people into a family that includes both Jews and Gentiles. That helps us hear the contrast in today’s passage. Israel once stood trembling before Mount Sinai. Now, through Christ, we come to the heavenly Mount Zion, joining angels and saints in the presence of God. Listen to these words from Hebrews.
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Today, we continue with the 3rd part of our sermon series on the Apostles’ Creed.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker 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, dead, and buried;he descended to the dead;the third day he rose from the dead;he ascended into heaven,and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, and the communion of saints…
The Holy Spirit (AKA the Holy Ghost, the Counselor, the Spirit of God, or simply the Spirit) is the third part of the Trinity of God. The Trinity is a mysterious and often misunderstood concept Christians use to describe God. In brief, God consists of three distinct but equal Persons.[1] We believe God is one being, not three gods; but the One God expresses Himself as the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was a Jew, and monotheistic Israelite, who subscribed to the Shema in the Old Testament law that says, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." ()Deuteronomy 6:4) and the first of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:3, which says, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Yet the monotheistic Jesus commanded his followers in Matthew 28:19 to “…go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Christians baptize in the name of One God—who is expressed by Christians in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
This is a great mystery, because in our human experience, we don't really experience 3-in-1 kind of people. Humans aren't like that. But God is above and beyond our experience. He is not bound to operate by the laws of human experience or even the laws of nature. And so we are confronted with this mystery: the Scriptures say God is One, but it also shows us God is three. And so Christian theologians have developed the doctrine of the Trinity as our feeble attempt to explain what is not fully explainable. But we know it to be so because Scripture repeatedly expresses God's 3-in-1 nature.
We see all 3 persons of the Trinity present at the baptism of Jesus. Matthew 3:16-17 – 16 "After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened[g] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” God is present in Jesus (the Son), the Holy Spirit (descending like a dove), and the Father (the voice speaking from heaven).
When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, God places His Holy Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit is the part of God that gives us eternal life.[2]
1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?”
Titus 3:3 – “He saved us, not because of the
good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave
us a new life through the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is also the part of God that supernaturally enables us to live and serve according to God’s plan.
1 Corinthians 12:4 – “Now there are different
kinds of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of
them all.”
The Holy Spirit is also the voice of God that acts as our conscience to teach us right from wrong and lead us in the way God wants us to go.
Galatians 5:25 – “If we are living now by the
Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our
lives.”
Listen to the still small voice of God; it is the Holy Spirit trying to lead you. And cultivate your ability to hear by practicing spiritual disciplines (like prayer, sacraments, worship, and Scripture) and through obedience. (God is not going to keep speaking to you to show you the way if you don't actively listen and obey.)
The word in this phrase that confuses people the most is probably “catholic.” Why do we believe in the catholic church?
We are not referring to the Roman Catholic Church, which is just one of many denominations of the Church. The word catholic means “universal.” As a title for the Church, it was first used by St. Ignatius of Antioch in 107 A.D. when he wrote, “Where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” [3]
So by catholic, we are referring to the mystical union of all Christians throughout the world who are united as one body (or one Church) in Christ. It is not limited by denomination, or race, or nationality, or even by time. Christ came for all and all who receive Him are part of his Holy Catholic Church.
I believe the “catholic” (or universal) Church is Holy. People in our times often complain about the Church’s shortcomings. You don’t have to tell me about the shortcomings of the church. I’m a pastor. I’m on the “inside” of the church structure. I sometimes see the darkest parts of the church that no one else sees. Yet still I believe in a holy Church. Why?
Because the True Church is the spiritual Church that follows Christ. At our best, Stark Methodist is one expression of this Spiritual Church. It is what we strive to be—to truly embody the Spirit of Christ as a church. The Church is holy because it is the only organization in the Bible established by Christ.
Matthew 16:18-19 – Jesus said, “Now I say to
you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the
powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom
of Heaven. Whatever you lock on earth will be locked in heaven, and whatever
you open on earth will be opened in heaven.”
The Church was established and empowered by the Son of God. And the Church is Holy because God’s Spirit works through the Church to make people holy.
Matthew 18:20 – “Where two or more are
gathered in my name, I am there.” When we gather together as a church, the Spirit of God is present and works to
change us into the likeness of Christ. And the same Spirit leads Christ followers to go into the world to spread holiness everywhere they go.
Christians were never meant to be “lone rangers.” We must belong to the Church. A Christian who separates from the church grows cold. I have never heard of someone growing closer to God after they abandoned the church. But I can tell countless stories of people whose faith grew weaker or died spiritually because they stopped going to church.
Considered all the lives that have been positively influenced over the centuries by Jesus through the Church. The best of what we experience in our world today came to be through the efforts of faithful Christians through the Holy Catholic Church. What other organization can claim such a powerful influence that spans 2,000 years?
We say this every week in our Apostles’ Creed, but who knows what it means? The Communion of Saints is the fellowship and spiritual cooperation of all Christians in the body of Christ. This includes those on earth and those who already in heaven.
Hebrews 12:23 from our Scripture lesson this morning says, when you worship “…you have come to the spirits of the redeemed in heaven who have now been made perfect.”
In worship, we join together even with the saints in heaven! How glorious! As we gather for worship, it is a time to gather in the spirit with the saints
who’ve gone before us!
Hebrews 12:1, says “We are surrounded by a
great cloud of witnesses…” referring to the believers who have gone before us
whose stories encourage us to have faith in God.
Referring to the same “cloud of witnesses,” Hebrews 11:40 says, “God had far better things in mind for us that would also benefit them [the dead in Christ], for they can’t receive the prize at the end of the race until we finish the race.”
This says the lives of people already with God in heaven are tied to our lives—they can’t receive their “final prize” until we finish the race. The final prize they await is the Day of
Judgment when the wrongs of this world shall be made right and God shall create
a new heaven and new earth.
So, we are part of a great fellowship of saints. We are all pulling for each other—encouraging one another to love and good deeds. Even the saints in heaven are pulling for us.
Sometimes the Christian life feels lonely. You may wonder if anyone understands your struggles. You may feel too weak to do what God is asking you to do. But listen to what we have confessed today: You are not alone.
The Holy Spirit
lives in you. You belong to a Church that stretches around the world. And you
are part of a fellowship of saints that even death cannot break.
So don’t try to live your faith alone. Listen to the Spirit. Let your church family walk beside you. Remember the faithful people whose lives taught you to trust Jesus. And when we say these words again, let’s say them as people who believe they are true: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints.”
God is with us. We belong to Christ. And we belong to one another.
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