A Brief Summary Of The Christian Faith

Almost 500 years ago Martin Luther wrote his Little Instruction Book for the education of children concerning the basic truths of the Christian Faith. In this small catechism, he includes brief summary statements about the church’s oldest statement of faith – The Apostles Creed (which itself has roots going back to the 1st or 2nd Century). Unfortunately, in today’s church, there are far too many adults who are unfamiliar with even these basic truths.

The Apostles Creed

 The First Article: Creation

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.

The Second Article: Redemption

 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 rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

The Third Article: Sanctification

 I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

God’s Best,

Dar

The Faultless Foundation of Faith

Foundations are important. A foundation for one’s life is the thing that helps us makes sense of our lives. It enables us to understand and interpret the world around us; the thing on which we build our lives on. What foundation are you basing your life on?

Socrates, considered one of the world’s great philosophers, shortly before his death, is reported to have said,

 “All the wisdom of this world is but a tiny raft upon which we must set sail when we leave this earth. If only there was a firmer foundation upon which to sail, perhaps some divine word.”

Socrates put all of his confidence in the collected thoughts and wisdom of philosophy and came up empty.

On the other hand, God’s Word offers us a sure and certain place on which to stand. The Sovereign LORD says,

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed” (Isaiah 28:16).

That stone, that foundation is Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers,

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).

God, who created this world and everything in it, also offers us a sure and certain foundation for all of life.  It is the only foundation that will withstand the tests, trials and travails of this world.  It is the only foundation that will endure into eternity.  This foundation is the very real and genuine  relationship we may have in Jesus Christ as our Shepherd King.

Napoleon Bonaparte was the Emperor of France and the King of Italy.  Before his death he stated,

“Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.”

Jesus Christ died for us that we might live with him, through him and standing on him. There is no firmer foundation.

How about you? Are you trusting in the foundation offered in Christ or in someone or something else?

The offer is still valid in all fifty states and every country of the world. I just don’t know the expiration date. Do you?

Standing On The Rock, God’s Best,

Dar

Eight Steps to a More Effective and Productive Life

A few days ago my two youngest grandchildren (5 and 7 years old) helped their mother make a cake for their dad’s birthday. Their mom baked the cake and afterward invited the kids to decorate it and put candles on it. After some time of diligently and lovingly working together the project was finally done. Well, I’ve never officially judged birthday cakes before but trust me, this was one beautiful birthday cake!

You may be asking about how what this has to do with an effective and productive life. Here’s your answer: the kids added to something that was given to them to produce something of great value. In the same way, the Apostle Peter tells us that we can add to our faith certain virtues and character traits that will lead to our becoming the kinds of Christ-like Christians that we are intended to be. Peter puts it like this:

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Peter 1:5-8).

Peter lists eight steps to becoming more effective and productive in our Christian lives.

1. Faith
2. Goodness
3. Knowledge
4. Self-Control
5. Perseverance
6. Godliness
7. Brotherly Kindness
8. Love

Notice in this list that it starts with faith and ends with love. Whatever we do for God’s glory must always start with and flow out of a dynamic faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And, in the final analysis, God’s power in us should always lead to love in action. After all, who wouldn’t want to be more a more God-honoring, Christ-like and Spirit-lead Christian. The heart of every true believer is to be seen by God as faithful servants bearing fruit in all that we do and making an eternal impact in the lives of others for His Glory.

God’s Best,
Dar

Time To Turn The Page

Turn, Turn, Turn (to Everything There is a Season) – The Byrds

In October of 1965 the American rock group, The Byrds recorded “Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a Season).” The following month it became a No. 1 hit on the top 40 charts.

Almost all the words come from the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. The words make clear that time itself will bring about inevitable changes to our lives. But, on the other hand some changes are not inevitable, they are a result of our own choices. These changes have the potential to be positive, both for ourselves and for others, but we must be willing to turn to them.

There are some things in life we can’t change. For instance we can’t change our own personal histories. We can’t reverse the rising of the Sun and go back in time for a few redos of our life events. For most of us, there are a few things that, given the chance, we would really like to do over.

The lack of taking many of my classes in high school very seriously sort of jumps out at me at the moment. But if I think about wrong decisions in school, I have to be honest and say it all started in kindergarten for me. That’s when it was determined that I couldn’t be trusted with scissors in group activities. I had never been trusted with scissors before I got to kindergarten and I guess, as it turns out, for good reason.  But alas, the fact remains – what is done is done and anyway, hair does grow back.

With this New Year, we “turn the page of our lives” again. In a way it is a real opportunity, if we choose it, to have our own personal redo. Not a redo of the past but a present change of course and a future direction for our lives. For many of us that’s good news. What would you like to change (that can be changed) about your life this year? With God’s help change for good is not only possible but highly probable.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian Church that “For I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” In Christ, we can turn the page. We can turn the page on wrong actions and life choices we have made in the past. We can turn the page on things that have kept us from enjoying the kind of relationship with Christ that deep in our hearts we long for. We can turn from grudges to forgiveness, we can turn idle thoughts into action, we can turn from our complacent self-centeredness to a renewed trust and service to our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. For it is in Jesus and Him alone that we find sure and certain strength for the road and guidance for our paths.

The last line of  The Byrds rock ballad, “Turn, Turn, Turn,” is a soulful pleading, “I swear it’s not too late”. And of course in Christ, as long as we have the breath of life, it is not too late – but why wait? Today is the day to turn the page and live a new song.

Turning The Page – In Christ, Through Christ And For Christ – A New Song I Sing!

Dar

The God Who Loves Mercy

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).

It happened yesterday in a parking lot. Walker, my five-year old grandson had just completed his first season playing flag football. Before the game Walker talked excitedly about the trophy he would be receiving. He was so excited to be getting one,  just like all those his big brother, whom he idolizes, has.

After the game, the trophy presentation, lunch, and a big day at Bradley’s Country Store Fun Day, Walker and his seven-year old sister, Morgan, sat in their Aunt Dawn’s car watching, as Walker’s football hero and older brother Jay carried an armful of things to his car.  The trophy with the golden football figure on top, slipped and fell to the parking lot, breaking and scattering into a multitude of pieces on the pavement!

Mortified at what had just happened, Jay enlisted Aunt Dawn’s help to pick up the pieces.  He was horrified at the thought of Walker’s disappointment. With a deep sense of sadness and a broken trophy Jay approached Aunt Dawn’s car where Walker and Morgan were waiting.

As he hesitantly neared the car, Jay began to hear a tumult coming from inside.  When he opened the door it was clear the sounds were cackles of laughter! “My man exploded! My man exploded! Ha, Ha, Ha!” Walker excitedly exclaimed.  For all the world, it seemed as if it was the funniest thing Walker and Morgan had ever seen. An exploding football trophy! Who would have known?

Instead of anger and tears, there were the arms of a little brother patting the remorseful older brother on the back, dispensing buckets of unbounded mercy. “It’s alright Jay, my man exploded! Ha, Ha!” Grins and smiles abounded. As much mercy as God could pour out through a little five-year old football player were hugged into a big brother that moment.

God’s tender mercies come to us in unexpected ways. How often they blind side us and leave us speechless. All we can mutter at times is “Thank You LORD!” And that’s probably a good thing.

When we give out mercy into the lives of others, we are living out a mirrored refection of God’s mercy into our own lives. We are in fact simply demonstrating a character quality that we ourselves have seen and experienced from God.

In this morning’s worship service we sang:

Thy mercy my God is the theme of my song, The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue. Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last, Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy, I could not live here. Sin would reduce me to utter despair, But through Thy free goodness, my spirit’s revived And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

The English Puritan, Thomas Benton Brooks wrote, “The more godly any man is, the more merciful that man will be.”  As we show unexpected and tender mercies to our fellow travelers we are simply reflecting family traits and bringing great joy to our Father.

May We Be  Missionaries of Mercy In The Midst Of A Mad, Messy And Often Mean Mankind,

Dar

The God Who Hears Us When We Call

“I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit” (Lamentations 3:55).

As we continue our journey through the scrolls of the ancient prophets, we often encounter the sometimes normal but often calamitous struggles of God’s people – people who were not too different from who we are. In fact, many of them were just like us. We can find ourselves in the pages of history long gone by. Human nature and the predicaments we find ourselves in have not changed . . . only the times and places.

In the midst of difficulty God’s people call out to God in prayer. Calling out to God . . . to call on the LORD – is to pray. It’s a spiritual phone call. But to say it is spiritual doesn’t mean that it is not real – it is. It may be one of the most genuine and authentic things we ever do.

In this passage from Lamentations, the writer is grieved over a very real event of history. The Babylonian army had just wiped out the kingdom of Judah, its capital, Jerusalem, its temple, and most of its people. In gut wrenching pain and sorrow he calls out to God.

We can see three things from what the prophet writes that are the same today as they were then  which can give us great confidence in our prayers:

First, God hears our prayers. We are never just praying to the air. We are never speaking words into an empty universe where our words echo endlessly. God actually hears our prayers. What the writer says then, is true today. . . “You heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!'” (v. 56).

Second, God comes close to us when we pray. In some very real but unseen way, God enters into our space. He is present with us when we pray. . . “You came near when I called on you” (v.57a).

Third, God assures us and calms us as we speak to Him. No matter the circumstances, no matter the catastrophe or dilemma we find ourselves in, God’s reassuring promise rings true: “You came near when I called on you, and you said, ‘Do not fear!'” (v. 57).

Because of the prophets working knowledge of God and His ways, he had hope in a time of great personal distress and consternation. What was it that he knew about God that gave him this reason to call out and expect a caring response?

He may well have known many things, but by his own hand the prophet had just written these insightful and eternal truths about our God. “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23).

Wow, what a God! And yeah, did I mention that our God is forever faithful, never-changing in His character or ways and continues to deliver on His promises. He can be counted on in times of joy and He can be counted on in times of darkness. Well, I guess I did now.

Speed Dialing . . . Always And Often . . . No Busy Signals.

Dar

The God Who Calls His People To The Witness Stand

“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, . . . (Isaiah 43:10)

What’s this? I thought Isaiah was in the Old Testament? Isn’t this what Jesus told his disciples at the end of His earthly ministry? Well, yes and yes. As it turns out our God has a long history of calling His people to the Witness Stand.

What is a witness anyway? Generally, a witness is someone who is called to give a true and honest statement of what they have seen, heard or experienced. In the court of a watching world God continues to call His people, His followers . . . those who have seen, heard and experienced life-changing encounters with the Living Lord . . . to take a stand, to stand firm and, yes, to take the stand. They must be willing to speak with integrity to those who doubt, to those who have never really heard and understood and, even to those who disbelieve and oppose.

For God’s own reasons and with great confidence on His part, He chooses to call His people to the Witness Stand. God has been doing this for ages. He takes a rightful joy in our willingness and obedience to His call. Look with me at two passages found in the scrolls of the prophet Isaiah. First we find these words in Chapter 43:

10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed– I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. 13 Yes, and from ancient days I am He. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Then again in Chapter 44:

6 “This is what the LORD says– Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. 7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come– yes, let him foretell what will come. 8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

We can see from these ancient scrolls that our Great God has from long ago, been calling us to witness for Him and about Him. Is it any wonder then, or any surprise that our Lord and God, Jesus Christ would call us to witness for Him? Notice His last words to His followers:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Please note that He doesn’t call us to act alone. He gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us and guide us in wisdom. He gives us the boldness and confidence we need to take the stand for Him! Oh, what a privilege, what an honor, what an opportunity to glorify and serve our God. Just the thought. . . to bring joy to our God.

Taking the Stand for Him Who Hung for Me,

Dar

St. Patrick’s Prayer

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Here’s my Irish Gift for you,
St. Patrick’s Prayer of faith anew.

If you’ve never read it through,
this should be the day you do!

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I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;*
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The sweet ‘well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the Prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

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In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit . . . Amen

Dar