Christians have been proclaiming-and wrestling with-the language of the Apostles’ Creed since the second century. This seven-week sermon series breaks down each section of the creed and encourages us to see how it affects what we believe and how we live today.
Week 1: “God”
Scripture: Psalm 146 and Matthew 6:25-33
To most confessional Christians these days, the tenets of the Apostles’ Creed seem obvious, and its recitation rote. But each piece of the creed is there because someone in the history of the church thought differently. The creed guides what we believe about our faith, and ultimately, how we behave. The first line of the creed exemplifies this: the claim that God is creator of heaven and earth is a direct rebuttal of Marcion, who contended that all matter was evil and that the God found in the Old Testament was in opposition to Jesus Christ. To proclaim that God is the creator of heaven and earth is to proclaim that what we do here and now matters. Only one line in, and the creed has already made a claim on our lives.
Week 2: “Jesus Christ”
Scripture: Matthew 13:54-58 + Colossians 1:15-18 [Note: This is the longest section of the creed. You may wish to break it up into two weeks, ending the first week with Jesus’ descent into hell and beginning again with his rising on the third day.]
Modern Christians often struggle with the “Jesus portion” of the creed, since it reduces his earthly ministry to a comma. However, Jesus’ actions were not controversial in the formation of the church–but his identity was. Pushing back against Marcion, Gnostics, and Docetists who held that Jesus was a pure spirit who only appeared to be human, the creed insists that Christ was really born, really lived, really died, really rose, and really reigns. The result of Jesus’ real humanity is that the Judge we come before on God’s right hand is a judge who knows us inside and out, and has proven to be full of mercy, compassion, and love.
Week 3: “The Holy Ghost”
Scripture: John 14:15-19, 25-26 + 1 Corinthians 12:1-13
The Holy Ghost gets the shortest shrift in the creed, and yet its inclusion speaks volumes. Throughout both testaments, the Holy Spirit is the person of the trinity who imbues humanity with some measure of God’s power. In this way the Holy Spirit is the lynchpin of the creed, co-working with God to create the heavens and earth, enabling the birth of Christ, and empowering us to believe and be the church.
Week 4: “The Holy Catholic Church”
Scripture: Numbers 11:10-30 + 1 Peter 2:4-9
This week marks a turn from professing our belief in the persons of the trinity to a series of convictions about what they enable in the world. We begin with our belief in the holy catholic church, but how many of us really believe the church is holy or all-inclusive? The church has done better at hiding its light under a bushel throughout its history, and yet, every once in a while, the light still shines. Our holiness is not the result of our human efforts, but the Spirit who dwells with us in our churches and congregations.
Week 5: “The Communion of Saints”
Scripture: Romans 12:1-18
In the Greek, the word saints is simply “the holy ones.” We profess our belief in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Church, and the Holy Ones. Our communion means that we are a sharing people: we share what we need with each other, both practical things like food and shelter and holy things like baptism and prayer; but beyond that, we have a share in each other, as a fellowship that stretches throughout time and place. In the communion of the saints, we take our place in the great circle of those, living and dead, who have known their share of the holiness of God.
Week 6: “The Forgiveness of Sins”
Scripture: Micah 7:18-19 + Colossians 3:1-2, 7-15
The forgiveness of sins is a fourth-century addition to our creed, stemming from a time when forgiveness was a hot topic. The fourth century saw the end of Christian persecution, which left many Christians who had previously rejected the church under pain of death wanting to rejoin it. A faction called the Donatists objected; there was no place in the church for these Christians who had buckled under persecution. A different faction argued that forgiveness was possible, and that the church could not be rendered unholy by the sinfulness of those within it. When we claim “I believe in the forgiveness of sins,” we are marking two truths: that our sins are forgiven, and that we are called to forgive others. It is a heavy and crucial claim on our Christian life.
Week 7: “The Resurrection of the Body, and the Life Everlasting”
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:35-8
Next to the virgin birth, the resurrection of the body is probably the most challenging part of the creed for modern believers. The phrase conjures images out of a zombie movie that are both repulsive and unscientific. Yet Paul’s explantation of the resurrection of the dead was never trying to answer questions about how things work in this world. Instead, Paul avers that someway, somehow, God will arrange it so that we are still ourselves–our whole selves, one embodied soul and ensouled body–after death claims us. Just as we claim at the top of the creed that the heavens and earth are good because God made them, so we claim at the end that are bodies are good and worth cherishing because God will make them anew.
Ministry Resources
The Creed Liturgy
Recommended Reading
- González, Justo L. The Apostles’ Creed for Today. Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
- Hamilton, Adam. Creed: What Christians Believe and Why: Exploring the Apostles’ Creed., 2016.
- Johnson, Luke Timothy. The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why It Matters. New York: Doubleday, 2003.
- NB: While the bulk of Johnson’s book is about the Nicene Creed, the first few chapters are excellent historical background for the Apostles’ Creed as well.
The Creed Graphics (editable Canva templates)
Deep Well Worship 