This We Believe

Today is the final message in our series “I’m Glad You Asked.” As Pastor Alex reminded us, our prayer is that today will serve more as a runway, a launch point, rather than merely the end of a series. Over the past few weeks we have looked closely at the biblical worldview and the Bible’s response to four of life’s fundamental questions: How did we get here? (Creation) What went wrong? (Fall) How do we fix this? (Redemption) How do we live now? (Restoration) As we launch today, we were reminded of what we believe:

• We believe, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1).
• We believe that God created man in His own image; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27).
• We believe in the doctrine of original sin.
• We believe that God promised to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham (Genesis 12).
• We believe that God prophetically spoke to our forefathers to remind them He would send a Savior. Isaiah 1:18 reminds us, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
• We believe that the prophetic voice went silent for 400 years, until…
• We believe in the incarnation: that Jesus was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:22).
• We believe John the Baptist rightly proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
• We believe in the crucifixion: that Jesus was crucified and died between two criminals.
• We believe that Jesus, in that moment, uttered three words that changed everything: “It is finished” (John 19:30).
• We believe that the body of Jesus was laid in a tomb (Matthew 27:57-61).
• We believe that Jesus rose again from the grave! (Matthew 28:5-6)
• We believe that we were ransomed with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot! (1 Peter 1:18-19)
• We believe He has delivered us from the domain of darkness  and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins! (Colossians 1:13-14)
• We believe there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all! (1 Timothy 2:5)
• We believe that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).
• We believe that in Jesus we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us! (Ephesians 1:7)
• We believe that one day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Christ Jesus is Lord of all! (Philippians 2:5-11)
• We believe that Jesus gave His followers a mission and we are to follow in His footsteps (All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore make disciples of all nations Matt. 28:18-20).
• We believe there will be a great multitude, from every nation, gathered around the throne! (Revelation 7:9)
• We believe we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our minds and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27).
• We believe there is a time when Jesus will come again and take us to be with Him! (“Surely I am coming soon.” Revelation 22:20)

We all believe in something and that belief matters deeply because it sets the direction of our lives both now and eternally. Consider the the trajectory of your life:

• What do your patterns and rhythms reveal about what you believe?
• How are you investing your time, energy and resources?
• What would others looking from the outside (a coworker, a neighbor, a classmate) conclude you believe by observing your life?
• What adjustments do you need to ask God to help you make? Is there anything you feel is prompting you to do more of? Stop? Continue?