Vacation - Everyone Needs Some Time Away

As a product of the 1980’s I could not do a series titled vacation and not include this...  VACATION
I never thought I would ever use an early music video of the go-go’s in a sermon, but there you have it.  Vacation, all I ever wanted, Vacation had to get away, Vacation, meant to be spent alone.  Vacations are great and summer vacations are what many people live their lives for.  Whether it is hitting the water at the beach, lake or amusement park or camping and hiking in our national parks or visiting family in cities and towns across the country –people love vacations.  Well, most people love vacations.  We love to get away and be with family and friends and we love to get a break from work and be able to see and experience many different parts of our community, state, country and world.

Vacations in the United States are really a product of the 19th century when people started to understand the benefits of taking a break from work.  Up until then, people just worked and worked hard.  Our nation’s work ethic was so strong that to take time off was seen as lazy and unproductive and so good hard working people just didn’t take vacations.  People might take Sundays off to rest, but people didn’t start taking week long vacations until doctors and then ministers started telling people about the benefits of rest and relaxation.

As I was reading about the history of vacations in the US I learned that the UMC actually played a part in the rise of vacations.  According to Cindy Adams, who wrote Working at Play, when the growing middle class started to have enough disposable income to take vacations and the idea of vacations became acceptable, people looked at Methodist campgrounds in places like Martha’s Vineyard and the Delaware Shore as places to go.  These locations gave people an opportunity to rest and relax and the sea air was thought to be good for people.

These church campgrounds not only provided people with food and lodging, but they gave them spiritual offerings as well.  People could spend listening to sermons and taking part in bible studies which helped make these new vacations more acceptable.  Many of these places were also at the end of RR lines which meant people could get their easily.  So what started as church campgrounds have today become resorts and destinations.  So if you are headed off on vacation this month, thank the UMC for their part in the development of vacations.

For the next few weeks, we are going to learn some faith lessons from vacations.  These won’t just be lessons for us while on vacation, these will be lessons we can apply all year long and the first lesson is simple – everyone needs some time away.  Everyone needs some time off and everyone needs a vacation.  Now let me clearly say, not everyone needs a trip to the beach or mountains for a week and not everyone needs to visit Disneyworld or New York City – but everyone needs some time away from work because God created us to need times of rest.

In the created order God put in times of rest.  On the very first day, God did not just create the sun and call it day but he also created what we call the night and for most people that is a time of rest.  Now I know there are nocturnal animals and people who do all their best work at night but looking at the big picture, God created the day for work and the night for rest.  So night time is part of creation because periods of rest are needed.

To reinforce this idea, God said creation wasn’t complete until there was a full day of rest – the Sabbath.  Genesis 2:2 
God then told us to take a day each week to rest and reflect and remember him.  Leviticus 23:3

So rest is an important part of the created order and our lives.  We were not created to work all day - every day.  We need regular times of rest each week where we are able to stop our work and not only physically rest but emotionally take a break and spiritual recenter our hearts and lives on God.  Regular days of Sabbath rest are vital to our well-being each day and week but seasons of rest are also important.

Fall and winter are often the seasons of rest for the plants and even the earth.  And the bible says we should allow the ground to lay fallow – or not be planted – every 7 years to allow it to rest.  Farmers today will often rotate crops and allow plots of land to rest in order to get a greater harvest in other seasons.  All of this shows us the importance of not just times of rest each day and week but an extended season of rest so we can be at our best.  The lesson here is that everyone and all of creation needs some time away.

While we don’t find people in the bible taking vacations like we think of them, every year people would stop their work, leave their homes and gather together for feasts and festivals like the Passover.  Not only where these times away but there would often be good food and times of worship with family and friends.  We will look at this more in a few weeks, but for now we can see that God does support this idea of vacations.  We also see in the bible examples of people intentionally getting away from the stress in their lives in order to be refreshed for greater work to come.

In the Old Testament we see this in the prophet Elijah.  Elijah had just challenged and defeated 400 prophets of the false god Baal.  He challenged them to call down fire on a sacrifice and after spending most of the day calling and begging and pleading for Baal to come and set fire to their sacrifice, the false prophets called it quits.  Elijah then stepped up and asked God to consume his sacrifice and he did.   

After this amazing display of God’s power, Elijah had to face death threats from King Ahab and his wife Jezebel.  If anyone needed some time away – it was Elijah and so he ran.  He literally ran away.  Now I am not going to say that this was a well-planned vacation to a nice resort, but Elijah did understand that he needed some time away – so he went.  Elijah ran a day’s journey into the wilderness and then fell exhausted under a tree to sleep.  During the night an angel came and gave him food so Elijah ate and then he slept some more.  A second time an angel came and gave Elijah more food and he ate and then had the strength to get up and keep going and so Elijah went into a cave to spend the night.  While Elijah was in the cave he had a vision of God and then heard God tell him to go back to work.  1 Kings 19:3-8.

So let’s review what just happened.  Elijah left his home, he got lots of sleep, ate some really good food, had a powerful experience of God’s presence and then went back to work.  I know this might be a stretch – but doesn’t that sound a little bit like a vacation?  Elijah needed some time away so he took a journey, got a lot of sleep, ate some literally divine food, had an experience of seeing and hearing God that refreshed and strengthened so he could return home and get back to work.  That is what vacations should be about.  We get away.  We get some rest.  We eat some good food.  We take some time to reflect on God and open ourselves up to seeing and hearing God and then we head back to work.

Elijah was tired and burned out and needed rest and food and encouragement.  Elijah needed to get away from the routine and stress of his life so he could get a good perspective on all that was going on around him and in him.  Can you relate?  This is how most of us feel when we are ready for a vacation.  We just need that time away from the routine of our lives so we can rest physically and emotionally and there are times when we need a change of scenery or activity so we can hear and see God in fresh ways and regain a good and godly perspective on life.  While Elijah wanted to run away forever, God shows us that a true vacation isn’t running from our problems but getting away long enough so we can rest and get refreshed in order to face our problems again but this time with strength and power and purpose.

Jesus also never took a vacation the way we think about them, but he did understand the importance of time away.  At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was overwhelmed by entire communities of people coming to him for help and healing.  The stress and strain was great and so early in the morning Jesus sought some time away.  Mark 1:35-37

What it important for us to notice here is that this is the very beginning of Jesus public ministry and so he doesn’t wait until he is exhausted and burned out and ready to quit before he takes some time off, he builds times of rest into his life.  If Jesus needed regular time away to get some rest and refreshment in order to keep his perspective and strength, then how much more do we need this?

I know that many people think that they can work every day and never take a day off or time off, I was one of them.  My first year in ministry I didn’t take a regular day off.  I would maybe take some time here or there, but I never took a regular day off and in 10 months I was exhausted and burned out.  Fortunately, the church leaders told me to take a vacation and they told me take a couple of weeks to really get refreshed.  I did and it was the best thing I could have done because in the months after I returned we faced some critical decisions and turning points as a church and I know if I had not been refreshed after some time away, I would have been no good to the church and we would not have been able to do all that God wanted us to do.  When I returned that year I also made sure that I started taking regular days off to stay refreshed and strong.

This was not the only time we hear about Jesus getting away.  Later on in Mark’s gospel we find Jesus trying to take his disciples away for a period of rest and reflection after they have had a particular busy and stressful period.  Mark 6:7-13.  Jesus sent them out to teach and preach and drive out demons and let’s face it, they were beginners and so struggled at this and so this had to have been a stressful time for them.  When they returned, Jesus tried to get them away on a vacation.  Mark 6:30-31.  They didn’t get far before the crowds found them, but again Jesus shows us the importance of time away.

God’s ordering of creation, Elijah’s time of rest and Jesus time away and then trying to get away with the disciples tells us that vacations are important and that we all need some time away.  We need regular daily and weekly times of rest and we need seasonal times of refreshment but let’s be clear about what makes for a good vacation.  A good vacation is not a time to run away from responsibilities but a time to find some real rest.  A good vacation is not a time to neglect God and times of worship and learning but a time of refreshment with God.   We need to carve out time to be with God and look for his presence and listen for his voice.  A good vacation should also have a purpose and this is not our itinerary but thoughtful ways to fill our life back up so we can return to the work and mission God has for us.  This can all happen at Disneyworld or up the road at the Dam.  This can happen at the beach or in our backyard.  This can happen with a full schedule of activities or quiet days of doing nothing.  The key is to have a sense of purpose and invite God to be part of our time away.

Whether it is a day or weekend or week – plan some time away with a purpose.  This month, do something fun and uplifting, spend time with family and friends and include God in all you do.


 
Next Steps
Vacation – Everyone needs some time away

1. What was the best vacation you ever had?  What made it so good?

2. Where do you prefer to go on vacation?
• Why are those places so special to you?
• What might God be saying to you in these places?

3. Read the story of Elijah’s “vacation” in 1 Kings 18-19.
• Why did Elijah need some time away?
• What did God provide for him?
• How did this prepare him for what was to come?
• What do we learn here about good vacations?

4. Read the story of Jesus’ “time away” in Mark 1:18-45.
• Why did Jesus need time away?
• How did this time prepare Jesus for what was to come?

5. How can you make your next vacation a time of rest, reflection and refreshment?  How can you make sure God is part of your vacation experience?

6. Weekly times of rest and refreshment are needed.  How do your days off become a real time of rest for you and your family?  How can you make it more of a blessing to you and others?

I Believe - Resurrection

Today we finish our study of the Apostle’s Creed by looking at the one part of our Christian belief that we always have to take on faith – resurrection and eternal life.  The Bible says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen.  Since what happens after we die is not something that we can see, what we believe about our resurrection and eternal life are things we have to take on faith.  While the Apostles’ Creed does not lay out for us a detailed analysis of how the resurrection takes place and what eternal life is like, it does point us in the right direction and bears witness to the foundation of what the early followers of Jesus believed which is that there is a resurrection and eternal life.  

This is what the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.

And Jesus himself said, I am the resurrection and the life and the one who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.   John 11:25

So the creed points us to the truth of the resurrection and eternal life and this is what we believe but if you were hoping to leave today with a clear understanding of how and when this all happens, you will be disappointed.  Jesus is not clear and the Bible gives us no details.  What I would like to do is address 4 questions that have to do with resurrection and eternal life:
What happens when we die?
What do we mean by the resurrection of the body?
What is heaven like?  
When does all this happen?

What happen when we die?  Not what happens to our body but what happens to our life, our soul or spirit?  In the Old Testament it was believed that when a person died they went to the place of the dead, which was known as Sheol.  Everyone went there when they died, the good and the bad, it was just the place of the dead.  In fact, the word Sheol can often be found in the book of psalms translated as the word grave or the place of the dead.

By the end of the Old Testament, God revealed more of his plan of salvation and eternal life by telling us that at some point death would be defeated.  Isaiah 25:6-8.  Isaiah 26:19.  These passages pointed to a resurrection of the dead, but at the time of Jesus, this was not clearly defined and the thought that there could or would be a resurrection to eternal life was pretty controversial.  In fact, in first century Judaism there were two very different schools of thought.  The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection.  They believed that when people died they went to Sheol but there was no resurrection to eternal life.  The Pharisees did believe in the resurrection.  This difference in opinion divided the Jewish leaders and they often tried to pull Jesus into their debate.

While any attempt to clearly outline what the first century Jews and then later Christians believed about resurrection and eternal life would be incomplete, here is a diagram that Adam Hamilton has provided that does a good job of giving us a picture of what people believed.
 

From Adam Hamilton's "Creed"  

When someone died their spirit went to the place of the dead, Sheol which was also known as Hades.  At the time of Jesus there was already this thought that righteous went to a good section of Sheol known as paradise and the evil went to tartarus and between these sections was a gulf that could not be crossed.  But these were not people’s final destinations because at some point there would be a resurrection and then a final judgement and from here people would go to either heaven or hell.  Again, while this is incomplete and you can find different views from different people, and many of the Greek and Hebrew words used to talk about all these things make it difficult for us to fully understand all the ideas being presented, this is a pretty good picture of what people of faith believed at the time of Jesus and it gives us at least a place to start talking about what we believe happens when we die.

Today there are still a variety of views on what happens to us when we die and people have different ideas on how and when all this takes place and the Bible does not give us a clear teaching.  The only thing I can say with certainty is that we do not know exactly what happens when we die.  While the does Bible give us some insight and direction, Jesus never spoke definitively on the subject and he never laid out a clear path for us to teach so all of this really becomes a matter for us to take on faith.

So What happens when we die?  As clearly as I can say it, when our faith and trust is in Jesus, when we die we go to be with him.  Jesus turned to the thief on the cross who died at the same time he did and because he trusted Jesus, Jesus promised that they would be together in paradise.  Is this paradise an eternal heaven or is there another judgement coming?  I don’t know but this I do know, if our faith is in Jesus – when we die we will be with him.   Jesus does come to judge the living and the dead and so maybe that judgement takes place at the moment we die, maybe it is at a later time – we don’t really know, but if we place our faith in Jesus – we will be with Jesus when we die and we will be with him forever.

The second question to address is What do we mean by the resurrection of the body?  After we die, is it this body, our current body that comes back to life?  Paul tells us that the answer to this is no.  1 Corinthians 15: 42-44.  Our current bodies are made of dust and to dust we shall return.  These bodies are not meant to last forever so the new bodies we will receive will be imperishable and indestructible.  We don’t know what these bodies will be like, but they will be good and strong and not prone to sin or sickness or any kind of disease.

Think about Jesus after his resurrection.  His body changed.  The mortal wounds were healed, and at times people recognized him and at times they didn’t.  There were times Jesus body seemed to be just like ours as he ate food and could be touched but then there were times he would appear and disappear unexplained.  If Jesus is the model of our new bodies, they will be similar but different.  They will also be unique and eternal.  I am so glad I will be able to let go of this body with all its problems and be given something new.
So if it is not this body that is resurrected, why do we affirm in the creed that we believe in the resurrection of the body?  It is important for us to remember that the Apostles’ Creed is a product of its time and at that time there was this idea that all flesh was bad and only the spirit was good.  This kind of dualism is called Gnosticism and it was a world view that threatened to undermine much of Christian teaching.  In response to this, the Christian leaders decided to talk about a bodily resurrection because they wanted to set forth the idea that all of God’s creation has value and will be redeemed.  If only the spirit matters then there is no need for us to care for people’s physical needs or to be good stewards of this world, but all of life is important, the physical and the spiritual and so it was important to make that distinction.

What I appreciate about affirming a bodily resurrection is that we are not talking about a spiritual resurrection to eternal life but a bodily one which means we will all have something special and defined and somehow relatable.  It will not a body that will decay and decline but a body that will be strong and last forever.  Each of us will have a glorious heavenly body that will be unique and eternal and while we may not be able to wrap our minds around what this body will be like – we believe it is there for us all.  So the resurrection of the body doesn’t mean this body will be reformed from the ashes it will be become, it means that there will be a glorious body we will all receive at the time of the resurrection.

So this leads to the question, What is heaven like?  People have been trying to communicate this to us for centuries and the reality is that we don’t know but we believe it will be good and so we use images that help us to see it as the absolute best thing ever.  If we go back to Isaiah where we first start hearing about death being swallowed up in eternal life the image used was a great banquet because one of the best things ever is good food.  Isaiah 25:6-8.  

When Jesus talked about the coming kingdom of heaven he talked about a wedding feast that included everyone and it was a feast where we are all given robes to wear and places of honor to sit.  In the book of Revelation the coming kingdom of God is talked about like a bride dressed for her husband or a city of gold coming down from heaven.  The new Jerusalem was talked about as a city that had walls made of gem stones like sapphires, rubies and amethysts and where the gates were made of pearl and the streets were paved with gold.  Now is there going to be an actual city with pearly gates and golden streets, I don’t know, but what the author was trying to communicate is that heaven is going to be better than anything you can imagine.

And if gold and gem stones don’t excite you then it also talks about heaven in terms of a river that flows from the throne of God where on each side of the river stands the tree of life whose leaves bring healing to the nations.  So is there an actual river with trees on each side?  I don’t know, but again these were the best images the author could provide.  Heaven is simply going to be the best.  It will be a mansion in glory, a home that has a place set aside for us and feast that never ends.

The last question we want to address is the question of timing.  When does all this happen?  Do we go to this eternal heaven immediately when we die or is the final judgement that leads to heaven still to come?  Does all this happen when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead or is this process of judgement already taking place as people die?  You can probably guess what my answer is going to be… we don’t know.  Let me use the words of Jesus about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son but only the Father.

Instead of getting hung up on trying to figure out the details of how and when the resurrection and eternal life will happen, let’s focus instead on what is important.  We believe there is a resurrection to eternal life and the way to experience this resurrection and life is through Jesus Christ.  It is because we believe in the resurrection of Jesus that we can have faith and trust in our resurrection and eternal life.  1 Corinthians 15:20-23.  We don’t know the specifics.  Jesus didn’t know or give the details and the apostle’s didn’t provide a clear path for us so the creed doesn’t give us details, it just points us in the right direction and tells us that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ there is a resurrection for us all and that resurrection leads to life and life eternal.

Let me also share some of why I have faith in an eternal life that cannot be seen and why I am convinced that there is a resurrection from the dead.  I believe because of the witness and testimony of others.  I have heard men and women of faith who have been close to death talk about seeing those who have died come and be with them.  I have listened to people close to death talk about how their loved ones have come to talk with them and call them to come and be with them.  One of the most beautiful experiences I heard was from a woman in this church who in the days before she died told me one night all her family who had died gathered in what appeared to be a balcony along her bed and they sang to her and called her home.  Is that proof of a resurrection?  Does that prove to me there is an eternal life?  No, but it helps me have faith.

We have no choice but to take this last line of the creed on faith because resurrection and eternal life and our home in heaven are not things we can see until that time comes.  Until then we have faith and I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

Would you stand and once again affirm our common faith using this ancient creed that still speaks and gives shape to our faith today.

 
Next Steps
I Believe – Resurrection and Eternal Life

While the Apostles’ Creed points us to a belief in a resurrection to eternal life, we are not given specifics on what, how or when this all happens.  This week, take time to read what the Bible tells us about the resurrection and eternal life.  Talk to family and friends to share these ideas and find hope in this last line of the creed.


1. What the Bible says about resurrection:
• Resurrection in the Old Testament;  Isaiah 25:6-10, Isaiah 26:19, Isaiah 40:28-31
• The teaching of Jesus:  John 5:25-29, John 11:1-44, John 14:1-14
• The teaching of the early church:
 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, resurrection of Christ
1 Corinthians 15:12-34, resurrection of the dead
1 Corinthians 15:35-58, the resurrected body


2. What the Bible says about the resurrected body of Jesus?
John 20:11-29, John 21:4-14, Luke 24:13-43


3. What the Bible tells us about heaven (images of heaven):
Isaiah 25:6-10 (a great feast)
Isaiah 40:28-31 (wings like eagles)
John 14:2-4 (mansions prepared by Jesus)
Revelation 21:1-7 (health, strength and peace)
Revelation 21:10-27 (gates of pearl & streets of gold)
Revelation 22:1-5 (rivers and trees)

I Believe - Forgiveness

People today love to focus on failure.  The media loves to highlight all the mistakes of our leaders and social media loves to find fault with even the best intentions that people have.  While we are fixated on the sins of others – God is focused on grace and what is great about the Apostles’ Creed is that it helps us have that same focus.  We have been studying the Apostles’ Creed this summer and today as we talk about sin and forgiveness it is important for us look at what is included in the creed and what is not.

The creed affirms that we believe in the forgiveness of sins.  While this statement does imply that sin is real and that we are sinners, the focus is not on the sin but the solution.  The focus is not on the guilt of our sin but the grace of God.  The creed could have said, I believe in original sin or I believe that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God or I believe we live in a fallen and sinful world and that our lives are filled with sin but it doesn’t, the focus isn’t on sin but forgiveness.  I believe in the forgiveness of sins.  We believe in the solution God has given to the the problem of sin we all face and that solution is God’s grace and love that brings forgiveness.

Wouldn’t it be nice if our world had the same focus?  Instead of trying to tear people down by looking for, digging up, pointing out and finding pleasure in the sin of others, think how uplifting and hopeful our world would be if we talked about forgiveness and grace.  Think how politics and business and schools and churches and families would be different if we focused on forgiveness and not failures.  I’m not talking about glossing over mistakes and pretending that evil and injustice don’t take place, we need to be clear about the reality and consequences of sin and we need to seriously deal with how to right the wrongs we see in ourselves and in our world, but how might things be different if we focused on forgiveness.

A couple of weeks ago I was in our daycare office and there was a little boy in there who was probably about three years old.  He was having a bad day and for him to be in the office in their little time out chair meant that he had already been through all the options in the classroom.  After a few minutes his Dad came to the door and I realized that they called him to come and take him home for the day.  While this doesn’t happen often, there are times when for the safety of the other children, and to help the child, it is best for the child to go home.  When the Dad walked into the office the little boy got out of his timeout chair and just went to hug his dad.  His Dad lifted him in his arms and said, you’re having a bad day huh.  The Dad was loving, the Daycare staff was as helpful and encouraging and let me assure you that everyone is working together to help this little boy succeed in life.  It is what our staff do and I am encouraged and thankful for the gracious, kind and thoughtful way they work with families.

What touched me about what I experienced that day was that everyone was focused on forgiveness.  There was no conversation about how the little boy was so bad that he had to go home.  Our staff didn’t point out all his failures.  The dad was not angry.  There was no yelling, no blaming others and no focus on the problems but a complete focus on the solution.  The focus was on forgiveness and not failure.  Grace and love and not sin.  The little boy did have to go home, but he was back in the daycare and all smiles on Friday.

Think what a different place our world would be if we could focus on forgiveness and not failure, grace and not the guilt and shame of sin.  The creed has this focus because God has this focus when he looks at us.  God doesn’t focus on our failure, he offers forgiveness.  God doesn’t load on the guilt but offers us grace.  God doesn’t punish us for missing the mark but through Jesus brings us back into his arms.  I am so thankful that we affirm a faith that believes in the forgiveness of sins and doesn’t just point out our problems.

Yes, there is sin in our lives and we are all sinners.  We heard a few weeks ago that sin means missing the mark, we have failed to live the way God wants us to live and the way we want to live.  We have failed to love God and others and honestly we have failed to love and care for ourselves in ways that honor god.  Sin is real and it is a problem in our lives and if you think you are without sin, then look at this list.
Lust
Glutton
Greed
Sloth
Anger
Envy
Pride

This is a list of sin that a fourth century monk created and his thought was that every sin in our lives is connected to one of these.  The list became known as the 7 deadly sins and my guess is that all of us can identify with one or more of these situations.  If you look at this list and say, nope, none affect me at all, then I would have you take a good look at the last one on the list and make sure that pride is not the issue.

While we might call these the 7 deadly sins, these sins don’t utterly defeat and destroy us and they don’t lead to death because we believe in the forgiveness of sins.  Yes we may miss the mark in one or more of these areas and we may suffer the consequences of our failures, but we are not without hope and we are not left dead in our sin because we believe in forgiveness.

So what exactly is forgiveness?  Forgiveness means that God does not hold our sin against us.  The word Jesus uses when he talks about forgiveness is a word that means release.  God is releasing us from the burden of our sin.  While we might be guilty, God declares us not guilty.  While we miss the mark, God draws us back in line.  God’s forgiveness releases us from the shame of sin so that we can truly be free.

Forgiveness is God’s love not holding our sin against us.  Forgiveness is God setting us free so that we can be drawn back into the presence of God.  Forgiveness is being picked up into God’s arm and feeling the power of God’s embrace when we are having a bad day and our sin has somehow put is in the time out chair.

Forgiveness is not something we earn, it is a gift that comes from God and in many ways the cross is a symbol of that forgiveness.  For some the cross is a symbol of forgiveness because it was on the cross that Jesus paid the price for our sin.  The Bible says that the wages of sin is death and Jesus died that death so that we might live and be reconciled to God.  For others the cross is a symbol of forgiveness because Jesus was willing to die for his message of love and grace to prevail.  No matter how we might see it, the cross is what tells us that we are forgiven which is why we call Jesus our savior.  Jesus saves us from our sins – we are forgiven.

That God wants us to focus on forgiveness and not the failure of sin is made clear to us when we look at the life of Jesus.  If we read through the gospels we will see that Jesus did not spend his time pointing out sin but loving sinners.  Jesus forgave people for their sin and became known as a friend of sinners.  Jesus didn’t go around pointing out the sin in everyone’s life and calling people to confess it, feel guilty and full of shame and then promise to never do it again, Jesus forgave people and allowed the freedom that came with God’s grace to help people live a new life.

Zacchaeus was a tax collector who had cheated people out of all kinds of money but instead of calling him out and publically shaming him, Jesus went to his house to eat.  Jesus didn’t hold Zacchaeus’ sin against him, he went to his home and forgave him and that forgiveness changed Zacchaeus so that he went out and gave his money away and paid back all those he had cheated.  Prostitutes weren’t shamed, they were sent off to live new lives.  Thieves condemned to die were told they would be with Jesus in parades because they trusted in him for forgiveness.  Jesus’ ministry was one of offering forgiveness and not pointing out sin and that message and life of forgiveness changed the world.

Jesus’ life and ministry wasn’t all there was to his message of forgiveness, he also taught us that we need to forgive others.   Jesus taught about forgiveness so often that Peter asked him to clarify things for him.  How many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?  Up to 7 times?  Jesus reply was not 7 times – which was seen as a lot but 70 x 70 times.  This was Jesus’ way of saying that we need to be ready and willing to forgive every time someone sins against us.  Our lives are to be characterized by forgiveness so that we don’t even count the number of times we forgive because offering grace and mercy is just part of who we are and how we live.

Now let’s be clear, I’m not sure this is something we can do on our own but it is possible if the fruit of the Holy Spirit is active within us because the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and these are all the things that lead to forgiveness.  Love is what leads to forgiveness because the Bible says that love keeps no record of wrongs.  Love doesn’t hold grudges or hold people’s actions and words against them.  If love is ruling in our hearts and lives then we will release people from their sin every chance we get.

When we say that we believe in the forgiveness of sins we are not just saying that we believe our sins are forgiven and that the sins of others are forgiven but that we are willing to forgive as well.  Of all the teaching of Jesus, of all the ways that Jesus called us to live in this world, the Apostles understood that the most important one was forgiveness and that the focus should be on forgiveness and not sin.  We believe in the forgiveness of sins.  We believe that we have been set free from the burden of sin and the guilt and shame of sin and we believe that our lives need to be marked by a love that forgives others.  Let us affirm this and let us live this today and every day.




Next Steps
I Believe – Forgiveness

1.  The word Jesus uses for forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer is the word aphiemi which means “release”.
• What does it mean to be released from your sin?
• In what ways does sin bind us up or enslave us?

2. Read Psalm 103:8-12.  What do we learn about God and forgiveness from this passage?  

3. By affirming the forgiveness of sins in the creed we are also saying that we will forgive others.
• Who do you need to forgive today?
• What will it look like for you to forgive this person?

4. Read Matthew 6:14-15.  How does not forgiving others effect our own lives?  Why can’t God forgive (release) us if we won’t forgive others?

5. Take time this week to thank God for the forgiveness He has given you and ask for the Holy Spirit to help you love others in ways that will lead to you to forgiving 70 x 70 times.

6. Use this prayer of confession to ask for forgiveness:

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed,
by what we have done and what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not love our neighbors as ourselves.
Forgive us, we pray,
and release us so that we might more fully live and love.
For we ask this in Jesus’ name.   AMEN

The Apostles' Creed - The Church

Today our study of the Apostles’ Creed turns away from what we believe about God and focuses on how believing in God needs to shape our lives.  Two things to keep in mind as we look at this last section of the creed; first, these things are not optional to our faith.  Being part of the church and a life of forgiveness are not add-ons that we can choose or set aside.  These are essential truths that shape our lives as people who believe.  The second thing to remember is that what makes possible everything we will be talking about is the Holy Spirit.  What makes us the church and allows us to forgive and brings us eternal life is not our work but the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the giant outlet that powers everything else.

Today our focus is on the church and how appropriate that we are talking about this #1 in a factory and #2 at the beginning of VBS.  A factory is a good setting because a factory is a place where people come together to work for a common goal.  For a work force to be successful, everyone has to commit to being present, have a common vision, do their job while also looking out for those around them.  While more and more factories might rely on automation – there are still teams of people needed to make sure things run effectively.  So a factory is a good setting for us to talk at being the church because we are the team that God has called together to do His work.

And tonight is the first night of VBS which is only successful because the church – which is the entire congregation – comes together to make it happen.  There are those who can create amazing sets, but these are no good unless we have people here to care for the children and those crew leaders are no good if there aren’t station leaders to teach the children about Jesus.  All those crew and station leaders need the kitchen crew to feed them so they can be at their best, and we all need prayers for patience, persistence and the power to do what God asks us to do.  VBS takes the entire church working together so today is a good day for us to hear about this part of the creed.  I believe in the holy catholic church and the communion of saints.
Perhaps more than any other part of the creed there are three words here that we need to understand correctly and they are holy,  catholic and church.  Let’s start with holy.

The word holy does not mean perfect.  The church is not a perfect institution or organization and we are not perfect people.  We miss the mark and as an organization we fail to be all that God wants us to be.  Being holy is not a statement that we have it all together but an understanding that we are set apart by God and for God.  The word holy means set apart.  As followers of Jesus, we have been set apart by God to fulfill God’s purpose and plans, not our own.

The purpose God has for us as the church is not to have all our own needs met but to make disciple-makers.  We are to invite people to follow Jesus with the understanding that they will find so much joy, peace and life with Christ that they will in turn invite others to follow Jesus.  So when we say the church is holy we are not claiming to be righteous or saying that we are better than others, we are simply saying that we believe God has set us apart for his purpose and plan and we are committed to that.

Then we come to the word catholic.  This is perhaps the most misunderstood word in the creed because many people hear this and think that we are talking about the Roman Catholic Church – but that is not what we are saying.  The Apostles’ Creed was first formed about 400 AD, long before there was any formal institution of the Catholic Church and the word catholic simply means universal.  The word catholic comes from the Greek words kata and holos which means throughout or everywhere.  We hear this in Acts 9:31.  The church throughout the entire region is what they are talking about – they are talking about all the churches and at that time it meant everyone who claimed to be a follower of the risen savior Jesus Christ.  It was one church, a catholic church.  

It wasn’t until 1054 AD that the Christian Church split into two groups and they divided east and west.  The Western Church took the name Catholic because they believed they were the one true church and the Eastern Church took the name Orthodox which means right worship.  So the eastern church claimed to be the right church and the western church claimed to be the one church, but what the creed affirms is that the followers of Jesus in the east and west and north and south are the one church.

As crazy as it sounds, the little song we teach children tells us this most clearly.  That song goes, I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together.  All who follow Jesus, all around the world.  Yes, we’re the church together.  The catholic church is all who follow Jesus all around the world.  We hold different views on different things, but there is a common bond we share when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ prayer for us was that we would be one.  John 17:20-21.  Jesus wants us to be one because our unity points to God and helps people believe in and trust God.  Our unity brings people to Jesus so when the church is one, the church grows.  That’s what we heard in Acts 9:31b.

So being holy and catholic has nothing to do with being perfect or part of the organization run by the Pope out of the Vatican, it means that we understand that all followers of Jesus have been called together and set apart to glorify God and accomplish God’s mission.   So now let’s turn to the word church.  In the New Testament, the word most often translated as church is the word ekklesia which means called together – as an assembly or group of people.  

The other word we translate as church is the word kuriakon which means – belonging to the Lord.  That word in German was translated as kirsch which then in English became church.  So the church is really just a group of people who belong to the Lord.  It is the followers of Jesus called out of the larger society – set apart – because our hearts tell us that we belong to the Lord.  While we use the word church to also talk about buildings and locations, the truth is that the church really is a group of people who belong to Jesus and are gathered together as one to glorify and serve God.

We are holy because we are set apart, we are catholic because we are to be one and we are a church because we are an assembled group of people called together with a common faith and purpose.  There are two important images that the New Testament uses to talk about the church and the first one is as a family.  We are called brothers and sisters in Christ and we are called to love one another as we would our own family.  Jesus himself said this when he said, Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. (Matthew 12:50)

This image is important because it tells us that what holds us together in the church is love.  Just as a family is to love one another, so the bonds of love are to hold us together in the life of the church.  As a family we are to share our lives with one another and invite people to part of our lives.

The other image used for the church is that of a body, specifically the body of Christ.  1 Corinthians 12:27.  What we learn with this image is that every person in the church is important and needed as part of the whole.  There is no insignificant member of the body – every part is needed for the body to function well.  The eyes need the ears, the head needs the feet.  The arms need the legs.  The heart needs the lungs.  Every part is needed and it is only when all the parts come together as one that the body can function well.

We see this principle at work so well during this week of VBS.  Every part of the body is needed.  Every volunteer is needed and missing someone in just one part of the ministry can make the entire body fail.  From ministries with children and youth to music and missions, we see this all through the life of the church.  Every member is needed.  For the church to function well and fulfill our purpose – every person is needed.  You are needed.

This closing part of the creed is not a list of options that we can take or leave.  Being part of the church is not an option; we are all called to be part of the church.  We are all part of the body of Christ and members of one another.  If we fail to live as part of the body, we are weakening the work of God in the world and we are not living up to our own full potential as followers of Jesus.  The reality is that we need each other in order to grow.  We need people encouraging us and loving us and at times pushing us to do things we might not otherwise do.  We need the wisdom of others to help us more fully understand God and we need the insight of others to help shape and mold our lives.

The creed also tells us that the church is to be a communion of saints.  A saint is not a person of extraordinary faith in God, but an ordinary person who has faith in God.  Saints are just people like you and me striving to live our lives with faith and purpose and power.  Many of the letters found in the New Testament were written to the saints which means they were for all the Christians living in the region.  So saints are just those committed to looking more and more like Jesus and today we are surrounded by saints right here.

Saints are those who visit the sick and take communion to our shut-ins.  Saints are those who help feed the hungry by serving at the food bank and faith centre.  Saints care for the creation around us by serving at paws and working to recycle.  Saints are those who nurture and teach our children at VBS and those who provide snacks, and meals and prayers and encouragement for the leaders.  Saints are those who serve the poor in our community and give to support pastors and people in Sierra Leone.  Today we are surrounded by many saints because gathered here is a communion of people committed to living and loving like Jesus.

But this communion of saints also includes those who have gone before us.  In the book of Hebrews there is a chapter that names and recognizes some of the great people of our faith.  Some are singled out by name like Abraham and Sarah, David and Deborah, and some are remembered for what they did like standing up for the faith in face of persecution and violence but then it says this in Hebrews 12:1.
All these people had died but they were still part of this great cloud of witness or a communion of saints.  That communion and those saints still speak and love and encourage us today.

In a few weeks we will talk more about resurrection and eternal life, but for now let’s just say that we believe in this communion of saints in heaven who still love us and encourage us and whose lives still speak to us.  I am thankful for this great cloud of witnesses and the saints who have touched my heart and life.  Some are no longer here in person but their influence lives on in my life.  Some saints are simply not part of my life because we have moved on to new locations and new opportunities but their faith and witness continues to speak to me and some saints are right here and part of my life today and their love and support keep me going and keep me faithful.  Give thanks for the communion of saints that has formed your faith and supported you in life and never forget that God is calling you to be part of that communion of saints for someone else.  There is only way to be part of that great communion and that is to be part of the holy catholic church.

So when we say that we believe in the holy catholic church and the communion of saints, we aren’t just saying that we believe the church exists, we are committing ourselves to being part of it.  The creed makes clear that we need to be part of the family of God, the body of Christ and the communion of saints.   This is not optional.  If we want to be fully committed to Christ – being part of the church is essential and it being part of the church is helps glorify God and further the mission of Christ.

 
Next Step
I Believe - The Church

1.  Jesus’ prayer was for all his followers to be one.  Read this prayer in John 17:9-26
• Why is unity so important for the followers of Jesus?
• Pray for the unity of the church in our community and world.

2.  The Bible gives us two powerful images for the church:  the family of God and the body of Christ.  What does each image tell us about the importance of being part of the church?

3.  In what ways do you feel like you are part of the body and the family?   What has helped you feel like you belong?
How can you encourage others to be connected to the church?

4.  Name the saints that have helped you come to believe in God and follow Jesus.
• For the saints still present in your life, thank them for their faith and love.
• For the saints who have died, thank God for their faithful witness and remember one thing that they have taught you that you can live out this week.

5.  How do you define being holy?  If it doesn’t mean being righteous and perfect, what does it mean?  How are you intentionally trying to be holy?

6.  Vacation Bible School takes the full family of God and the complete body of Christ working together.
• Volunteer to help as a crew leader for the children
• Pray each day for the teachers, children and families
• Join us tonight at 5:15 as we welcome the children

The Apostles' Creed - The Holy Spirit

Today our study of the Apostles’ Creed turns to the Holy Spirit and while with the creed gives us some information about God the Father and Creator and then a lot of information about Jesus, we get next to nothing for the Holy Spirit.  This is what the Apostles’ Creed says I about the Holy Spirit.  I believe in the Holy Spirit.  That’s it, six words.   I believe in the Holy Spirit.  It doesn’t tell us what we believe about the Holy Spirit.  It doesn’t tell us who the Spirit is or what the Holy Spirit does or the impact of the Holy Spirit in our lives or in our world; just that we believe in it.  While this really does not tell us very much, if we dig a little deeper we can learn a bit more.

If we go back to what the creed tells us about Jesus we learn that it was the Holy Spirit that gave life to Jesus.  If Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit then there is a connection between the life and work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  They are connected and committed to the same thing.  If the Holy Spirit was at work in Jesus then we know that the Holy Spirit will be at work in all that the followers of Jesus will do.  In many ways, it is the Holy Spirit that makes possible everything else we will hear in the creed.  Forgiveness of sin and our ability to forgive others is possible because of the work of the Holy Spirit.  The church was formed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the resurrection from the dead is connected to the Holy Spirit that brings us life.  So while we may not learn very much about the Holy Spirit specifically in this one line, much of what we affirm in the creed is only made possible because of the Holy Spirit.

The challenge with trying to clearly identify and talk about the Holy Spirit is that it is just that – spirit.  It is easy for us to focus on Jesus because he lived in this world and left us a record of his teaching and ministry that we can see and learn from.  Even God the father gives us something tangible to look at and learn from because we can look at the world around us a learn about God from what we see, but the Holy Spirit is spirit and so who it is, what it does, how it moves and the impact in our lives and world is much harder to explain because it cannot be seen, but it can be experienced.
Just as we can feel the wind blow and see the effects of the wind in our world, so we can experience the Holy Spirit and both see and feel how it moves in us and in our world.  It is this experience of the Holy Spirit that helps us to believe.  

So who is the Holy Spirit?  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and in the OT there are close to 90 references to the work of the spirit.  In Genesis 1 we hear that it is the spirit of God that is hovering over the waters and so it is the spirit of God that helps bring forth life.  The spirit of God also gives gifts to specific people in the OT to be used for God’s purpose.  When the Ark of the Covenant was being made during the time of the exodus, it was the spirit of God that filled a man named Bezalel with many different skills so that he could make articles out of silver and bronze, wood and stone for the tabernacle.  So we learn from the Old Testament that it is God’s spirit who not only brings forth life but provides the gifts needed for our lives to be full and complete and it is the work of God’s spirit to help us accomplish God’s purpose for us.

The Spirit of God also gave strength to the leaders of God’s people.  In Deuteronomy 34 it says that Joshua was filled with the Spirit of God which is why he was chosen to be the leader after Moses died.  Several times in the book of Judges the prophet Samson was said to be filled with the Spirit before he went out with great strength to defeat the enemies of Israel.  The spirit of God also spoke to the people through the prophets and it was through them that God gave guidance and direction to his people.  King David said, The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue. 2 Samuel 23:2

So the work of the God’s Spirit in the Old Testament was to help bring forth life and then to give gifts to the people of God but it was also the spirit that gave wisdom, guidance and strength to God’s people so they could be and do all that God had for them.  But in the OT the Spirit of God always seemed to rest on, fill and work through specific people and leaders.  In the New Testament, however, things changed.

While at the beginning of the New Testament the Spirit of God rests on the prophet John the Baptist and then rests on Jesus at his baptism, in time we see that the Holy Spirit comes and fills all of his followers and all of God’s people.  Jesus told us this would happen in John 14:16-18.  Jesus not only promises us the Holy Spirit but he begins to tell us about the Holy Spirit by saying it will come to be advocate.  This word in Greek is paraclete, which comes from the word para – which means close by and kaleo - which means to call.  The Holy Spirit is the one who has been called on to be close by us to help us.  The word was most often used in a legal setting and might be thought of as a defense attorney – the person who comes along side someone when they were in trouble and needs help.  So the Holy Spirit is an advocate for us or a helper.    

Jesus also said here that the Holy Spirit will not only live with us but will be in us.  John 14:17.  This is the biggest difference between what we see of the Holy Spirit between the old and new testaments.  In the OT the spirit filled certain people for a specific task but in the NT the spirit was going to fill all those who trusted and followed Jesus.  The Holy Spirit was for all of God’s people and the Spirit was going to keep doing in God’s people all that it has been doing in Jesus and all it had been doing from the very beginning.

The Holy Spirit was going to bring life to God’s people and to the church.  It would give gifts to be used by God’s people for God’s purpose.  The Holy Spirit was going give strength to God’s people and speak words of truth that would not only remind them of all Jesus said but give them direction and guidance.  The Holy Spirit was going to empower the followers of Jesus to not only experience life and life abundantly but to help them keep the life and work of Jesus going in our world.

Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to his followers and we believe that the spirit came on the day of Pentecost.  Acts 2:1-4.

Pentecost comes from the word 50 and it was a Jewish celebration of harvest that took place 50 days after the Passover which was always in the early spring.  Pentecost was a celebration of the first fruits and of life and it was to remind the people that it is God who gives and sustains life.  It is appropriate that it was on Pentecost that God chose to send the Holy Spirit because it is the Holy Spirit that gives and sustains both life and faith.  It is the Holy Spirit that brings forth the fullness of life in us and it is the Holy Spirit that created the church.  When God breathed new life into the followers of Jesus it gave them strength to live the way Jesus had taught them and showed them and as they came together to live this way in community - the church was born.      

What was different about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was that it didn’t just fill the leaders or the disciples, it filled everyone.  A tongue of fire rested on all who were gathered and they all started to speak in other languages and they all started loving and serving and they all started living in ways that were radically different than the world and they all came together as one in the church.  The Holy Spirit was now filling all of God’s people and not just a few leaders.  Through the Holy Spirit, God has truly come for everyone and God is giving life to everyone and this is what we believe about the Holy Spirit.  

When we say that we believe in the Holy Spirit, we are also stating that we believe in the Trinity which is our understanding that God is one but expressed and experienced in three unique persons.  While the word trinity is never found in the Bible, we clearly see God identified as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  There is God the father and creator of all things, there is the fullness of God in the person of Jesus and now we see God at work in us and the world through the Holy Spirit  One God but seen and expressed in the three unique ways.

The Bible affirms this idea when the Apostle Paul says, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.  2 Corinthians 13:14   Jesus also said that we should baptize people in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

So the idea of one God in three persons is biblical, but there is no good explanation of how God can be three in one.  While many people struggle with this idea, the reality is that there is much we don’t know about God and that is OK.  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen.  We can’t see the Trinity, but we can trust that it is an accurate expression of God because we can see God the father in the creation around us, we can read about Jesus in the pages of history and we can experience God the spirit in our hearts and lives.

Let me share two more things we believe about the Holy Spirit and encourage you to check them out this week.  The first is that we believe the Holy Spirit helps us live more faithfully and more like Jesus.  The fruits of the spirit are the qualities and characteristics we see in Jesus that slowly emerge in our lives when we invite the Spirit of God to shape us.  In Galatians 5:22-23 we hear that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  The more we allow the Spirit of God to enter our hearts and lives the more we grow in these ways and the more we look, sound and act like Jesus.

The second thing to check out is that it is the Holy Spirit that gives us gifts to use to serve God.  Some of these gifts are teaching, encouragement, giving, leading, serving, healing and prophesy.  As we use these gifts, we further the work of God in this world.  The Bible says everyone has been given a gift and we are to use them not for our own glory but for the glory of God and the work of God’s mission in this world.  We have included in the next steps the scriptures to read to learn more about the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit and I would invite you to check those out this week.

So while the Holy Spirit may only get one line and two mentions in the Apostles’ Creed, the presence and work of the Holy Spirit is profound.  It is the Holy Spirit that enters our lives to empower and equip us to live with faith so we need to pray to the Holy Spirit more often.  Our prayer needs to be Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

We also need to ask the Spirit of God to fill us, maybe using this prayer/song.  
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.  
Melt me, mold me fill me, use me.  
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. 

As we share in Holy Communion, this is the perfect time to ask God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – to enter into our lives.  We see the fullness of God here as we acknowledge that this is the table of God Almighty and this is where we see Jesus Christ in the bread and the cup and we know that what makes this meal more than bread and juice is the Holy Spirit that fills us as we gather here.  The Holy Spirit is present in this meal but it will not force himself upon us.  The spirit of God waits for us to invite him in.  God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, waits for us to come to him with hearts, hands and lives open wide to receive the gift of faith and love and life.  Today, let us ask the Holy Spirit to not only enter our lives but to speak to us and fill us and to empower us so that we might experience the fullness of life and faith that God has for us.


Next Steps
The Apostles’ Creed – The Holy Spirit


1.  The Promise of the Holy Spirit – John 14:15-31
• What does Jesus tell us about the Holy Spirit?
• What words are used to describe the Holy Spirit?
• What work will the Holy Spirit do in us?
• How have you experienced the Holy Spirit in your life?

2. The Fruit of the Holy Spirit – Galatians 5:22-26
• Identify the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
• Which fruit is evident in your life?
• Which fruit is needed in your life?
• Can you identify the fruit of God’s spirit in the lives of others?  Share with them what you see.

3. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit – 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 and Romans 12:3-8
• Identify the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• What gifts can you see at work in your life?
• How can use your gifts for the building up of the church both here and around the world?
• How can you intentionally develop the gift God has given you?

4. The Invitation to the Holy Spirit
• Ask the Spirit of God to enter into your heart and life.
• Pray for the gift and fruit of God’s spirit to grow in you.

A song to use as a prayer this week:
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.