Good Morning!  Every time I finish a series like the one we just completed on the book of Philippians I have to ‘pick myself up again’ and find the motivation and drive to jump into a new one.  In a way, its spiritually and emotionally challenging to do that as I would like to just ‘stay put’ and meditate on Philippians a bit longer.

Good news, I can!  And so can you.  Philippians is now a part of us as a faith community.  We had three Texts of the Quarter over the past two years: 1:9-11, 3:7-11, and 4:4-9.  So now its on to something new.

We are gonna engage the foundational Creeds and Confessions of the Christian Church and explore, why do they matter?  For five weeks we will explore The Apostles/Nicene/Athanasian Creeds, Belgic and Belhar Confessions, the Canons of Dordt, and the Heidelberg Catechism.  I’m really looking forward to the Heidelberg Catechism entitled: Feasting on the Heidelberger in One Big Bite!   You won’t have to sit through 52 weeks of Catechism class, you can get the whole thing in 20-25 minutes.  You’ll need to pay attention to keep up!

So what can you do to prepare for these messages?  Google these creeds and confessions, take a look at their structure and main points.  For this week, read in this order: The Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.  Do you notice any progression?  Each Creed expands and further explains what the Christian Church believes about the Trinity and the person of Jesus.  See you Sunday!

Oh, and one more thing.  Creed comes from the Latin word, ‘credo.’  It means ‘I believe…’  Lets dive in to the ‘credo’ with ‘gusto’.  Today, its becoming increasingly important to know what we believe as Christ followers.  Especially in a world that increasingly says these things don’t matter. Or to say it more pointedly, God and beliefs about Jesus don’t matter.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

For the weeks of August 12th and 19th, I will be on vacation with my family.  We are spending time mostly local in the mountains of Colorado reading, hiking, soaking, and doing a little biking/running along the way.  Former pastor of Crestview, Bob Westenbroek (August 12th) and Jacci Busch (August 19th) will be bringing the messages on those days.

I believe in Jesus, 
Pastor Mark