Embedded Files
Statement of Faith. Message 1 of 4. 12/04/26
Readings: Mark 4:35-41 & John 1:1-5, 9-14, 16-18.
Now that Easter is over, and with Lectio taking a 50-day journey to explore Jesus’ encounters with his friends following his resurrection, it seems an appropriate moment for us to do a bit of housework, and refresh our memories about what it says in our Statement of Faith. This might seem a bit mundane, and if so please bear with me, but it gives us a chance to think about what we really believe, and that can never be a bad thing.
Why do we have a Statement of Faith in the first place? Some other churches don’t have one so isn’t this rather unnecessarily pedantic?
No, it’s not. There are lots of reasons to have one, both internal and external, but the most important is that it highlights the basic tenets of the Christian faith, the things that we should all understand, and on which we should all agree.
The word “faith” is used over 450 times in the NIV version of the Bible, but the author of the epistle to the Hebrews says that it isn’t just a matter of what we believe, it’s the motivation for who we are, how we act, and how we behave. It’s that famous chapter 11, and it’s headed “Faith in action”. The New Living Translation puts it this way. Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; and it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
We just heard Carolyn read us Mark’s account of Jesus calming the storm and chastising the disciples that were in the boat with him, for their lack of faith, which if you think about it, is rather surprising. If anyone should have had faith, they should, surely. So is there any hope for us? Yes, absolutely there is.
Our unity as a church, our peace together as brothers and sisters in Christ, our witness as a missional church in the community, depend on our being what Paul called “like-minded”. Plus, it shows we’re not some weird sect, and you may think that I have a bit of a fetish about that, but I’ve been in church leadership, one way or another, for several decades, and believe me, it IS important.
It’s also particularly appropriate at this moment in time, because in 3 weeks we will be admitted as probationary members of the Alliance des Églises Chrétiennes et Missionnaires de France, whose Statement of Faith, you may or may not be surprised to learn, , is the same as ours.
Yesterday morning I went to their bi-monthly gathering of pastors and elders. Although I attended regularly when I was an elder in Toulouse, it was the third occasion on which I’ve attended as an invited observer to represent our church here in Mirepoix. You’ll be glad to hear that they are really excited about welcoming us in, and although we didn’t have time to pray for all the individual churches as we usually do, several of them prayed for us at the end.
As we move forward into this new period of our history, we can do so knowing that we’re all on the same playing field, amongst ourselves as a local church, and with them as a supporting family of like-minded churches.
So, what does our Statement of Faith contain? It has 11 articles, statements or declarations. It starts off by talking about God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, that’s the first 3. Then it talks about God’s word, the Bible, then creation and what is referred to as “the fall”. That’s followed of course by salvation, then sanctification and the filling of the Holy Spirit, followed by divine healing, a definition of “church”, then resurrection, and finally the return of Jesus Christ. All good stuff, and very important stuff too.
Has it been changed? Is that the reason that I’m talking about it now? No, it was adopted officially at our AGM in 2022, and hasn’t been changed in any way.
Is it the same as the statutes? No, that’s an entirely different document that deals with administrative matters and is a legal requirement for all associations in France.
Printed copies are available. Both are on our internet site for anyone to see. In the case of the Statement of Faith, there’s even a version with all the relevant Bible verses included.
So, where shall we start?
As I just said, the first three articles talk about God and the Trinity, and then the fourth talks about God’s word, the holy scriptures, the Bible, and specifically about its “Authority”.
So, although that’s not until article n° 4, I think that that is where we should start, because it’s so foundational. If we can’t agree on that one, it puts all the other articles into question. We talked about the importance of good foundations a few weeks ago, and that is what we’re talking about now.
We can’t pick and choose bits of the Bible, because if we do, who’s to say who’s chosen bits are right ones, and who’s are wrong ones? And Article 4 gives us the answer, let me read it to you.
“The Old and New Testaments, it says, so that’s the whole Bible, but not including the Apochrapha, without error in their original wording, (that’s before they were translated) were verbally inspired by God, and are the complete revelation of his will for the salvation of men. They constitute the divine and only rule, note the word only, they constitute the divine and only rule of the Christian in matters of faith and life.” Note too, “faith AND life”. It’s one thing to say you believe something, quite another to live by that belief.
The apostle Peter, who had lived with Jesus as a disciple for three years, and was then selected by him to be the first leader of the world-wide church, made this important point to the readers of his first epistle. Above ALL, he said, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Of course, he was talking about BOTH the Old Testament prophets and writers, AND about his contemporaries.
Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, said as he signed off, But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
“All Scripture is God-breathed.” That is the basic premise.
Yes, there are parts of the Old Testament, and even the New, which just seem simplistic or farcical, so farcical in fact that one wonders if they are even credible. Creation happening in 6 days is the classic example. The flood, the tower of Balel, and the virgin birth being others. There are hundreds of them.
But remember, God was using the words of human beings, in the context of what they knew at the time, to explain basic truths to other human beings.
Think about creation, for example. Scientists today acknowledge that the world was formed in the exact order of the Genesis account. But neither Moses who penned it, nor his readers would have understood a word, if it had included all the scientific information that we have and understand today. God wasn’t talking about 6 twenty-hour our days, 144 short hours, a mere 8640 minutes. He was talking about the fact that it all came about because He willed that it would, He caused that it should, and so it did.
And if God could do that, things like parting the Red Sea, and miraculously impregnating a virgin, raising people form the dead, the resurrection, and the ascension, things that are so fundamental to the Christian faith, would have been a doddle for him.
That is why John began his gospel in the way that Jess just read to us.
As soon as we fall into the trap of using our limited human reasoning to define the infinite God, and to decide which parts of the Bible are true and which parts aren’t, we lose all hope, and we lose any chance of unity.
Isn’t it all down to interpretation? Yes, and no. But if we get into that we’ll be here till supper time. The point I want to make is this:-
This book is not a collection of fairy stories, it’s not a book of rules, it’s not out of date, it’s a love letter from God to you, and if you will let him, HE will explain it all to you.
I know that I’ve laboured the point, and I know that I’ve repeated things I’ve said in the past, but as you can tell, I do believe that it’s important.
Page updated
Report abuse