Vancouver First Church of the Nazarene

The theme song for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics was titled “I Believe” and expressed the hopes of millions of Canadians for the success of their athletes. For two thousand years, the Apostles’ Creed has expressed the hopes of millions (billions?) of Christians. Its opening words are (in Latin) Credo in Deum, ‘I believe in God.’ The English word creed derives from that word credo. As the word suggests, it is a statement of faith. It is an attempt to summarize the main points of what Christians believe. It is not exhaustive, nor is it meant to be.

We are going to explore the Apostles’ Creed in our Sunday morning worship services in August and September. As we reflect on the affirmations of the creed, we will also be mindful that what we believe as Christians influences what we do as Christians.

A copy of the Apostles’ Creed can be found below. Over the next several weeks you are invited to post your reflections on and applications of, what we believe.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

Amen.

*katholikos - throughout the ages and across the world

The banner on our blog is our discipleship model, represented by the words: Come, Follow, Receive, Go. The four movements of the discipleship model follow the movements of Jesus’ life which are traced in the major seasons of the Christian year (Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary Time). For planning purposes, we also emphasize the movements of our discipleship model around the annual calendar (Come - Oct, Nov, Dec; Follow - Jan, Feb, March; Receive - April, May, June; Go - July, Aug, Sept).

In July we begin to focus on Jesus’ command/invitation to Go! In Luke 10, Jesus sends seventy-two of His followers and as we listen to His words to them, we learn something about how we are to Go!

Take some time this week and read Luke 9:57-10:11,16:

Luke 9:57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’…16 He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

For reflection…

“Luke brings to a close his introduction to the journey narrative by asserting through the repetition of rigorous demands the nature of commitment required of those who would follow Jesus on the journey. ” Joel Green

“The danger of praying for labourers is exactly what happened to the disciples. They were immediately sent as the answer to their own prayers! When we humble ourselves to obey, we find ourselves flowing in His purposes.” Steve & Marilyn Hill

“The horizon of the neighbourhood is the starting place for Christian mission.” Howard Lawrence

“Peace is portrayed not merely as something one might wish for another, but as an entity that can be transmitted and possessed and returned. Inasmuch as peace is the gift of Yahweh, the nature of Jesus’ direction is to identify these sent ones as persons capable of extending the peace that is God’s to others.” Joel Green

“Participation in the mission of Jesus is not merely a matter of specific activities that define the church. Mission is also the social embodiment of the good news of the kingdom in a community. Mission is the manifestation of salvation as seen in renewed relationships in a renewed community.” Michael W. Goheen

“This dynamic of acceptance or rejection is terrifying. The freedom of the human being to make choices that matter for all eternity is wonderful and fearful. However, it is also amazing that Jesus makes a total identification with us as we go into the harvest. For someone to accept or reject us is to accept or reject Him and to accept or reject Him is to accept or reject the Heavenly Father. We are His body and He makes us totally one with Himself.” Steve & Marilyn Hill

What do you ‘hear’ as you listen to this text?

What would it look like if you lived (Go!) the way of Luke 10 in your neighborhood?

Pray for the Lord to send workers into your neighborhood. Act in response to your prayer.

Over the past several weeks, we have listened-in on Jesus’ messages to seven churches in Greco-Roman Asia, recorded in Revelation chapters 2 & 3. We are going to stay in Revelation for another week and peek through the door of heaven. The Scripture for this Sunday is Revelation chapters 4 & 5. Take some time this week and read these chapters. As you do, take some time to reflect on what others have seen in this text.

For Reflection:

“Revelation 4 and 5 belong together. Together they constitute visions of heaven that clear and sharpen our visions of earth…While sitting on the rock pile on Patmos Jesus Christ pulls back the curtain, opens the door and gives John a picture to help him understand what is going on right now in that other dimension, which, like radio waves, intersects and pervades this dimension.” Darrell Johnson

“It is immensely significant that, when John peeped through the open door, the very first thing he saw was a throne, symbol of the sovereignty, majesty and kingly rule of God.” John Stott

“The biblical idea of sovereignty must be sharply distinguished from philosophical notions which have made this general concept untenable particularly for those of a sensitive conscience who rightly perceive that arbitrary power excludes vicarious identification or suffering love.” Donald Bloesch

“This is perhaps the most mind-wrenching ‘rebirth of images’ in literature. The slot in the system reserved for the lion has been filled by the Lamb of God.” Eugene Boring

“In popular culture, one conquers through strength…The mythos of strength is evident in our naming of sports teams after violent animals like lions and falcons. Even patriotic Christian schools use names like crusaders and eagles. It would be rare for teams to be named after lambs or the suffering servants! Yet Revelation makes it clear that the Christian conquers through the power of suffering.” John Yeatts

“One of the roots of violence is worship without sacrifice.” Gandhi

What do you see as you peer through the door of heaven?

In our Sunday worship services we are exploring what it means to “practice resurrection” - keeping company with Jesus, alive and present, who knows where we are going better than we do. We are learning how to do this by listening to Jesus’ messages to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2-3. This Sunday we will hear what Jesus had to say to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22:

NIV Revelation 3:14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm– neither hot nor cold– I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

“Perhaps none of the seven letters is more appropriate to the church at the beginning of the 21^st century than this. It describes vividly the respectable, nominal, rather sentimental, skin-deep religiosity which is so widespread among us today.” John Stott

“Lukewarmness is the worst form of blasphemy.” G. Campbell-Morgan

“They need to see Jesus as the arche of the entire universe, its beginning and ruler, and they must accept this reality as faithful and true and then live accordingly.” Edwin Walhout

“Lukewarmness is fundamentally due to a fact about which we are usually unaware: we have excluded Jesus from one or more areas of life.” Darrell Johnson

“Knowing that his reproof and discipline are designed to develop our Christian character, we respond zealously and repent for whatever keeps us from loving him in all aspects of our life.” Marva Dawn

“Who if not I should be offended at the suggestion that a stranger should invite himself over to eat in my house, challenge me with shortsightedness, and invite me to a new economy of scale?” Harry O. Maier

What are you hearing as you listen to these words of Jesus to the church in Laodicea? Where does this text intersect your life? Your church?

In our Sunday worship services we are exploring what it means to “practice resurrection” - keeping company with Jesus, alive and present, who knows where we are going better than we do. We are learning how to do this by listening to Jesus’ messages to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2-3. This Sunday we will hear what Jesus had to say to the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13

NIV Revelation 3:7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars– I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

For reflection:

“Keys represent control, power, and authority. He who holds the keys can open doors that no one else can open, and what he shuts no one but him can get back into.” Ken Hutcherson

“That the Christians have little power (3:8) counts in their favour before God; power is easily abused, but weakness often leads to dependence on God’s power. “Craig Keener

“Jesus has opened the door into the very life of God.” Darrell Johnson

“The chief difficulty in maintaining Christian witness is timidity. The life of the world is gaudy, noisy and assertive. The life of faith is modest, quiet, and unassuming. What can an ordinary Christian say that will stand a chance in the brash shouting of money and pleasure and ambition?” Eugene Peterson

“If, then, we become a pilgrim in this life, we will be a pillar in the next.” John Stott

“To receive salvation is to be called into something larger and greater than us, to be invited to participate in God’s saving purpose and plan for the world. That is why the gospel is primarily about God and only secondarily about us.” James V. Brownson

What are you hearing as you listen to these words of Jesus to the church in Philadelphia? Where does this text intersect your life? Your church?