Acts 2:37-39 - Jesus left baptism to His church as one of its most important sacraments and practices. It serves as a sign and seal of the incredible blessings He brings to His people when they believe and confess Him as Lord. It becomes a deeply powerful act of public witness to our churches and neighbors as well as an anchor point to look back on in moments of discouragement. In this message we consider Peter's command on Pentecost to "repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins..." A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 17 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Ephesians 2:19-22; 4:4-6 - The Nicene Creed uses some of its valuable real estate to highlight the crucial importance of the church for the Christian faith. In our day of digital and personal substitutes, the Creed seeks to remind us that there is no such thing as a churchless Christianity. Jesus created the church to be His body, His bride, and an embassy of His kingdom. When we confess with the Creed that we believe "in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church," we are reminded to fight for the kind of unity and Christ-likeness that Jesus prayed for, even as we know we won't see it in full until He returns. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 16 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

2 Peter 1:16-21 - The bishops who formulated the Creed wanted to make sure the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture was acknowledged, and what better way than to highlight Scripture as the vehicle of prophetic words from the Holy Spirit (another way of saying the Bible is the word of God)? And although the prophets, the Apostles, and Jesus Himself had an exceedingly high view of the Bible and its divine origin, they also readily acknowledged its thoroughly human origin. This is all the more evidence of the desire God has to work in, through, and alongside His image bearers to accomplish His purposes—even in the creation of his sacred texts! A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 15 of our series “The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God”]

John 15:26-27 - The brevity, mystery, and church-splitting importance of the phrase "Who proceeds from the Father" make it among the most difficult in the Creed to unpack. Debates over the eternal relations within God--especially the procession of the Spirit from the Father--led in part to the split of the single Christian church into the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in 1054 AD (the Protestant Reformation came later). But before we dismiss this debate as too obscure, we should fight to see the importance that the great Christian theologians of history have attached to it. It helps us understand the key distinctions within the trinity and ensures that we view the Holy Spirit, alongside the Father and the Son, as fully God and utterly worthy of our worship. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 14 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Acts 2:1-4 - The third section of the Nicene Creed explores the person and work of the Holy Spirit. In this message we consider Genesis 1-2, John 16, and Acts 2 to see how the Bible reveals the Holy Spirit not as an impersonal force, but as God Himself--the third person of the trinity--who brings His people to new life. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 13 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]

Luke 18:28-30 - Jesus and the Apostles had a radical vision for the burgeoning church community: a spiritual family or parents, siblings, and children to one another with Jesus at the head. Reclaiming this vision reminds us that we aren't meant to parent alone, but that it truly takes a village. The implications of truly pursuing this vision of life are powerful for parents, other adults, and children alike. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 4 of our series "Bearing the Image as Fathers and Mothers"]

Ephesians 6:1-4 - The biblical perspective on the value of children was a revolution in its ancient context, one we're still struggling to fully live into today. Paul's teaching in Ephesians 6 to parents is what flows out of a view of children as full image-bearers of God--full of dignity and value given by God Himself. In it, we are challenged to take seriously kids' personhood and feelings and to nourish them through our discipline and instruction, empowerment and nurture. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 3 of our series "Bearing the Image as Fathers and Mothers"]

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - The Shema in Deuteronomy 6 is one of the most important, load-bearing passages in the entire Bible. Its content and then application in the following verses has deep implications for all of life, especially for Christian parenting. In it we see that whatever we want to communicate to our children about God, we must first find that we know and love Him in our own hearts. Healthy, engaged, intentional Christian parenting flows out of a life of integrity beginning in the heart then out through our words and actions. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 2 of our series "Bearing the Image as Fathers & Mothers"]

Luke 15:11-24 - In this sermon we start a 4-part teaching series on parenting called "Bearing the Image as Fathers & Mothers." We begin with a consideration of the fundamental task of parenting: Spirit-empowered embodiment of the compassionate and gracious heart of our Father God toward our children—children both literal and spiritual. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 1 of our series "Bearing the Image as Fathers and Mothers"]

John 5:19-29 - In this message we look at the final section of the 2nd article of the creed, which says Jesus "shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end." The return and final judgment of Jesus are often considered scary or uncomfortable doctrines, but rightly understood, they give us confidence that truth, goodness, beauty, and justice will win out in the end. We are also told in Scripture that God desires that none should perish and so He gives all time to repent and turn to Him--His invitation to find oneself on the right side of His judgment is widely open to all who will take it. Jesus's judgment, in the end, is an indispensable part of His good news. A sermon by Pip Craighead. [Part 12 of our series "The Nicene Creed: The Ancient Theology of the Triune God"]