This morning, Reformation Sunday, 508 years after Luther's 95 Theses and 236 years after the 1689 was published, in an effort to advance church's move toward being confessional, we will define confession, creed, and catechism, examine the Scriptural basis for adopting and using creeds, confessions, and catechisms, then answer the questions: "Why should we adopt the 1689?" and "How will we utilize the 1689 in everyday church life?" I. Definitions: A. Creed B. Confession II. Is there a biblical basis for writing & adopting creeds, catechisms, and confessions for the local church? A. We have examples of creeds in the bible. B. We have commands in the Bible that necessitate confessions and creeds. C. We must know what to accept and what to reject as sound doctrine. III. Why should Bible Church of Cabot adopt the 1689? A. The Bible supports it. B. Our goal is to have an in-depth, usable, practical confession of faith to guide our faith and practice as a church. C. What does it mean for BCC to be a "confessional" church? D. Objections? 1. "No creed but the bible" or "no creed but Jesus." 2. Why do we need a confession of faith when we already have the Bible, the inspired word of God? Are we saying the confession is now our bible? IV. How will BCC utilize the 1689? A. In our worship B. Identifying, vetting, and training leaders C. Guiding Elders D. Teaching new Covenant Member candidates E. In our families V. How and when will we make this transition? VI. Application