Heidelberg Catechism Devotional Q23

Q.23. What are these articles?

A. I believe in God, the Father almighty,


creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
     

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
     

and born of the virgin Mary.
     

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
     

was crucified, died, and was buried;
     

he descended to hell.
     

The third day he rose again from the dead.
     

He ascended to heaven
     

and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
     

From there he will come 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.

Monday

Last week we began to talk about creeds.  There are many creeds in our world and many in the Christian churches.  But there are 3 creeds every church believes that set the foundation of the Christian faith.  They are the Apostles’ Creed, which we have learned today, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.  These three creeds help us to understand what the bible teaches with regard to God, Christ The Holy Spirit and Salvation. 

Creeds are not new.  Throughout the bible we find many people who make proclamations about who God is.  We will explore some of these this week and in the coming weeks we will take a closer look at the Apostles’ Creed. If you haven’t memorized this creed yet, make it your goal to learn it by heart by the week’s end.  Read Psalm 119:66 as a way of seeing what the psalmist believed.

Tuesday

Read Deuteronomy 6:4-5.  This is one of the great creedal statements of the Bible.  It is the foundation of belief in one God and it was because of this verse that the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds went to such lengths to show how Jesus Christ was God incarnate. 

Wednesday

Imagine being blind, spending your life without any ability to see the birds, the trees and other people.  Then a man you have never met restores your eyesight.  He puts dirt and spit in your eyes and you can see.  How would you respond?  Read John 9:35-38 to see what this man ends up believing.

Thursday

Death is a horrible reality that we all live with.  At some point, our parents, our siblings and even our friends will all die.  We, too, will die.  In the Bible, we find the story of a woman whose brother had died, Read John 11:23-27 to see what Jesus says to her and to learn about what she believes.

Friday

When Paul stood before the kings of this world on trial for being a disciple of Jesus, he made a compelling speech.  Read Acts 24:10-16.  In this statement Paul summarizes many of the beliefs that we have already seen expressed in the other passages this week.  Can you say with Paul that you believe everything written in the prophets, that you have a great hope and that there is a resurrection?  I hope you can.

Saturday

Let us conclude this week by reading John 6:68-69.  All belief centers on Jesus.  Memorize Peter’s statement and make it your own.