...from the desk of Rande Wayne Smith D.Min., Th.M., M.Div.

The Apostles’ Creed - 10

… THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH; THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS

The Revelation 21:3-4
I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: “Now God’s home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.”

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion to His glory and our edification.  Amen.

When we come to this section of The Apostles’ Creed a red flag immediately goes up for some of us. What is it? … (the holy catholic church) Now if we were just talking and I said something about the “catholic church” … most likely you’d think of St. Collette’s, or some other Roman Catholic congregation. So, the first thing we need to do this morning is define a couple of words … because “catholic” has a number of different connotations for us. Catholic in this instance, with a small “c”, means Christian or universal. Holy means set apart for special use. It would be like setting aside a particular suit or a dress for a special occasion.

So when we say, “I believe in the holy catholic church,” what we mean is that we believe in “the set apart universal church.” God’s doing the setting apart … and He’s doing it universally across the whole world for all time.

The other phrase is, “the communion of saints.” Communion means fellowship. But it’s fellowship in a much deeper sense than just standing outside the nursery with a cup of chai or coffee and chatting with one another. Fellowship here means sharing life together: joys, sorrows, a common purpose.

And finally, “saints.” Down through the years “saint” has come to mean someone who has lived an exemplary life. But saint, as it’s used in Scripture, simply refers to people who were sacred to God.

So Paul writes to the saints in his letters (in Achaia, Ephesus, Philippi, Rome, to mention a few)… to those people who were holy to God in His church.

I believe in the holy catholic church. And what I want us to think about for a few moments this morning is … what does church mean to people today? And, what does God say about His church? And, what should be done in response?

What does church mean to people today? In Barna Research, which provides all kinds of statistical information for Pastors and theologians, it reports that last year, on a typical weekend, 42% of American adults attended church. That means that 58%, by their own actions, indicated that church was not relevant to their lives. I don’t know why. I’m sure that there are many reasons. Maybe it has something to do with a past experience. Maybe some hurt that was not resolved. Maybe they just felt that there were a lot more important things to do. But for whatever reason, over 50% of the adults in the U.S. do not attend church.

Another statistic from that same profile … for those that did go to church, they listed as the top 3 reasons why they chose to attend a particular church: #1 … the theological beliefs and doctrine #2 … how much the people seemed to care about each other #3 … the quality of the sermons that were preached

So, what does that tell us about why people go to church? It has to do with the message that’s being proclaimed … and just as important, seeing that message lived out in people’s lives.

So I began to wonder what we thought here at Community Church about church. So I sent out an email asking, “When you hear the word ‘church’ what do you think of?” And here are some of your responses? …

• Buildings, bureaucracies, budgets • A house of worship • The Sunday service • God, family, comforting, familiar • Where I see most of my best friends who will be with me forever • I don’t think of a building, but of people • A place where I can go to be at peace and concentrate on myself and the Lord • Christian community • The choir • A place, generally a building where one worships God • The first thing I think of is the building • A place where I can come and be fed the words of God • A house of God • The body of Christ • A place which has set aside time for worship • Sunday School I appreciated all those responses, but my guess is, if we’re all honest, most of us, when we first hear the word “church,” probably do associate it with some structure, some building. But, obviously, that’s not the whole picture. That’s not the whole story.

Being a non-denominational church here brings a wide variety of people and backgrounds … what are some of your church backgrounds? … (Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian) That’s good. And some of you may have grown up in this church. And others of you may have no church background at all.

I believe that the church should be a place where seekers are welcome, where teaching is relevant, where worship is passionate, where kids are valued, where community is authentic, where mission is worldwide, and where service is fulfilling.

And for those of us who are involved and committed to the church we find that it is really irreplaceable in our lives. Nothing compares to it for significance and purpose. We believe that God uses the church to change lives like nothing else in this world.

Now to be perfectly fair, not everybody feels that way about church. I’ve talked to people over the years who have told me very clearly that they don’t like one thing or another about church. Here are a couple of things that I’ve heard. “The church talks about money too much.” And yes, I do talk about money and possessions, but the reason I talk about it as much as I do is because of what Scripture says. The Bible has about 600 verses that deal with prayer. There are also about 600 verses concerning faith. But it has over 2,300 verses about money and possessions.

God obviously knows enough about us to recognize that we’re dealing with this everyday, all day long, so there’s a lot of instruction in Scripture. There’s a lot that needs to be talked about.

Another concern, “The church is too demanding.” There are those who are tired of being expected to do “one more thing.” And I acknowledge that I often challenge people. The reality is, almost any church that you attend will have a personality a lot like their Pastor, or leadership team. And speaking for myself … I’m on a mission to know Jesus, and to share that knowledge with as many as I can.

So for those who feel that church ought to be more of a family atmosphere, where they can come and sit and just relax … this may not be the church for you. I’m probably always going to challenge you as to what God would have us do next.

So, what does the church mean to people today? For the majority it’s irrelevant. It’s not a factor in their lives. For some the church is irrational. But for many the church is irreplaceable. Do you have a sense about which one of those groups you’re in this morning?

And as you’re thinking about that, let’s look at the Second question … what does God say about His church? The church is the reason He created the world. The church is the result of His Son’s sacrifice. The church is His return to intimate contact.

Let’s divide the platform up here. Let this area represent eternity past. Let this represent creation. Let this represent O.T. times. Let this represent the coming of Christ. Let this represent N.T. times. Let this represent the end of the world, as Scripture describes it. And let us represent eternity future.

Now here are some Scriptures to take you on a time travel to discover what God thinks about His Church.

“Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him.

“Because of his love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children – this was his pleasure and purpose.” Think of it, before God created the world, in eternity past, He was thinking about us and what He was going to do through Christ. “Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him. Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.” Christ was fully involved in creation, and even now, holds all things together.

Let’s look at O.T. times. What was happening during this time period? “He is the head of his body, the church.” The church began in O.T. times with God dealing with individual by individual, and He still does that today. He is a personal God.

“Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

“At one time you were far away from God and were his enemies because of the evil things you did and thought. But now, by means of the physical death of his Son, God has made you his friends, in order to bring you, holy, pure, and faultless, into his presence.”

What Christ accomplished when He came to earth allows us to be close to God again.

And now in N.T. times, “In all his wisdom and insight God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.”

And at the end, “There will be the shout of command, the archangel’s voice, the sound of God’s trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; then we who are living at that time will be gathered up … and so we will always be with the Lord.”

“I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: ‘Now God’s home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people (the church). God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.’”

In eternity future, no more death, no more crying, no more grief, no more pain. Think about what it was in eternity past. There was God, His Son, His Spirit living in perfect harmony, in perfect unity, common purpose, perfect communion. In eternity future is God, His Son, His Spirit, no death, no pain, no crying, no grief, living in perfect unity and harmony … and His church, His family. Could it be that all of creation and history is for the purpose of God having a family for all eternity? It’s not only possible … it’s exactly what Scripture teaches.

In O.T. times, God dealt with individuals, person by person, telling them of a Messiah who was coming. They were looking forward, in faith, to that Promised One. In N.T. times we’re looking back in faith on the Promised One’s coming.

It’s the same faith, but from different perspectives. We look back in faith on what Christ accomplished; O.T. believers looked forward in faith for what He would accomplish. It’s the same faith, the same hope, the same Messiah. It’s one church, one family, which God is working in for all eternity. And He’s going to let us share that with Him. And this is the church of the Apostles’ Creed, this one unified body of believers.

Here’s a definition that I like. The church is the community of all true believers for all time.

There’s no talk about denominations in Heaven. Those things that separate us now will disappear. We will be looking at one wonderful party for all time.

For all eternity future, God will live with His people, the church, His family. And we, in a sense, will return to the Garden, where God from the beginning wanted to have a personal, intimate relationship, with humanity. At some point in the future we’re going to have that perfect intimate relationship with God. In the meantime, we get to have a taste of it with what the Apostles’ Creed calls “the communion of saints.”

Paul describes that in his letter to the Philippians. “Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another. I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. And look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own.”

Sounds good doesn’t it? Do you feel that kind of community/communion in your life right now? To really feel it, first you have to become a saint. I’m going to ask someone to come up and join me who I’ve experienced that kind of communion with, that kind of fellowship, friendship. I’m going to ask St. Brian to come up and join me.

Brian, I understand that you’re a saint, is that right?

Does your family know that?

Could you tell us when you became a saint?









Now, over the years we’ve have some good conversations. You’ve shared with me how after coming to faith you still at times willfully sinned and struggled with how God could forgive you.









Brian, how would you tell someone how to become part of this eternal fellowship?









We began this morning with 3 questions. What does the Church mean to people today? What does God say about His Church? What should we do in response?

You’ve heard the answers for the first 2 … what is your response to the third?

MARANA THA