A Creed for Trinity Sunday

A liturgical Creed for Trinity Sunday  (31 May 2015)

I believe in the one and only almighty God:

the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The LORD our God, the LORD is one!

I believe in God the Father,

Creator and Sustainer of all things;

And in God the Son,

Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord,

who suffered and died for our sins,

rose from the dead,

and is exalted in heaven

for the sake of our eternal victory;

And in God, the Holy Spirit,

who assembles the Church,

makes us one body in Christ,

convicts us of both sin and forgiveness,

and works eternal life in us.     AMEN.

Pentecost Sunday - 24 May 2015

On Pentecost Sunday celebrate:

1. The power of the indwelling Spirit
2. The Church is central to God’s Work in this world, through the power of the indwelling Spirit
3. The multicultural character and mission of the Church is demonstrated on Pentecost
4. The missional ministry of the Church is guaranteed on Pentecost.

Celebrate Jesus through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit!

Pentecost is testimony of the multicultural character of the Church of God.

On the first Pentecost Sunday the Holy Spirit empowered the first disciples to speak of the wonders of the Gospel, and particularly of the resurrected Messiah, in many languages. These languages they did not learn in the way we do. It was a miracle that they could (Act 2: 5 – 13) and this wonder was given to the Church that there never will be any doubt in anyone’s mind that the Church, an instrument in God’s hand, in its purest form is multicultural. This implies that it is linguistically, culturally and racially inclusive.

As we celebrate Pentecost Sunday on 24 May 2015, we have to make a difference in God’s work, by amongst other things, being a community that draws all people that share the grace experience of the salvation of God in Jesus Christ. This shared experience of redemption constitutes a community where no other qualification than being saved by grace ,through faith in the risen Lord, can ever be so important that it divides God’s people.

Love that comes about as a gift of the Spirit amongst those who share the grace experience, is described in 1 Cor 13: 4 – 8: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

All people, from various cultures are drawn together by God’s love in Christ. Paul writes in Galatians 3:28: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

There are, by the mercy of God, exceptions, but the Church has in general not done particularly well in living out its multicultural mission in the world. Looking at the general church experience around us we do see that to be divided according to language, race, and ethnicity seem to have become an unquestioned norm to many. But we need to prayerfully protect our multicultural testimony of the unity of the Church of Christ, as demonstrated at Pentecost. It remains God’s standard, even in racialist societies that often breed unkind, loveless exclusivity!  It is the church that Jesus prayed for! (John 17).

Pentecost matters as it challenges all of us to continuously examine our own attitudes, to reject and repent of any prejudice that prowls within us, and to continue to open our hearts to all people, even when they do not share our language and culture.

Pentecost demonstrates that multiculturalism in the Church is something that the Spirit of God will help us to make work, if we are available to him.

Today is Ascension Day. It means our Jesus can!

The same Jesus who rose from the dead to ascend to heaven as King and Lord of all, worked as a carpenter and provided for his mother and siblings, ministered to many from town to town and was willing to give his life and become our Passover Lamb.   He, who shared our daily experiences on earth as well as our sufferings and death, assures us of his help and understanding, whatever difficulty may challenge us.

His Ascension to the right hand of God where he received all power and authority in heaven and on earth, assures us that he can help us, and that nothing is impossible with him, seated in heaven with all authority, yet so near to us, always being part of our lives through the Spirit.

Jesus can.  Only Jesus can!!

Have you seen people with faith in the ascended all-powerful Lord tackle their problems? They know that God loves them.   They act in faith. Faith keeps them going and gives them hope. They know that the almighty Christ leads them through life and even through the valley of the shadow of death.

Have you seen people without faith tackle their difficulties?    At best they are without joy or hope, and at worst they are despondent and desperate. “What will be, will be” may rationalise their dilemmas, but it does not heal their wounds or inspire meaning and strength! 

Today we celebrate the ascension of Christ, his enthronement in heaven as King and Lord of all.  Our heavenly King is the same Jesus who ministered, died and has risen.    It is he, Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Son of God, who takes care of us, every day!

Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Our help comes from the Lord who came to us as a man, a Saviour and the Redeemer! He will never forsake us! And he has all power in heaven and earth.

All hail ascended King!

The meaning and message of Ascension Day.

The Ascension of Jesus Christ is the Christian teaching in the New Testament about the event when Christ was taken up to heaven in his resurrected body, in the presence of eleven of his disciples. It happened 40 days after his resurrection. Jesus ascended to his Father and to the throne of the Father, where he is at God’s right hand and reigns over his Church and has dominion over everything, both visible and invisible.

We believe that his second coming will take place in the same way – he will one day again descend in bodily form.

Ascension Day is therefore celebrated on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter Sunday. (On 14 May in 2015.) This celebration was first observed in the second half of the 4th century. It is still observed by followers of Jesus Christ for longer than 1 600 years.

But, what do we believe is the meaning and message of this day?

1. What does “He ascended into heaven” means?

That Christ, in the sight of his disciples, in his human nature and resurrected body, was taken from the earth to heaven, and is still there today in a position of divine authority and power, until he shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

2. Is Christ then not with us as he has promised?

Christ is true man and true God. According to his human nature he is now not on earth but in heaven, but as our God, Saviour and King he is always with us.

3. What benefits do we have because Jesus Christ ascended into heaven?

Firstly: He is our Advocate in the presence of his Father in heaven, always praying for us.

Secondly: Because he is in heaven as a human being, we know that he as our Head will also take us, his human followers, there.

Thirdly: He sends his Spirit to us, by whose power we seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God, and not the things on the earth. The glorious Christ, enthroned in heaven, pours heavenly gifts on us, defending us against all our enemies and protecting us from evil.

(See Heidelberg Catechism)

The Ascension of Christ proclaims his authority over all.

Ascension Day, this year celebrated on 14 May,  proclaims Christ’s glorious triumph and his complete future dominion over all.  It insists that we live as people who follow the Son of God, the eternal Messiah, and serve him only, in everything we do.

It reminds us that we confess (in the words of the Declaration of the Faith for the Church in Southern Africa of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa) -  

that:

We believe in Jesus Christ the Son,

who became human and lived

and died and rose in triumph

to reconcile both the individual and the world to God,

to break down every separating barrier

of race, culture or class,

and to unite all God's people into one body.

He is exalted as Lord over all,

the only Lord over every area of life.

He summons both the individual and society,

both the Church and the State,

to seek justice and freedom for all

and reconciliation and unity between all.

And in the Holy Spirit,

the pledge of God's coming reign,

who gives the Church power

to proclaim the good news to all the world,

to love and serve all people,

to strive for justice and peace,

to warn both the individual and the nation of God's judgement

and to summon them both to repent

and trust and obey Jesus Christ as

the King who will come in glory.