of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand
of the Father,
and 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.
What does it mean to believe in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit? To believe is to trust in the Father’s love for the world, in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
How do you become a Christian? By turning to Jesus Christ in faith, by repenting of your sin, and being baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
What is sin? Sin means not living according to the will of God. To sin is to fall short in our thoughts, words and deeds, through what we do and through what we fail to do. Sin separates us from God and neighbour.
What is baptism? Baptism in water is the sacrament of new birth in Christ. We die to sin that we may live his risen life. We are washed by the Holy Spirit and become members of the Church.
What is the Church? The Church is the pilgrim people of God, the body of Christ, and the community of disciples in every age in earth and heaven.
DAYS 1 TO 5 ‘I BELIEVE IN GOD’
DAY 1
ON GOD ALONE
READ Psalm 62.1–7
‘On God alone my soul in stillness waits; from him comes my salvation.’
REFLECT
Christians believe amazing things. These wonderful truths have been distilled into the Apostles’ Creed. Every act in the drama of salvation is here forged into a strong, life-saving and life-giving chain.
Over the next 40 days we will relive this great drama. If you are new to the faith, open your eyes to the wonder of what Christians believe.
If you have been a Christian for many years, come back to the very centre. Take these mighty truths and place them at the very core of your heart and life: a resounding echo of the living Word of God: Jesus Christ.
The opening words of the creed are words of power: I believe in God.
Whenever we say those words we are standing again in the place of our baptism: we put our trust in God alone for our life and our eternal life. We place ourselves within God’s story. We return to the very centre of our lives.
PAUSE
How will you set aside time and space for reflection and listening through these 40 days?
PRAY
In God is my strength and my glory; God is my strong rock; in him is my refuge.
Psalm 62
DAY 2
GOD’S CALL
READ Genesis 15.1–6
‘And Abraham believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.’
REFLECT
The Book of Genesis unfolds a life-changing mystery: Almighty God, maker of the universe, calls men and women to know him. God reveals himself in many different ways first through calling a single family, the family of Abraham, who become in time a single nation, Israel. From that nation God will bring blessing to the whole world.
God does not choose Abraham or Sarah because of their special goodness. No one in all of this imperfect creation is good enough to be able to know God. God calls Abraham because of his faith: because Abraham and Sarah are able to say, in time, ‘I believe‘ and to follow where God leads.
We can know God only by trusting God. To say, ‘I believe‘ in the great trials and difficulties of our lives is to place our trust again in God’s existence and God’s goodness and God’s call: to choose to see the world as ultimately good and purposeful. Faith is still reckoned to us as righteousness.
PAUSE
What are the times in your life when your faith has been most confident?
PRAY
Make these words – first spoken by the father who had begged Jesus to heal his son – your prayer today:
‘I believe. Help my unbelief.’
Mark 9.24
DAY 3
STEPPING INTO GOD’S STORY
READ Deuteronomy 26.1–11
‘ … so now I bring the first fruits of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’
REFLECT
God calls Abraham, a wandering Aramean. Abraham went down to Egypt and became father to a great nation. God delivered the nation from slavery and brought them to freedom in the promised land.
Every generation of God’s people needs to remember this long story (and there are other chapters still to come). But every generation needs also to make this story their own story: to stand within the long history of the people of God.
This is what is happening here in this simple ritual. Every person, in every generation, takes some of the first fruits of the harvest and brings it before God as an offering and makes a confession of faith before God and before the people.
This is what is happening when Christians declare our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed. We too are stepping into God’s story and making that story our own. We are remaking and re-membering the people of God in our own generation and becoming part of the chain of faith ourselves.
PAUSE
In your own life, who are your ancestors in faith and heroes and heroines in the faith?
PRAY
Give thanks for all those who have helped to pass