Creed Week 4

Hello, hello. Listen, I know you wanna check out this message, but before you do, I wanna invite you to come check us out in person. Here at Freelife Chapel, we're all about family and would love to connect with you face-to-face. So if you're ever in the Central Florida area, come check us out. Here at FLC, we wanna help you discover and live the free life in Christ. To learn more about who we are, what we do, and how you can be a part, check us out at freelifechapel.org. Until then, check out this message. We've been in this Apostles' Creed talking about the foundations of our faith. The, when we say apostles, like, okay, big biblical churchy word, we're talking about the founding fathers of our faith. The men who encountered Christ and they understood the principles of what it meant to be a Christ follower and they put together this creed, this statement. It's this big theological declaration that we make that this is what we believe. And it really puts the guardrails on us, not just to state what we believe, but it also identifies what we do not believe. It's important for you to know who you disagree with. It doesn't mean that we're antagonistic

and we're causing problems. It's just, you know, you got a right to believe what you want to. I just believe this and let me just help you. Just because they call themselves Christian does not mean you all believe the same thing. And that's why you got to know what you know. Now, if you all need to leave, Pastor George and I are gonna have church by ourself today. All right, just so you know. Proverbs chapter 22, verse 28 says this. Read it with me. Don't move the ancient boundary stone which your fathers have set up. Don't move the ancient boundary stone that your fathers have set up, that stone that is situated, permanent. It's a marker, it testifies, it speaks without speaking. It anchors us, it holds you in place that everything can go crazy. Let the hurricane blow, that rock is going nowhere. And that's what happens. The culture is blowing across the landscape of our lives and we've got to have some things that do not move in our life so that we're not living life all over the place and then having to re-decide what we believe later on. And just because culture changed its mind doesn't mean we change our mind. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He don't change and so we lean in, we get a hold of him that way. The Bible says that Jesus is the anchor for our soul, your soul, your mind, will, and emotions. You ain't gotta lose your mind in this culture. When you get a hold of something that's immovable, unshakable, you hold on to that. Let the wind blow, I'm still here when it's all done. And that's what these foundational statements of our life are, we're holding on to this anchor. It's ancient truth from modern problems. And when we do it right, we get to experience it. Let's read this creed together, here we go. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born 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, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again 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. Amen.

There's something, do you understand that what you just repeated, our Christian forefathers repeated the same thing 1,800 years ago. What you just repeated, it connected you to believers 1,800 years ago, and it's almost like screaming down the hallway, we're still here. It didn't end with you. We believe as well. We're holding the banner also. The same Jesus you served is the same Jesus we serve. It's good for me to know, it's good for you to know that what you're standing on is not a modern idea that somebody came up with last month. This is time-tested and true. You can build your life on this, and it means a whole lot more when you start a family and you're laying a foundation for your kids and for your future to know that you're on something that's rock solid. There's a study that was done recently by the American Culture and Faith Institute. It's kind of a scary, scary result. They polled churches across America on the basic questions about Christian doctrine, the guidelines, the principles that these churches believe. Seventy percent of Christian churches in America did not agree with the full doctrine that you just quoted. Seventy percent that call themselves Christian do not agree with the basic tenets of Christianity. Watch this. That 30 percent that do believe, that equates to about 100,000 churches in America. Of those 100,000, that extra 30 percent who do believe in the core teachings that we just stood on, the basic Christian doctrine, only two percent of those churches report that they actually teach those truths because they don't want to offend culture. What does it matter if you believe it but you don't stand on it and teach it and speak

it and pass it to another generation? Let me break this down for you. That means only two percent of pastors in America are preaching biblical truth. Better be careful what you listen to on TikTok. My favorite preacher, yeah, he's a Looney Tune. Anybody can say one thing right for a minute for seven seconds, but on the backside, be careful what else you buy into. There's something else in that Kool-Aid, you better be careful what you drink. Only two percent of churches in America are unashamed of biblical truth. Only two percent of congregations in America are hearing, learning, and growing in biblical truth. That's a scary reality. So let me put this out there. It's a new era we're living in right now. You better qualify a church before you call it your church. You can't just assume that it is right. You can't just assume, well, they got a Bible, it must be good. The music is hot. Well, you better be careful and check that right there. That's why the Apostle Paul, he identified two church markers for you to understand where you should be and where you should not be. This is Bible for you, and so I've got to bring it to you. Number one, he said in 1 Timothy chapter one, verse three, he said, this is what a pastor's description is. If the pastor doesn't look like this, run, Forrest, run. That's not a pastor if he doesn't line up to this. My job description is on blast, and I can be looked at and scrutinized, and my lifestyle should be scrutinized if I'm going to say I'm the pastor. Just because I'm a pastor don't mean I get away with sin, with foolishness, get to act any way that I want to.

No, there is a standard. I'm not better than you are, but if I'm going to step up here and proclaim the gospel as a pastor, God says, I'm judging you different. Oh yeah, on vacation, I'm still under judgment. At my house, I'm still, it's not just while I'm here. So God put the pastor's job description out there. And by the way, in 2 Timothy chapter three, Paul laid out crazy church people descriptions as well. There's 19 traits of absolute tore up Christians that are listed in 2 Timothy chapter three. False Christians. Now if you're going to read the list that shows my description and see if I'm doing it right, I need you to read your list to make sure that you don't fall into that. Because I done read about some, no, no, I read the list, I read the list. Paul knew church was going to get sus. Paul, no, Paul, you have to, church is starting to act like Jerry Springer sometimes, you all understand, or if you don't know that, Housewives of Polk County, like we got some craziness going on in church today. And you better know what's right and stand in line with that. The Bible is there to equip you to know the difference between faithful and foolish. And we got to know and not be afraid to call it out today and make the changes I need to make sure I'm in the right place, that I'm being strengthened and I've got truth being poured into my life. How many of you know sometimes you ought to leave church going, I'm not even sure if I enjoyed that service. Because that word just beat me up, did he have to preach from that message today, did he have to point that out today? Look, that's all of us, y'all. Being cut on, being challenged is a good thing. We've got to fight to keep the Church of Jesus Christ holy and unwavering, alive and advancing. That doesn't happen by itself. So this this phrase that we're going to hit today

real quickly, I believe in the holy Catholic Church. Well let me help you some of y'all hang Catholic. Well you are now. Catholic here actually means universal. It's not Catholic like you and I thinking as a, you know, Mother Mary and and and the Rosary and Hail Mary full of grace. Like that's that's not what that means. This word Catholic literally means the universal, the the global church. In other words we need to think bigger than just Freelife Chapel. We got to understand around the world. When Pastor Leo Bigger comes in from Switzerland and preaches, that's our brother and our brothers and sisters in Christ that are over in Switzerland right now. When when Pastor Ward came in this past weekend from Chicago, believe it or not there's actually Christ followers in Chicago as well. He was shocked to find people in Polk County love Jesus too so that's it's all good. There's 2.7 billion Christians worldwide and Christianity is exploding. The two nations that Christianity is absolutely exploding in in the globe is Asia and Africa right now. It is on a move that is unprecedented as well as Muslim dominated nations. There is an underground church that is growing and mosques are closing left and right because there is an upsurge of those men and women that now that social media has hit, believe it or not something good is going on. They're able to see and hear a truth that is outside of what they heard from Allah and the Quran. They're realizing that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and they're turning their lives over. You want to hear another shocking statistic? The United States is the only place in the world where Christianity is on the decline. Your backyard. My backyard. The foolishness in America today. If you and I as Christ followers do not stand up and speak and teach in our house, this is how we believe in our house. If you don't teach your kids, somebody else is going to. Acts chapter 2 verse 42 we have a paradigm, a four-step paradigm as to what the early church was to look like. I believe in the Holy Church. Yeah, look it's not our recipe. We don't get to decide what's in it. That was set for us and the Bible says this in Acts 2 42, read this with me, the believers continued to devote themselves to what the Apostles were teaching, to the

breaking of bread and to the times of prayer. I want to show you what these are real quickly because if you want to know what the church of Jesus Christ is to look like, and by the way when Jesus died for the church he didn't die for this building. The church are the people. Would you turn to three folk and tell them, I am the church. Just tell them, I am the church. I am the church. Just look back at them and go, I need some renovation but that's okay. I am the church. I know. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm with you. Watch this, the Apostles teaching, I got to hurry real quick, the Apostles teaching, learning about the Christ's life from from eyewitnesses. That's what the Apostles teaching is. Men who did life with Jesus, talked to Jesus, heard from Jesus, learned one-on-one with Jesus. That's who these Apostles were that were passing these truths on and they're saying you got to get it right and don't change it. Get it right. Don't change it. I remember hearing an interview with Jack Nicklaus one time and he said, my dad showed me how to hold the golf club. Get a hold of it, positioned his hands perfectly, got his fingers all locked. He said, now Jack, reach back and hit the ball as hard as you can and then try to go find it and if you can't find it then get another one and hit it. Eventually you'll find it but here's the thing Jack, once you get the right grip don't change the grip. You'll learn the swing but you got to get the grip right or the swing will always be off and so you and I have got to make sure we've got a good grip on God's Word and then we keep practicing our swing. Swing it in my marriage and swing it in my finances and swing it in my culture. We'll learn the swing but we've got to get the right grip. Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 2 says this, do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give of you. In other words, the Bible was written for 2025. That means it does not need to be culturally modified in order to fit in. It is relevant for today where we live. It doesn't need to be rewritten. It needs to be reread. Let's lean into it. Don't add to or take away. Leave it alone. Sake le mano. Sorry, sorry. Get your hand off it. God said, leave my word alone. Leave my word alone. It kind of reminds me of the Reese's Cups. They're trying to

get sexy and put everything in it. Leave it alone. Don't mess with perfection. You want potato chips with your Reese's Cups? Then bag a bag of chips, but don't cram them up inside of a Reese's Cup. God's word and God's ways are tested. They're true. Today we need patriarchs and matriarchs that are standing up as the new apostolic voices. If you're not speaking, nobody else is going to be speaking. We need moms and dads talking in homes about Jesus. We need grandmothers and grandfathers talking about Jesus in the home, aunties and aunts talking about Jesus in our homes today. Psalm 145, let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts. Let them proclaim your power. Your kids need to know about when you gave your life to Jesus. Your kids need to know about the hellion you were before you met Jesus. No, you got to go there. You got to go there. Call you out, because if you're the hero of every story, they'll never add up. But when they realize you needed Jesus and I need Jesus too, ladies and gentlemen, that's how you lead. Grab your nieces and nephews and pull them around and tell them who Jesus is. My mama, she gave me a book years ago, Testimonies of the Thomas Family. Here's the opening page. Christmas 2011. This is one of my Christmas gifts from my mama. Scott, I was saved in 1959 at the age of 15 at the Church of God, hey, in Caywood, Kentucky, and my life was completely transformed. This young poor country girl, with little hope for a meaningful future, quickly learned how real God was. As I matured spiritually and grew in an intimate relationship with him, I began recognizing his voice and experiencing his sweet presence. Reflecting over our home, I couldn't remember how many of these experiences I had shared with you, so a few years ago I began recording what I remembered in hopes that they would bless you. I'm sure some will be familiar. If Jesus tarries and my generation passes, I hope that over your years of life, these memoirs of my generation will be a legacy of faith to pass on to Caleb. Love, Mom. Story after story after story. That's my apostolic mama saying, Scott, if you vary from the Word of God, I will come back and smack the... Dads, don't let TikTok take your place. No, no, no, we gotta have those voices. Don't let YouTube rob your kids of their heart. If we don't teach them, culture's going to. That's why you gotta get them to the blend. I don't wanna go if you're gonna eat my food, if you plan on sleeping in this house tonight, if you like your last name, I'll go Bill Cosby. I brought you into this world. I can take... Never mind, that probably shouldn't go that far. We get them here, celebrate them, encourage them,

but teach this generation who Jesus is and how to serve him. It's important that we have an apostolic statement. This is what we believe. Number two, fellowship, connection, encouragement, support, and serving. Hebrews chapter 10, 24 through 25 says this, let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Read this. Not giving up, meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, skipping church every Sunday. Keep reading. But encourage one another and all the more as you see the day of Jesus approaching. Spur one another on. You know what that means? Y'all know what spurs are? You and I are gonna do some life. You need someone in your life. Every now and then goes Dang you can they're not calling you out. They're calling you up There's more in you we need that kind of fellowship in our life in church and especially outside of church It's not that we only do this no dog You need some believers in your life while you're out there as well So that you can do some life with you can play some golf with you can go get coffee with you might want a vacation We got crews of people in this church that vacation together like they all get together and just traveling That's what the body of Christ is supposed to see feel like do move if you're missing out on Relationships that love Jesus you're missing out on one of the greatest blessings and benefits that the Bible says we believers Are supposed to live by you don't need a crew You just need a few and let me show you what I'm talking about. Check this out. Check this out. Check this out. I Spent a lot of time Searching. All right. I haven't been a good person for quite a few years. I didn't Have a good direction He mentioned to me several times that I saved his life by us becoming friends I can give that right back to him because he absolutely saved mine. Also, I moved there for four years ago and For the first month I was going in and out of my driveway going to the gym I Would see this guy sitting in a chair looking out the window never said anything for a whole month

Then one day he yells at me out the window. Hey What's your name? So I tell him my name and then he yells out again. Can you take me to the gym with you when you go? I couldn't say no I've never had a friend Per se I Four years in the military and I Went to college I'm tearing up He had been stuck in the house for about four to five years not going out or anything He was at a low point in his life since him and I Have been in the gym He's come a long way God Put us together for a reason You reach a point in life that I'm tired of living life. My way It's not working after 66 years. I need to find somewhere else to go and Us going to free life really really Made us connect got us Put his spirit on me and Touched me and gave me a confidence to do the set things That I want to do with God Gave me that incentive We as men We don't reach out enough. No We don't cry enough. We don't tell each other that we love each other enough. I love him And I love him back, this is my normal casual walk Hey find a friend

And find God yeah, we can't do this alone. No, you're my brother Yeah, okay I'm in your mind also You Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to fellowship? This is Jerry you may be seated I'm not done This is Jerry and Perry Jerry has been with us about four years now. Is that right Jerry attending four years? randomly moved in Perry yelled at him out the window All of a sudden started a relationship and Jerry started bringing Perry To church with him. They sit right back there at nine o'clock service every week Jerry's always dressed to the nines. I Didn't know They made jackets big enough to handle arms like that. I didn't even know that that was even feasible. But don't get it twisted, this man is a gentle giant because he's all heart. And I just want to tell both of you gentlemen, we heard your story there, but I want to say thank you for showing and reminding all of us what it means to be the body of Christ. Doing life together. No man stands alone. We do it together. You guys are like the odd couple. Felix and Oscar, like what in the world? Some of y'all don't have a clue. Like what in the world? But I've seen you all in the gym together.

And I've watched the patience of coming together and how much you love this man and how he reaches back and loves you. And both of you have stated to me on different occasions, he saved my life, this relationship. This is exactly what the Church of Jesus Christ is supposed to be about. There's somebody for everybody. Everyone in this room fits in somewhere and there is somebody that can bring hope and strength and life to you. Gentlemen, we love you, we honor you, we celebrate you, and we're grateful. I'm so glad you're a part of Free Life Chapel. Thank you for preaching with your life. Thank you so much, buddy. God bless you. It's a real blessing, buddy, it's a real blessing. Anything you would share real quickly before we wrap this up here? No, I'm just happy to be here. And we're happy that you're here. And I'm so glad you love Jesus. That's all, amen, yeah. Love you, buddy, love you. Man, that's a picture right there, folks. I don't need to say anything else. What fellowship looks like. Fellowship with other believers is vital to your spiritual growth.

No more isolation, no more hiding, no more cutting and running out of church fast. You need to stop and meet somebody. It's not because you're so needy, somebody else needs you. We need each other. Let me finish this real quickly. Apostolic teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread. What's breaking of bread? Communion. The Bible tells us that in order to be the church, collectively, that the way that that looks is you and I are celebrating communion. In other words, when we come together, we remember and we refocus our hearts of worship on Christ. Because how many of you know, your passion for Christ leaks? Oh, we can be so pumped on a Sunday. But what happened by Monday at two o'clock in the afternoon? It's like, dang, I ain't even sure if I'm a Christ follower or not. Well, no, you are. But we go through this, it's who we are. That's why we need to have some set scheduled times that I'm coming together. I will program my focus on Jesus. I'm setting it with my friends. You don't have to wait till you get here for communion. You can take communion with your family. You can take communion with somebody sitting at Starbucks.

Bro, I brought some crackers. Let's take communion. Take a sip of coffee, eat this cracker. That's why we go there to refocus our attention that what is it that matters to our heart, our relationship, our life? It's knowing who Jesus is and the price he paid on the cross for you and me. Don't ever let that get old in your heart and your mind and your spirit. These holy rituals bring us back to our faith, remembering the cross, the price that Jesus paid for us. But this isn't just communion. When it says breaking of bread, it's also hanging at each other's house. Let's go get dinner. And if you don't cook like my wife, then let's go buy dinner somewhere. Let's just go do that. But we're gonna fellowship. We're gonna enjoy. Because do you understand that in Judaism, in Jesus's, that the mindset, when the temple was destroyed, they lost the altar, the place of sacrifice. And immediately, 70 AD, when the temple was destroyed, all of a sudden, the table, the home table where you eat dinner was turned into the new altar. We meet at the table,

and something that happens around that table and we're heart to heart, and we begin to enjoy and share and break bread together, that God is glorified in those moments. We focus on him first through breaking of bread, but we enjoy fellowship together. Communion is worship, and then from the communion to your cookout and get your best grill on. That's exactly what this looks like. Both of them are holy. In fact, Acts chapter two, verse 46 says this. They broke bread in their homes and they ate together with glad and sincere hearts. Like, don't always think of communion as like, hmm. And that's wonderful, but sometimes communion is. It's a party, it's joy. We need that in our life if you're going to be the church. If you say you believe in the church, then you're a part of this that I'm talking about. The final thing, I'm done with this, done with this, done with this, prayer. In fact, if you want to go literal, the actual literal translation of this in the Greek doesn't say and in prayer and it says and the prayers, plural. The prayers, oh yeah. There was liturgy that these founding fathers of our faith, the Jesus's first believers were Jews and they had liturgical prayers that they would pray together that united their heart. I know some of y'all think, man, those liturgical prayers, that can get really old because I'm not even sure if my heart's even involved in that. You're just reciting stuff.

That's just religion. Well, let me help you something. Have you ever bought a Hallmark card for somebody? If you haven't, shame on you. You need to go buy a Hallmark card for somebody, but if you buy a Hallmark card, what you've done is you bought somebody else's words. Oh, I know you did all the underlining and everything and then eventually you added your own couple of lines to it, but you let somebody else's words express your heart of love to somebody else. The liturgy that the apostles were coming together and they were praying, although they were written and they were formulated that were theologically strong and powerful, they were saying those and here's what it does, is by praying these prayers, it jumpstarts my heart and starts moving me towards God. And once my heart engages with the words, now I start to pray some prayers of my own. You want to see something cool? Go find the prayers of Charles Spurgeon. Go find the book that talks about how this man prayed and talked to God. Men and women, there's books out there of their prayers and they will equip you and inform you of how amazing God is and there'll be some things in there that will click in your heart because of the season you're going through. In fact, Jesus himself gave us a liturgical prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. And when you say that, if you don't have a goose bump on the back of your neck, something's wrong with your neck. It's straight liturgy. It's a pre-decided prayer, but I connected my heart to it.

Oh, don't be hating on folks who stand and they're praying out of prayer books. It's opening a world. That's what the disciples did, but prayer matters. James chapter four, verse eight says this, come close to God and God will come close to you. Oh, shucks. You mean I've got access? Sure enough, do. Would you turn to someone and tell them, you got access, you got access, you got access. Prayer is irreplaceable, folks, in your relationship with Jesus, individually and corporately. What's about to happen next week and our week of prayer is going to strengthen the church at large, but individuals are going to a new level in their walk with Christ just because they showed up as being a part of the church of Jesus Christ. Would you please stand to your feet? You think you need prayer? Let me help you. I know you need prayer because my Bible tells me in Jeremiah 33, verse three, ask me and I'll tell you things you don't know and you can't even find out. God's holding secrets to your life, answers to your problems, and he said, I'm just waiting on someone to ask me. Would you tell the person beside you, I'm concerned about your ignorance? Man, if you're new at free life, you say, I ain't coming back to this church. I am not coming back to this church. That's all, I love you. Watch, there's stuff I don't know. How do I leave this church? I don't know. I ain't got a book that figures this out. It's not my church. Jesus, speak to your boy.

I'm ignorant. I'm without understanding. How do you run a marriage? I don't know. I'm married. The Puerto Rican, I don't know. I need thee, oh, I need thee. Him too. Folks, what are you missing? Because you're not praying. Would you please get your tail here this week and let's lean in and let God whisper things into your heart and direct and lead your life and all, that's how to deal with this. Father, we love you and we're grateful that you've got a plan for our life and that the church is a part of it and we are the church. We are the body of Christ. We together, collectively, individually, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We're the body collectively and God, we need you to do this right. So I'm asking God that we take this personal today. Acts chapter 2 verse 42 becomes a marching orders. I'm listening to the teachings and I'm going to grow in the apostle teaching. I want to discover God's word and be discipled. I want the right fellowship in my life. I need the right voices in my life. I need the people to hang time to encourage my faith. I need the relationship like the Jerry's and the Perry's. Oh God, we need that time of holy communion. Being reminded who you are, continually bringing my heart back to the price that Jesus, you paid for me so that I never forget it. This is not based on how good I am. It's based on how good you are and everything you've done.

But then as we sit around tables and fellowship and share and laugh and play games and do life together, you'll be right in the middle of it with us. God, I pray that as we pray, as we pray individually and pray corporately, our hearts will be softened and we would receive from you and seek you for what life is supposed to be and that you would download in all of us. We need you, God. We need you, God. And we need the church. Use the church for your glory. It's the answer for culture. You've given us keys to the kingdom. You've given us answers. Help us, God, to live it, not just speak it, but live it, embody it. That everywhere we go, the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ is on full display. Use us for your glory in Jesus' name and everybody said, amen, amen, amen. We hope you enjoyed this message. To hear more impactful messages just like this one, check us out at FreelifeChapel.org. We hope you have an amazing week.