Apostles' creed

There is more written in the Apostles’ Creed on what we believe about Jesus than anything or anyone else. In the Creed, we declare that we believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day He rose from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. It is simply impossible to overstate the importance of Jesus in our basic Christian beliefs.

Christo-centric Christians

There is a reason why we are called Christians. The reason is we are Christo-centric, which means that our theology is centered on Christ and our Christian living is to be as close a reflection of the life of Christ as possible. There is a great difference between having a head knowledge of someone or something and having a life-transforming heart experience with someone or something. I can tell you all about my family, but that is not the same thing as being a part of that family. The reason I am so excited to be leading our next trip to the Holy Land at the end of May is because there is a great difference between reading about the land where Jesus walked and walking in it yourself.

Rise Against Hunger

There is also a great difference between reading about people who followed Jesus and becoming a person who is actively following Jesus. On the 5th Sunday of this month, March 30th, we have a special opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a powerful and experiential way. We plan to raise at least $12,000 and to pack at least 30,000 meals on that day with our mission partner, “Rise Against Hunger”. Our Sunday will begin with a combined worship service at 8:45 in the Traditional Sanctuary. We will be led in worship by our contemporary band and our traditional choir. While we will be in our traditional Sanctuary, everyone is invited to wear our mission t-shirts and jeans because we will be packing all the meals at 10AM that morning in the gym. There is a place for everyone from 2 to 102 to participate. Whether you are strong enough to cut and lift the 60-pound bags of rice and pour them into the bins that begin the packing stations or you prefer to sit at one of the sealing stations, you are invited to join us. When we finish packing all the meals, we will move to the Artz Fellowship Hall to enjoy our own meal together.

I hope to see you, your family, and friends here this Sunday and hope that you will make your plans now to join us for this special opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus together on March 30th for our 5th Sunday “Serve Day.”