Tag: Apostles' Creed

Good Friday

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment
“Jesus Christ Crucified,” Diego Velázquez, 17th century.

Now it gets deeply serious. Today is about Jesus’ suffering and death, the events that make eternal life for us possible. We again will use our pattern of daily prayer to sink deeper into this powerful story.

Morning

Praise: See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! (1 John 3:1.) He loves us so much that he would send his Son, God in flesh, to die for our sins, bearing the punishment we deserve. As much as we can, let’s consider for a few moments what an incredible gift we have been given—eternal life rather than death, which is eternal separation from this grand and glorious love.

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below; praise him above ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! Amen.“

Confession: We know we have fallen short of God’s expectations, failing to follow his will for us and in the process, committing sins. Let’s take time to search ourselves and confess those sins, today bringing them before a cross we know to have been soaked in our Savior’s blood. Those of us who take part in a Good Friday service should have powerful reminders of the work done on our behalf.

Time in Scripture: John, Chapters 18 and 19.

Noon

Take time to recite the Lord’s Prayer. Because of the season we are in, it also is a good time to consider the words of the Apostles’ Creed.

Night

If you’re not able to attend an evening Good Friday service, try to find some time for meditative quiet, listening to what God has to say.

Holy (Maundy) Thursday

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment

Easter approaches, but as we wrap up this season of Lent, we want to be sure we are appropriately absorbing what makes the celebration of Christ’s resurrection possible. First, we have to walk with our Savior as he moves through suffering and death.

If you have lost the pattern of prayer we rehearsed together last September and during the season of Advent, today and tomorrow are good days to try to recover them.

Morning

Praise: Let’s first take time to consider who God is and acknowledge that truth appropriately. He is Creator, Savior and Comforter, revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let’s praise God for the love poured out on us! Let’s also give thanks for the blessings we can see in our lives. Try to say a few out loud.

Confession: We know we have fallen short of God’s expectations, failing to follow his will for us and in the process, committing sins. Let’s take time to search ourselves and confess those sins. Those of us who take part in a Holy Thursday communion service tonight will find ourselves better prepared for that experience as we confess and remember this: Because we believe in Christ’s work on the cross, we are forgiven!

Time in Scripture: John 13 (NLT). Again, those of us in a Holy Thursday service are likely to hear this story tonight. Jesus teaches much simply through his actions; how do we imitate him?

Noon

Take time to recite the Lord’s Prayer. Because of the season we are in, it also is a good time to consider the words of the Apostles’ Creed.

Night

If you’re not able to attend an evening Holy Thursday service, try to find some time for meditative quiet, listening to what God has to say.

That Constant Presence

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment

 Deuteronomy 26:1-11

By Chuck Griffin

The above text will be, God willing, the heart of my sermon this Sunday. When I wrote about it here more than a year ago, I focused on our dependency on God.

I had this Jewish offering recitation on my mind yesterday, which was very different from my usual Monday. I had a midday church-related meeting in Alcoa, Tenn., and being in the area, I had dinner with a clergy friend in Knoxville that evening.

In between these events, I worked in some sermon planning, but I also had about an hour to walk around the University of Tennessee campus, something I had not been able to do in several years.. I graduated from UT’s College of Communications in 1988.

The nature of change was on my mind all day. I had spent time discussing the impending split of our denomination; later, my friend and I talked about the terrible personal change he has experienced.

The campus walk seemed surreal. I passed from the completely familiar to the astonishingly new as I moved from block to block. Buildings where I had once taken classes—buildings that had been surrounded by large swaths of green space—now sat huddled in the shadows of gleaming new structures.

I actually was excited by all I saw. The new buildings are wonderful additions, and the campus seems to have a sense of continuity that it lacked 34 years ago.

Strangest of all: There are wheeled delivery robots roaming the streets, less than knee-high and politely waiting their turns at the crosswalks. They must be very new, as the students were as intrigued by them as I was. One young man bent over to examine one, and then patted it as if it were a dog.

A day like I had yesterday, a day marked by thoughts of change and evidence of change, can startle us. Sometimes, it can even depress us. It helps to have some sort of recitation in our minds, a narrative account of how all that we experience fits into a larger story, one with some constancy to it.

When good Jews recited these words from Deuteronomy, they were anchoring themselves in the great truth that God loves them. When there was change, God was there to lead them through it all. Disease, invaders, famine, whatever, they remembered they were children of a wandering Aramean, and ultimately, the children of God.

As Christians, we use a similar strategy. The Apostles’ Creed reminds us of all those points in history where God has intervened to make us, redeem us and sustain us, and it promises God is in control into an eternal future. In our individual lives, we learn to tell the stories of how God has reached out to us, incorporating us into that larger story.

When faced with change, perhaps we could learn to recite a story beginning along these lines: “Mine was a wandering heart, brought home by an always present and loving God.”

Lord, keep us constantly mindful of your presence. Amen.