Believe | Apostle’s Creed | Isaiah 40:28-31
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Let’s pause together in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for meeting us right here. By your Holy Spirit, bring your Word alive so we may hear it afresh, be transformed in how we see you, and in how we live. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Knowing the Creed—But Do You Believe?
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of teaching confirmation classes—usually seventh or eighth graders. One of their assignments is to memorize the Apostles’ Creed. Week after week, we add a little more until, by the end, they can (sometimes clumsily) recite the words: “the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” Checked box, assignment completed.
I remember doing the same at their age. But there’s a big difference between reciting the Creed and making a decision to actually believe the words you’re saying. At some point, everyone who’s grown up reciting the Creed has to wrestle with that basic but life-changing question: Do I actually believe this?
If you’re like me, there are seasons when you keep coming back to that question—especially during those long waits for God to act, or in moments of uncertainty and disappointment. It’s easy to say, “I believe in God,” but then the real question arises:
If I believe in God, can I trust Him? Am I willing to put my life and future on the line for what the Creed claims about Him?
From Head Knowledge to Life Trust
An old story about the tightrope walker Charles Blondin captures the difference between belief and trust. He stretched a wire over Niagara Falls and wowed crowds with his feats—even blindfolded, on stilts, and pushing a wheelbarrow. When he asked the crowd if they believed he could carry a person across, everyone cheered. But when he asked for a volunteer to get in the wheelbarrow, nobody stepped forward.
Belief is more than agreeing to a statement. The Christian faith invites us to step into the wheelbarrow—to put our weight, our souls, and our lives on the God we proclaim in the Creed. It’s possible to know the Creed without ever truly knowing the Father it describes.
Where Does “Creed” Come From?
“Creed” comes from the Latin “credo,” which means, “I believe.” In the early Church, those coming for baptism responded to deep questions about God and Jesus with this simple word: “Credo.” The Apostles’ Creed doesn’t replace Scripture, but summarizes our biblical faith. You can go to any church in the world—if they confess the Apostles’ Creed, you know what they stand for.
In this blog and sermon series, we’ll walk through the Creed line by line, asking each time—Do I truly believe this?
The Foundation: “I Believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth”
Before anything existed, there was God. Before creation, before opinions about truth, God simply was.
The Creed uses three words to describe God: Maker, Almighty, Father. What we believe about each shapes our view of God and how we live our lives.
God as Maker
Genesis 1:1 starts with, “In the beginning, God created…” Out of nothing, God brought forth the heavens and earth. We didn’t bring ourselves into existence—God did. Like Michelangelo’s painting of God reaching for lifeless Adam in the Sistine Chapel, God took the initiative to bring life.
Acknowledging God as Maker changes not only how we see ourselves, but also how we see others. Every person—including those who frustrate us or those we often overlook—is God’s creation. We can’t profess God as Maker with boldness on Sunday and then treat His masterpieces poorly the rest of the week. Nor should our worth rise or fall based on applause or criticism—our value is grounded in being made by God.
The stunning scope of creation—from our planet to the galaxies—is a work of God’s “fingers.” The universe may overwhelm us, but it does not overwhelm its Maker.
God as Almighty
Isaiah reminds us: God is the everlasting Creator who never faints or grows weary. He gives power to the faint and strength to the powerless. When life overwhelms us, God does not grow tired. Yet, too often, we turn to God’s gifts—our plans, family, savings—instead of to God Himself. Our anxiety screams for guarantees and control, but faithful trust in an Almighty God means letting go of what we cannot control and trusting Him with the outcome.
Planning wisely and acting faithfully are important, but there comes a point when we must release the results to God, knowing His almighty power upholds us even when we can’t see what comes next.
During heartache and grief, the question arises: “If God is Almighty, why did this happen?” There isn’t an easy answer, but I am sure of this—whatever breaks our hearts will not have the last word. Christianity offers more than a distant God—it proclaims a God who entered our pain and defeated sin and death through Jesus’s resurrection. Suffering and death will not be the end of our stories.
God as Father
Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” The heart of God is revealed in Christ—loving, compassionate, and approachable. Psalm 103 describes God as a Father filled with compassion, mindful that we are dust.
For some, “father” brings to mind warmth and care. For others, it brings pain and absence. The good news is, God is not just a better version of our earthly fathers. In Jesus, we see the perfect Father’s heart—a heart full of mercy and grace.
Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son embodies this perfectly. The father in the story welcomes home his rebellious son with open arms and restores him, not because he’s earned it, but because the father’s love is greater than the son’s failures. The older brother, though he never left home, misses the party, caught up in his own sense of entitlement. But the father goes out to both sons—toward the shamed and the self-righteous alike. God’s grace seeks us all.
What’s Your Next Step?
Where are you resisting the Father? Are you hiding in shame, not sure He will welcome you back? Are you keeping score, believing God “owes” you? Is there something you’re clinging to, unwilling to trust God with the outcome?
Each of us has an invitation to name our struggle and bring it to the Father, who moves toward us in grace and faithfulness.
Is it time for an apology, or to ask for forgiveness?
Do you need to offer forgiveness to someone else?
Do you need to surrender something outside your control, trusting God to work for your good and His glory?
Every time we affirm, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,” may it go beyond just words. Choose to trust the Maker, release control to the Almighty, and come home to the embrace of the Father. Don’t merely stand safely on the sidelines. Trust and step into the arms of the God who created you, upholds you, and loves you.
Let’s be people who do more than recite the Creed—let’s live it out, trusting our Maker, our Almighty, our Father.
Let’s pray:
Heavenly Father, thank you for meeting us here. Week after week, we join Christians across time and space to proclaim our faith. God, let these words penetrate our hearts so we fully trust in you, our Maker. May we remember our value and everyone else’s as your creations. Help us release what we cannot control into your almighty hands. Thank you that Jesus shows us the tender and compassionate heart of a good Father. Draw us home to you, daily receiving life and forgiveness. Amen.
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Opening Prayer
Begin your discussion with a prayer, inviting the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Scriptures and the themes of the Apostles' Creed in your hearts and lives.
Scripture Focus
Isaiah 40:28-31
Reflect on these verses as a foundation for your conversation about God's character as Creator, Almighty, and Father.
Sermon Overview
The conversation focused on the meaning of truly believing the tenets of the Apostles' Creed, moving beyond mere recitation of words to genuine trust in God as Maker, Almighty, and Father. A key theme that emerged was the difference between knowing the creed “up here” and actually relying on God with the weight of our lives.
Discussion Questions
1. Knowing vs. Trusting
The discussion explored the distinction between saying the words of the Creed and choosing to really believe them:
“There’s a difference between saying the words out loud and to decide whether or not I actually believe what I’m saying.”
Have you experienced seasons of doubt or uncertainty? How did you wrestle with trusting God during those times?
In what areas of your life do you find it hardest to genuinely trust God versus just saying you believe?
2. God as Maker
One concept discussed was our identity as God's creation:
“When we call God maker, we are confessing not only where we came from, but whose we are.”
How does recognizing God as your Maker change your perspective on your own worth and the worth of others?
Does considering the vastness of creation and humanity help you grasp God’s initiative and care? Why or why not?
3. God as Almighty
The sermon highlighted the assurance that,
“if God is the maker... neither you nor I were assigned the job of having to hold the whole world together.”
What are practical ways you can let go of control and trust in God's sovereignty this week?
How do you respond to the hard questions when God’s almighty power doesn’t result in the outcomes you hope for? What does it mean to “release what we cannot control”?
4. God as Father
A key theme in the discussion was the personal nature of God as Father:
“God is not only powerful enough to be in control, but he’s compassionate enough to hold our hearts.”
How does Jesus’ revelation—“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”—shape your understanding of God?
How do your experiences with earthly fathers affect your perception of God as Father? How does the story of the prodigal son challenge or affirm these perceptions?
5. Coming Home to the Father
The sermon concluded with the image of both the rebellious and the dutiful sons being sought out by the compassionate Father.
Are there ways you identify with either the younger son (ashamed, hiding, running from God) or the older son (keeping score, demanding what’s ‘owed’)?
What next step toward the Father might God be inviting you to take—confession, forgiveness, surrender of control, or something else?
Personal Reflection
Consider the line from the Creed: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth."
What would it look like for you to pray this not just as words, but as the confession of your heart and life?
Where are you resisting the Father—hiding, keeping score, or struggling to trust—and how can you bring this honestly to Him in prayer?
Closing:
Finish your discussion with a time of prayer, inviting participants to bring specific areas of struggle, doubt, or longing for trust before the Father. Pray for the Spirit’s work in moving the truths of the Creed from your heads to your hearts.
Optional: Action Steps
Memorize the first line of the Apostles’ Creed and pray it daily this week, asking God to deepen your trust in Him as Maker, Almighty, and Father.
Commit to a practical act of trust—whether surrendering a specific concern to God, extending forgiveness, or taking a step of obedience in faith.
Let’s be people who do more than say the words week after week, but trust and rest in the Father who made us, loves us, and holds our future in His almighty hands.