Forgotten Words That Will Change Your Life

I Believe in God the Father Almighty

Overview

The series opener centers on the Apostles Creed and its first line: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” Pastor Craig insists that what we believe about God shapes every part of life—identity, morality, relationships, future, and eternity. In a culture swirling with moral confusion, the Creed offers a time-tested foundation. Today’s message unpacks why calling God both “Father” and “Almighty Creator” is personal, powerful, and life-defining.

Context

• New multi-week series: “The Creed.”
• Goal: move the Creed from words we recite to truth we live.
• The congregation stood and recited the entire Apostles Creed together, underscoring its historic weight.

Main Points

1. Belief Determines Everything

• Repeated question: “What do you believe about God?”
• Your view of God directs how you see yourself, treat others, handle anxiety, and face the future.

2. The Apostles Creed: Origin and Purpose

• Dates to the 2nd century; formed when Christianity was illegal.
• Crafted to battle the false teaching of gnosticism and to unify believers around essential doctrine.
• Saying it then—and in many places today—could cost your life.

3. “I Believe” (Credo) Is Personal Commitment

• Latin root conveys a wholehearted trust: “I give my heart, my life, my allegiance.”
• The Creed begins with “I,” not “we,” demanding individual conviction, not inherited tradition.

4. God as “Father” — Personal and Loving

• Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father,” a radical idea in the ancient world of distant, often cruel deities.
• For those with painful earthly-father experiences, Scripture shows the Heavenly Father is:
  • Always present
  • Compassionate and kind
  • Near to the broken
  • Delighting in His children

5. God as “Almighty” — Unlimited Power

• Omnipotent: absolute power, supreme authority—no rival, no limit.
• Because He is both Father and Almighty, nothing is too small for His care and nothing is too big for His strength.

6. “Creator of Heaven and Earth” — Affirming All of Reality

• Counters gnosticism’s claim that the material world is evil.
• Declares the same God who made the spiritual realm also made—and called “good”—the physical universe.

7. Personal Response Is Required

• If God is loving Father and Almighty Creator, the only reasonable response is total surrender.
• Indifference, convenience-based faith, or mere head knowledge fall short of the Creed’s call.
• Invitation to move belief from head to heart and let it reshape daily life.

Key Truths

• Belief about God is the root system of every other conviction and action.
• The Creed is not antiquated; it is a stabilizing anchor amid modern confusion.
• God’s fatherhood means nearness; His almightiness means capability.
• Creation is inherently good because the good God made it.
• Authentic faith demands allegiance, not mere assent.

Response

• Examine your real view of God—does your life confirm what your mouth says?
• Address anxiety or hardship by praying intentionally to “Almighty Father,” remembering His love and power.
• Recite the Apostles Creed this week, pausing to internalize each line.
• Surrender areas of selective obedience; give God “every part” rather than convenient parts.
• Show Father-like compassion and Almighty-inspired courage in relationships and decisions.

Closing

Pastor Craig closed with an impassioned declaration of who God is—Promise Keeper, Sea-Parter, Giant-Slayer, Death-Defeater—and challenged each listener: “What do you believe?” A clear invitation followed to move belief from mental agreement to wholehearted surrender, because “what you believe about God shapes everything about you.”

Prayer

The congregation prayed twice:

1. A pastoral plea for God’s Word and the Creed to renew minds and build lives on Christ the Rock.
2. A salvation prayer of surrender, acknowledging God as loving Father and Almighty Savior, asking for forgiveness, indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and a life wholly devoted to Jesus.