What does the Bible say about creeds?

The Bible passages below can be used in sermons, prayers, pastoral care, or worship planning foucsed on creeds. 

• Deuteronomy 6:4, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone
• 1 Kings 18:39, the people fell to the ground and confessed that the Lord is God
• Mark 8:29, Jesus asks Peter: Who do you say that I am? 
• John 6:68-69, Peter answers Jesus: You have the words of eternal life
• Romans 19:9, if you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him, you will be saved
• 1 Corinthians 8:6, through Jesus Christ are all things
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, Christ died, was buried, and was raised, in accordance with the scriptures
• Philippians 2:6-11, Jesus, being found in human form, humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death
• Colossians 1:15-20, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation
• 1 Timothy 3:16, the mystery of our faith is great
• 1 John 4:2, every spirit that confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God

Sermon ideas about creeds

Communal statements

Individuals may have creeds, but groups have them too. For example, there are humanist manifestos, national declarations ("All men are created equal"), and organizational mission statements. In such contexts, creeds are public declarations of core beliefs. 

What about church creeds? In a church, a creed is a communal statement, even if it's expressed in a first-person format (I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth). In this case, namely the Apostles' Creed, the format comes from a time in the early church when people preparing for baptism were asked basic questions: Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty? I believe. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord? I believe, etc. 

Sermons about creeds can explore ways in which Christians contrast believing that with believing in. We believe that Jesus was crucified, died, and buried. Believing that is equivalent to affirming facts. But believing in is a condition of trust: I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord. 

Creeds in the church

Sermons about the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds can point out that they center on confessions of the Trinity and the incarnation. In elaborating the incarnation, they recite key deeds of Christ and events of his life, but, curiously, say nothing of his teaching.  

Formal church confessions are usually too long to be memorized and recited. Some creeds, however, are short enough to be memorized and recited. 

Creeds and confessions within the church may be called lots of things: 

• Canons 
• Declarations 
• Articles 
• Testimonies 
• Formulas
• Catechisms 

There are often no particular distinctions among these, though catechisms traditionally employed a question-and-answer format, and declarations are sometimes so named because they are issued defiantly in the face of crisis — such as the Barmen Declaration of 1934 against the Hitler regime by the confessing church of Germany. Largely written by the great Swiss theologian Karl Barth, the Declaration denounced the subordination of the church to the state as well as the tyranny of any state that would presume to bind the word of God to itself for nationalistic purposes. 

Sermons focused on creeds can mention that some Christians resist creeds ("no creed but Christ"). These believers are properly impressed with the risk involved in summarizing difficult and disparate Bible passages into a human-made summary. Yet, the Bible is a big book and hard to teach as a whole. Moreover, it itself contains creeds, which form the basis of ecumenical and institutional Christian creeds. 

Creeds have a number of classic uses: 

• They identify and unite believers under a common public declaration. 
• They are teaching tools for the young, for new members, and for aspiring teachers and preachers.
• They may be sung, recited, or prayed in Christian liturgy as forms of acclamation and edification. 
• They may guide Christian liturgy, including Christian preaching. 

Excerpts about creeds

The following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org sermon resources about creeds:

"There are also creedal-like texts, here and there in scripture and the Christian tradition, that articulate the deposit of faith in short, memorable passages." Sermon Preparation from the Living Church  

Worship ideas about creeds 

The following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org worship resources about creeds: 

"We believe in one God, who is Holy Spirit, breath of God moving among us; Who is one with the Creator; one with the Christ; our Comforter and our Guide: Mentor of all creation!" Affirmation of Faith by Lisa Frenz from ReWorship  

"In his magnum opus, Credo, Jaroslav Pelikan writes that unlike earlier Greek and Latin creeds, which jump from birth to death without a middle, 'The Masai Creed' includes the narrative of Jesus' ministry of teaching and healing." Article on Worship and the Sacraments by Mariah Helgeson from On Being