The Apostles' Creed Pt. 11: The Forgiveness of Sins

Hope Fellowship Church Aug 19 – 25, 2018 ========== The Apostles' Creed: The Forgiveness of Sins The Apostles' Creed ========== The Holy Spirit has come, created a people, and now the people become the platform by which the forgiveness of God is made visible. "I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended to hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father almighty, from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, amen." Exodus 34:5-9 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance." 1. God forgives. God is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands. Do you believe that God is all these things? Forgiveness is releasing someone from their wrongs fully, freely, and forever. If we're saying God forgives, what does God forgive us of? A. Iniquity. Micah 2:1 Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. B. Transgression C. Sin Exodus 34:7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." Because God loves so deeply, He hates so deeply. 2. God's people are the stage upon which the forgiveness of God is made visible. The forgiveness of sins is equally about community. We must never become so clean of a community that we buy into the veneer that would lie to us and say we have it all together. · Symmetry “We all agree forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it.” C. S. Lewis · Clarity · Community · Council Generosity You can give online by clicking the link below. We thank you so much for all of your generosity! http://www.hopeinanderson.com/generosity Thanks for Joining Us! Thanks for being with us this week. To find out more about Hope, check out our website. http://www.hopeinanderson.com