This week, my local church started a seven-week series (essentially following the Lent season, the seven weeks leading up to Easter / Resurrection Sunday). It’s called “What We Believe,” as we’re diving deep into Scripture and considering the most crucial foundations of the Christian faith. For this study, we’re using the Apostles’ Creed as our guide. It’s the greatest, time-tested summary of what the Bible teaches, and it’s a useful tool both for those looking to newly explore Christianity and for those who’ve been grounded in the faith all their lives.
This is the first major study I’ve done with this church where I’ve been really involved with the research, curriculum development, and teaching materials for our small groups. Over the next seven weeks, I hope to slowly share some of this content with you. If you’d like to follow along as a devotional study of your own, I’d love to have you! If you might be interested, the rest of this post is for you.
When it comes to spiritual growth and nourishment, there is simply no substitute for the primary source: the Bible itself. Getting Christians into the Word is a huge priority for me. To that end, the workbook that goes along with this “What We Believe” series is very Scripture-based. If you’d like to dive in for yourself, there’s a free digital copy of the workbook you can access on the church’s website, here.
This workbook includes background information and introductions to the major ideas that come up in the Creed, sends you into Scripture to go through the ideas and reflect for yourself, prompts you to watch a video lesson from our teaching team, and finally includes discussion questions to discuss the ideas with a small group.
This week’s study focuses on the lines from the Creed, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” You can access just the first session’s worth of workbook materials here.
After going through the workbook material on your own–getting into the text and actively reflecting on the ideas for yourself–I’d invite you to watch the 13-15 minute videos, where some of our ministry leaders sit down and talk through some of the main points from that week’s study. Week 1’s video is here:
If you’d like to be immersed even further into this train of thought, I’d invite you to follow along with the weekly Sunday messages. This week’s message, given by Dr. Scott McKee, is here:
Finally, if you’d like to discuss these ideas with a small group, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. It’s always easier and more productive to have conversations about these topics in real time, especially face-to-face. I’m happy to do all I can to facilitate that for as many people as I can.
In the weeks ahead, my hope is both to share this content, and to slowly share my reflections on this process as I’m going through it for the first time here in Detroit. There is so much room to grow, and I’m hopeful for the good work that lies ahead.
Regardless of how closely you follow along (even if it’s “not right now,” and you’re just cheering on from a distance), I pray this study would challenge you to love the God who made you with more of your mind, your heart, your soul, and your strength.
May it be so!
Detroit, Reformed. 
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