Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Forgotten Words That Will Change Your Life | The Creed | Part 1

Episode Date: March 30, 2025

Our beliefs shape everything about us, including where we turn when life gets hard. How do we know they’ll hold when tested? Let’s learn foundational truths we can depend on—no matter what.NEXT STEPSHave you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://www.life.church/yesCelebrate Easter at Life.ChurchThis year, you’re invited to celebrate Easter at Life.Church. Whether you attend at a Life.Church location or with our online community at Life.Church Online, you’ll experience a welcoming environment and meaningful worship. Find a location and service time at https://www.life.church/easterABOUT THIS MESSAGEWhether we realize it or not, we’re all building our lives on something. But is it strong enough to hold us up when life is uncertain? In The Creed, we’ll explore the truths that give us a foundation for a faith that lasts.What’s the Apostles’ Creed? Why does it matter? Check out this guide: https://go2.lc/creed-explainedSee how the Easter story invites you to know Jesus, follow Him, and experience His love in this 7-day Bible Plan: https://www.go2.lc/easterstoryABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.churchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHELYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #craiggroeschel Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

So what do you do when life gets hard? What do you do when you're hurting, when you feel anxious, when you feel overwhelmed? When life gets difficult, what do you stand on? What do you truly believe? What if I told you that what you believe about God shapes everything about you? think about it what you believe about god it shapes what you think and believe about yourself it shapes your identity what you believe about god shapes your morality how you behave what you believe about god impacts how you treat people how you love if you forgive or if you hold a grudge what you

believe about god shapes your future what you believe about god shapes your eternity What you believe about God shapes everything about you. And so that's why we're starting a new message series. It's called the Creed. It's all about what you believe about God. And I've got to warn you, this message series is going to be different. Can you handle different? Elbow the person next to you and say it's going to be different.

Elbow, your second choice. Tell them, hey, it's going to be different. Online type in the comment section. It's going to be different. because I've got to promise you it's going to be different. Now, we're talking about the creed, and some of you're going to say, like, what creed are we talking about?

Just to be very, very clear, we are not talking about the creed from the office. We're not talking about the band, the creed, and we're not talking about Adonis Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan. The creed we're talking about is the Apostles' Creed, and this is a declaration

that has shaped the Christian Church for centuries, the Apostles' Creed. If you can imagine, this creed has been declared in royal courts. It's been sung in prisons. It's been shouted in cathedrals, and it's been whispered by Christians facing death. And the creed begins, I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only son, our Lord.

These words, they're ancient, they are unshakable, and they are worth dying for. Now, I know what some of you're thinking. Okay, correct. I was with you on the last series, but like, why are we studying some ancient creed when I got modern problems? Like, I can't even afford eggs today. Can somebody say amen?

You can't even find eggs. Like, you got some eggs? I'll pay you 20 bucks for a dozen. That'd be a bargain, right? Why are we talking about a creed when there's all these real issues going on? What I want to tell you is the creed, these are not just ancient words,

but in a world that is drowning in moral confusion, and cultural compromise, this creed offers a firm foundation that has stood the test of time for generations. And so what we're going to do is we're going to look at the creed mostly line by line. And my goal, in a culture where even many people in the church don't really know what they believe is I'm going to help you build a spiritual foundation that's not based on just the opinions of people

or on the latest TikTok trends or whatever feels good at them. moment, but we're going to build a spiritual foundation on the timeless, unshakable truth of the one true God. And my goal, just so you'll kind of, I'm going to show you my cards, is by the end of the series that you will know the Apostles' Creed, but that you won't just know the Apostles' Creed, but you will believe it deeply, not just as a ritual, but as a personal declaration of your faith in the God who created you. Why? Because what you believe about God shapes everything about you. So Heavenly Father, we asked that the power of this creed, and more importantly, the power of your living word would conform our minds, renew our minds,

to stand on the rock the truth of who Jesus is and that what we believe about you would shape us, conform us to the image of your son, Jesus, that everything we do would glorify you. Build our faith on what is true. We pray. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen, amen, let's go. Okay, how many of you know the Apostles' Creed,

raise your hand? Raise them a high, raise them up high. Online, you can type in, I know the Apostles' Creed, how many of you've never heard of it before? Never heard of it before. You could be a Christian all your life and say it every weekend at some churches. You could be a very committed Christian in some other church and go, what in the world is that? The Apostles' Creed is broadly accepted as the most ancient, concise, time-tested declaration of the Christian faith. It dates back, believe it or not, all the way to the second century AD.

And when we talk about the Apostles Creed, I'm going to give you a little plot twist. If you want a plot twist, say, I want a plot twist. Do you want one? Here's a little plot twist. The Apostles' Creed, are you ready for this? The Apostles' Creed was not written by the Apostles. It was written based on the Apostles' teaching, but it wasn't written by the Apostles. So why is it called the Apostles' Creed?

I don't know. I couldn't find that anywhere. But nevertheless, it was actually developed as a response to the false teaching known as Gnosticism. That's a big word I probably haven't used since seminary. But we're going to come back to the word Gnosticism. And the Apostles' Creed helped shape the unity and unify and strengthen the early Christians around the essential doctrines of our faith. And if you could imagine, this creed was formed when Christianity was still illegal. In other words, if you believed in Jesus during the time this creed was established, you could be arrested, beaten, and put to death the same way as it's still true.

And many parts of the world. And so when they would declare this creed, it wasn't just a statement of faith, but it was a declaration of allegiance to a God worth giving your life for. It's powerful. The Apostles' Creed is just over, 100 words. It takes about a minute to say it aloud, and it is a truth, a foundation that can make an eternal difference in your life. So today at all of our life church locations, if you're able to stand, would you just stand to your feet today? All of our churches, and together,

what we're going to do is we are going to declare the Apostles' Creed. Would you say it with me? I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day, he rose again. He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Universal Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting in all God's people said, amen, and amen.

You may be seated. The Apostle Creed starts this way. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. In Latin, it starts with the word credo. That word comes from the root word, creed, which we get a word like credibility or trust or faith or belief. The word credo is a very, very strong word that means, I believe, but it means richly, it means this.

I believe so fully that I give my heart, my trust, and my life to this truth no matter the cost. I believe with every part of me in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Now, if you'll notice, does it start with I believe or we believe? It actually starts with I believe, not we believe,

because the question isn't, and I want you to think about it, it's not a, what are your friends believe, or what are your mom and dad believe, or what do other people believe? The question is, what do you believe? What do you build your life on? And the creed isn't something about like personal preference. It's not just like, what do you think or what do you prefer? Like, I prefer dogs over cats. Because God does too. For all you people that get mad, just email me. That Craig and I don't give a rip.com. It used to be a real email. I don't know if it works anymore.

It's not about preferences. It's not like I prefer bacon over sausage. Because everything is better with bacon. And all God's people said, amen. It's not about preferences. It's not about opinions. This is about eternal truths. truths that completely define your life. And so let's look at how it starts. It doesn't just start

with I believe in God, but the creed defines who God is. It says, I believe in God, the Father Almighty. Now, why does the Father Almighty matter? Why does it define who God is? Because people all over the world believe in some kind of God, right? I mean, people, you know, ask them, hey, do you believe in God? Like, yeah, I believe in a higher power, right? I believe in this vague force, you know, like karma that, you know, you do bad and you get bad and you do good and you do good. I believe in good vibes. You know, I believe in a good, hey, I believe in the crystals that I got on Etsy, whatever it is. People believe in all different types of gods, but we don't believe in some idea of God, but we believe in the God of the Bible.

And so I want you to say this aloud with me, if you will. I believe in God the Father Almighty. Think about this. that declaration is both personal and indescribably powerful. Think about it. It's personal because it's declaring, I believe, in a personal God who is Father, and it's powerful because my Father is an Almighty God. And those two metaphors, Father and Almighty, matter more than you can imagine.

When you think about it, whenever Jesus taught us to pray, How did Jesus say we should pray? What he could have said, hey, I want you to pray to God, our ruler, or God, our creator. But Jesus taught us to pray this way. Jesus said this, then, is how you should pray. And say it with me, what did he say? He said, our father in heaven, how it would be your name. We pray our father.

Now, whenever you hear, okay, we're praying to God the Father. You probably don't think much of that. Because if you grew up around the church in this part of the world, we say, oh, heavenly father, oh, Lord, Father, oh God, Father. We just pray that way. But in the ancient world, the idea of God the Father was radical. It was like even heretical because the Roman and Greek religions, their gods were distant. Their gods were impersonal.

Many of their gods were cruel. And so the God of the Bible isn't distant, isn't impersonal. but is a close, loving father. We pray God our father. We have a personal God that loves us. Now, I have to acknowledge that for some of you, hearing about God as father, that idea of father is not necessarily a comforting metaphor for you

because not everybody had a great father on earth. And so some of you, your dad might have been like mean or cruel or distant or absent or whatever, maybe difficult to please. And so I want to show you what God's word says about our Heavenly Father so that you see that our Heavenly Father is a good Father,

he is a loving Father, he is a Father that will never leave you or forsake you, no matter what kind of an earthly father you may have had, our Heavenly Father is good. I'll show you four statements that God's Word says, even if your earthly father was absent, God the Father, He's always present. He will never leave you. He'll never forsake you. Even if your earthly father was harsh or cruel or critical, God the father is always compassionate and kind and full of mercy.

Even if your earthly father was distant, our God is a good God who draws close. When you draw near to your heavenly father, he draws near to you. And even if your earthly father was difficult, hard, impossible to please, our God delights in you, rejoices over you in Christ. Our God is a perfect father, a loving father that sees you and cares about you and pursues you. That's how good our father is. But not only is God the father, but he's also the Father Almighty. And that matters. matters so much. He's not just the father, but he's Almighty God. Why does it matter? Because a God who is just father, he might be loving, but not powerful. In other words, he can't do much. And a God who's just almighty might be powerful, but not loving. And our God is both. He's loving

and he's almighty. He's both a loving father, and he is an all-powerful king. He is the God who rules the galaxies, and he is a father who knows your name. God, the father, almighty. In Latin, the word, you may have heard the word omnipotent. The word in Latin is this. Omnipotititum. Amnipatitum. omnipotem, dum, dum, um, omnipotent. And this is what this word means. It means having absolute power and supreme authority. Let me tell you about the almightyness of our God. He is unrivaled, uncontested, and unlimited in all creation, time, and existence.

That is our father, who is almighty. So what does this mean to you? Your marriage is in trouble. You've got a bad diagnosis. You're dealing with anxiety. You're afraid. You don't know what you believe. Someone hurt you and you're trying to work through it.

When you pray, here's what you can do. You might sometimes just kneel down out of reverence for our king. And when you pray, you might every now and then call God. You can pray to Jesus. the Holy Spirit, Heavenly Father, you can pray to God, you can pray the righteous one, the ruler, the sovereign one, you can pray Almighty Father. And when you pray that, it reminds you that God is both personal and there is no problem too big for him to handle. When you pray to Almighty Father, you know that he cares and there is no person too broken for him to heal. There is no plan of the

enemy against you that our God can't stop. Our God is a loving father and he's almighty. He loves you and there is nothing impossible to our God. God is father and because he's father there's nothing too small for you to pray about God cares about everything that you care about. So what do you believe? Cratom, I believe. I believe in God the Father Almighty. And then the next line is what? Say it with me. Creator of heaven and earth. Now, when we call God creator today, you might not think anything of this. Again, this was very controversial in early Christianity because there was this false teaching we talked about called Gnosticism. What is Gnosticism? The Gnostics believed that everything material, Meaning like this stand, the trees, the birds, our physical body, the clouds.

Everything material they believed was evil. And they believed that there was this lower God. His name was demure. And demure, this is what they believed, created the material world. Then they believed there was a higher and a true God that created everything that was spiritual and was only concerned with spiritual things. this creed declares that God is the creator of the heavens and the earth, that when he created everything, he said it is good.

And that's why in John's gospel, whenever John declared, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and then what he said next was actually counterdicting or contradicting what the Gnostics believed. He said, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And then he said, Through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. I believe that God is the creator of the heaven and earth. I would ask you this.

What do you believe about God? What do you believe about God? Because what you believe about God shapes everything about you. And for centuries, faithful believers declared, say it with me. I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

creator of heaven and earth. What's amazing is that the early Christians, they risked their lives to declare this creed. If they said it out loud, they could be killed for their faith. They risked their lives. What about you? What do you believe about God? I want to tell you what I believe about God.

God. I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe that in the beginning, God created the heavens in the earth and said that it is good. I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who keeps his promises across generations. I believe in the God that parts the seas and makes a way when there is no other way. I believe in the God that parts the seas and makes a way. I believe in the God who led his people, but with fire at night and cloud by day. I believe in a God who brings down the walls with a shout and takes down the giant with a stone. I believe in the God who commands the winds and the waves, and they obey him. I believe in a God that restores the broken, heals the sick,

and raises the dead. I believe in the God who became flesh in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, and died so we could live. I believe in the God who brings dead things back to life. I believe in a personal God, a loving God, an almighty God who's also Father, who knows you and sees you and loves you

and calls you by name. I believe in the God who fights for you and goes before you and the God who will never leave you and the God that will never forsake you. I believe in the God who was and is and is to come, reigning on the throne and one day will say to his son, now is the time. And the trumpet of God will sound and the dead in Christ will rise. and Jesus will come back for his church, perfect and pure by the power of the Holy Spirit without spot or wrinkled. I believe in the God who one day will wipe away every tear. I believe in the God that says there will be no more sin and no more shame and no more sorrow and no more pain. And I believe we will dwell with him forever, shouting holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord.

God Almighty. I believe in God the Father Almighty. the creator of heaven and earth, and in his only son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. And I believe on the third day when the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty. And Christ is risen again. I believe it. I believe it. And so I would ask you, like, what do you believe? What do you do when your life falls apart? What do you do when someone betrays you?

What do you do when there's more month and there is money? Do you believe in God as a personal father who's also almighty and all-powerful? The God who will never leave you and never forsake you? The God who is all-knowing and ever-present and completely omnipotent in all. But do you believe in the God of the Bible? Do you believe in the God?

so fully that you'll give him your whole heart, that you'll trust him with your whole life, no matter the cost. Because listen, if he is that God, that's the only reasonable response. I can't speak on behalf of God, but I think it would break my heart if I were God and I sent my son and Christians behave like they do today. No reverence, no real fear of God, no passion, No, I mean, every now and then, when you realize who he is, you just can't contain yourself. You just, sometimes you stand up and shout, other times you fall on your face. You give him everything. It's not like a, hey, you want to go to church this weekend?

Ah, it's too pretty out. Ah, there's a game on. Oh, I'm kind of tired. No, it's like, hey, he is our God. He is our father. We are his people. We exist to glorify him. It's because of who he is.

This is who we are. body of Christ, I believe in God, the Father. What do you believe about God? Because what you believe about God shapes everything about you. And so if your life doesn't really reflect who he says you should be, then maybe I would ask you, what do you really believe? Not just up here, but in here, in here, what do you believe? Because if he sent his son and died so I could be forgiven and rose again, then that demands everything. My life isn't about me. It's not about what I can get. It's about what I can enjoy. It's not about my happiness and my comfort. My life is about him. Because what you believe about him shapes everything about you.

So, I told you, my prayer and my hope, is that you'll learn this thing. And it won't just be words you say. It'll be the spiritual foundation that shapes how you live. because what we believe about God shapes everything about us. So what do you believe? What do you believe? I believe. God the Father Almighty,

a personal God and a powerful God who is here today revealing himself to you. So Father, we asked that by the power of your spirit, you would show us who you are and who you are would shape everything about who we would become. As you're praying today at all of our churches, those of you online, I wonder how many of you, like you do, you believe in God, you know, you really do,

you really do, and maybe you need him right now, like you're going through something difficult. You need the love of a heavenly father, and you need the power of an almighty God. Today at all of our churches on online, those of you who you know you are a Christian and you need the presence and or you need the power of God. You need his touch right now, his provision needs his goodness in your life right now. You're hurting or someone you love is and you need the presence and the power of God,

but you lift your hands right now. Just lift them up. Just lift them up. Hands going up everywhere online. You can just type in the comment section, I need the presence of God, or I need the power of God. And so God, we thank you now

that you are here, that you are loving, father, and you are our power. powerful king. So God, we ask you to do what you do, love us, reveal your heart to us. God, comfort those who are grieving, God. Provide for those who lack. God, we pray for miracles, for those who need miracles. God, thank you that you're a loving Father with us now. And you're an almighty, all-powerful, righteous king. Reveal yourself. Meet our needs. We need you, God. We need you. God. God just reveal yourself to us. As you keep praying today, there are many of you, and I'm just going to say it right now. You might be like me. I grew up saying that thing in church. We said it when I was there, and I believed it my head, but not in my heart. And there are those of you right now, you might kind of believe in your head, but not in your heart. Others of you, you never even heard it before, but you're looking going, hey, you know, if this God's stuff is real, then it demands my whole life.

And so I want to ask you genuinely, what do you believe? What do you believe? What do you believe? If you believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, that he became flesh and sent his son Jesus to die on a cross in your place so you could be made right with God, you have one reasonable response, and that is to give him your whole life. Today at all of our churches, online there are many of you. You're going to recognize it's just been a thing, but it hasn't shaped your life. If that's you today, you got a choice to make.

What do you believe about God? Because what you believe about Him shapes everything about you. And all of our churches today, all of the world online, if you recognize, you may have a head knowledge of him, but he hasn't taken over your heart. What are we going to do? I believe.

When you believe, it shapes everything about you. Move it 18 inches. Move it from your head down into your heart and declare that Jesus is the Lord. of your life. If you don't know where you stand, who is Jesus? He is the perfect son of God, who died in our place so you could live. What do we do? We step away from our sins and we say, Jesus, I give you my whole life. I believe wholeheartedly, so fully, every part of me, I want to live for you. You're made right with God, not by your good works, but by the grace of who

Jesus is. He died so you could live. Your only reasonable response, take my whole life. Today, all of our churches, those of you online, you say, hey, that's me. It may be in my head. Today it's moving to my heart. With everything in me, I respond to his goodness. He gave his life for me, so I give my life to him. Jesus, would you be the Lord first, the Savior of my life? If that's your prayer today, lift your hands high right now, all over the place and say, yes, that's my prayer.

Right here, God bless you, right here, both of you. Praise God together. Others today say, yes, Jesus. Put your hand to say, I surrender to you. Right back up there. Others today say, yes. Jesus, be the one. Lord of my life, I surrender right up here to the back. God bless you guys. Praise God for you.

Online, just type in the comment section. I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. I'm surrendering to Jesus. And today, wherever you are, let's pray together. Nobody prays alone. Pray Heavenly Father. I believe you're a loving father and an almighty God who sent Jesus so I could live and be forgiven. Be the Savior of my life. Be my Lord. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I could know you and serve you and live for you. And all that I do, my life is not my own. I believe you're my Lord.

I believe you're my Savior. I live for you. Thank you for a new life. I give you all of mine. In Jesus' name, I pray. And could the whole church take a moment and give God praise for who he is? He is a good God, a loving father, a righteous king, and we love him and we give him praise.