Preaching The Nicene Creed

This Past Sunday we began a new series in our catechism service on the Nicene Creed. We are proud to be a creedal and confessional Church at Christ Reformed DC (you can find our Creeds and Confessions at threeforms.org). When the Churches of the Reformation sought to reform and restore the Church they turned to Scripture as the only infallible rule, but they turned also to the Church Fathers and the creeds as faithful summary of Scripture. You can see this respect for history in the Belgic confession where it commits to willingly accept the Ecumenical Creeds: Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian. It does this because they are faithful to Scripture and summarize it well. 

““And so, in this matter we willingly accept the three ecumenical creeds—the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian—as well as what the ancient fathers decided in agreement with them.” ”

— Belgic Confession, Article 9

We also have in our tradition, from the time of the reformation, the practice of catechetical preaching. Ordinarily, this service is an evening service. We believe that viewing catechesis, doctrinal teaching and preaching, as worship is a strength of our tradition. The ordinary practice is to teach through the Heidelberg Catechism, which is fittingly divided up into a year.

“At one of the services each Lord’s Day, the minister shall ordinarily preach the Word as summarized in the Three Forms of Unity, with special attention given to the Heidelberg Catechism by treating its Lord’s Days in sequence.
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— Church Order of the URCNA, Article 40

We just wrapped up a year through the catechism which you can find (here). In the catechism we teach through the Apostle’s creed (Lord’s Days 7-22). And in addition, a few years ago we did a series through the Athanasian Creed at Advent. Now we are beginning a new series through the Nicene Creed. 

The Nicene Creed, like other creeds, has been used in conjunction with the sacraments. Whereas the Apostles’ Creed was developed from Baptismal creeds, the Nicene came to be used by some communions in connection with the Eucharist as a full statement of faith before communing members of Christ’s Church.

“in the East it incorporated the earlier baptismal Creed, and so became itself a baptismal Creed, it is more properly a Creed for the matured Christian, and has been used in the West as well as in the East as the appropriate Creed for the Eucharist. The Apostles’ Creed was a Creed the acceptance of which was necessary for baptism and incorporation into the Christian Church. The Nicene Creed was a test of orthodoxy, and necessary for full communion in the Church.”

— Charles Augustus Briggs, The Fundamental Christian Faith

Whenever we turn to our church’s creeds and confessions, we are mindful that they are not divinely inspired scriptures, but human documents produced as a result of particular historical controversies. Understanding this context is important for understanding not only what we confess, but why we confess it. In our series we will seek to be mindful of the long story that begins in Alexandria, Egypt, early in the fourth century, runs through Nicea, in 325, and reaches a climax of sorts at Constantinople in 381. Characters in this story include the Presbyter Arius, who believed that there was a time when the eternal Word did not exist, the Emperor Constantine, and Athanasius.

The Nicene Creed has much to teach us about who God is and what the scriptures teach when carefully considered. Join us Sunday mornings at 9:30 as we dive deeper into the Christian faith and into the message of a Trinitarian God who saves.

Catechism Preaching and Psalm Singing

The Reformed Church prominently features in its worship two things that seem odd to American Christians. First, we have a catechetical worship service where teaching and preaching our catechism and doctrinal standards is ordinary. Second, we sing primarily Psalms in our services. This is not a new thing, but as old as the reformation itself, if not older.

As a pastor, this creates an interesting challenge. It might be easy to name a hymn for a given doctrine or Lord’s day, but what about Psalms? Enter this index from Het Boek der Psalmen nevens de Gezangen bij de Hervormde Kerk van Nederland (Amsterdam, 1773). What follows is a keyed index to help a minister, parents, and others choose fitting Psalms to sing with Catechism lessons, when teaching on Doctrinal topics, or when studying through the Apostles’ Creed, Ten Commandments, or Lord’s Prayer.

(Note that in the following historical list, decimals such as “73.2” or “119.4” don’t refer to verse numbers. They refer, instead, to different stanzas or parts of the psalms. The precise reference in modern psalm settings is difficult to determine, but the numbers can still be a rough guide to the section of the psalm that addresses the relevant topic. In general “.2” refers to the second half of the psalm, and decimals for Psalm 119 refer to stanzas in that long acrostic poem.)

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• Lord’s Day 1 “What is Your Only Comfort?”— Psalm 73.2

Part 1: Misery

• Lord’s Day 2 “Our Knowledge of Misery out of the Law”—Psalm 19.2

• Lord’s Day 3-4 “The Source of Our Misery”— Psalms 51; 5; 49

Part 2: Deliverance

• Lord’s Day 5-6 ”The Mediator”— Psalms 25; 36; 130

• Lord’s Day 7 “What is True Faith?”— Psalm 2.2

Beginning of the Apostles’ Creed

• Lord’s Day 8 “Doctrine of God”— Psalms 139; 145

  • “Trinity”— Psalms 33

• Lord’s Day 9 “The Creation of All things”— Psalms 115.2; 136

• Lord’s Day 10 “The Providence of God”— Psalms 33; 104; 147

• Lord’s Day 11 “The Name Jesus”— The Hymn of Mary

• Lord’s Day 12 “The Name Christ”— Psalms 2; 89

  • “The Name Christian”— Psalms 45.2; 72.2

• Lord’s Day 13 “God’s Only-begotten Son”— Psalms 2.2; 45.2; 72.2

• Lord’s Day 14 “The Savior’s Conception and Birth”—The Hymn of Mary

• Lord’s Day 15 “The Savior’s Suffering”— Psalm 42

• Lord’s Day 16 “The Savior’s Death, Burial and Descent to Hell”— Psalm 22

• Lord’s Day 17 “The Savior’s Resurrection”— Psalms 16; 118.3

• Lord’s Day 18 “The Savior’s Ascension”— Psalms 47; 68.3

• Lord’s Day 19 “The Savior’s Sitting at God’s Right Hand”— Psalm 110

  • “The Savior’s return in judgment”— Psalm 96.2

• Lord’s Day 20 “The Holy Spirit”— Psalm 119.3

• Lord’s Day 21 “The Church”— Psalm 48

  • “The Communion of Saints”— Psalm 133

  • “The Forgiveness of Sin”— Psalm 32

• Lord’s Day 22 “The Resurrection of the Body”— Psalm 49.2

  • “The Life Eternal”— Psalm 73.2

End of the Apostles’ Creed

• Lord’s Day 23 “Justification”— Psalms 32; 103; 130

• Lord’s Day 24 “The Insufficiency of our good works before God”— Psalms 19.2; 143

• Lord’s Day “The Sacraments”— Psalm 111

• Lord’s Day 26 “Baptism”— Psalm 51

• Lord’s Day 27 “Infant Baptism”— Psalms 71.2; 87

• Lord’s Day 28 “Lord’s Supper”— Psalm 23

• Lord’s Day 29 “The Rejection of Transubstantiation”— Psalm 119.4

• Lord’s Day 30 “The Popish Mass”— Psalm 115

  • “The Requirements of Lord’s Supper participants”— Psalms 25.2; 26.2

• Lord’s Day 31 “The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven”— Psalms 15; 24; 65

Part III: Gratitude

• Lord’s Day 32 “The Necessity of Good Works”— Psalm 119

• Lord’s Day 33 “Conversion or Repentance”— Psalms 119.9; 119.22

Beginning of the Ten Commandments

• Lord’s Day 34 “God’s Law”— Psalm 1

  • “The First Commandment”— Psalm 81.1

• Lord’s Day 35 “The Second Commandment”— Psalm 115

• Lord’s Day 36 “The Third Commandment”— Psalm 145.2

• Lord’s Day 37 “Oaths”— Psalm 24

• Lord’s Day 38 “The Fourth Commandment”— Psalms 63; 84; 92

• Lord’s Day 39 “The Fifth Commandment”— Psalms 34.1; 78

• Lord’s Day 40 “The Sixth Commandment”— Psalm 5

• Lord’s Day 41 “The Seventh Commandment”— Psalms 50.2; 51.2; 119.5

• Lord’s Day 42 “The Eighth Commandment”— Psalm 62.2

• Lord’s Day 43 “The Ninth Commandment”— Psalm 120

• Lord’s Day 44 “The Tenth Commandment”— Psalm 131

  • “The Necessity of Preaching the Law”— Psalm 19.2

Beginning of the Lord’s Prayer

• Lord’s Day 45 “The Necessity of prayer”— Psalms 65; 145.2

• Lord’s Day 46 ”The Address of Our Prayer”— Psalm 103.2

• Lord’s Day 47 “The First Petition”— Psalm 89

• Lord’s Day 48 “The Second Petition”— Psalm 72

• Lord’s Day 49 “The Third Petition”— Psalm 119

• Lord’s Day 50 “The Fourth Petition”— Psalm 145.2

• Lord’s Day 51 “The Fifth Petition”— Psalm 51

• Lord’s Day 52 “The Sixth Petition”— Psalm 141.1

  • “The Close of Prayer”— Psalm 5.1