Dig Deeper - Sunday 15th June 2025
Sermon Reflection Questions - We Believe: Exploring the Nicene Creed - We Believe in One God - the Father Almighty
Isaiah 45:5-7
Dig Deeper notes from Sunday 15th June service:
In the second week of our sermon series ‘We Believe’, we look at the beginning of the Nicene Creed which was written at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD.
‘We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen’.
Those at the Council will have spent a lot of time making sure the words they used were spot on, and we can do the same looking in detail at the words they used.
‘We believe’. The first word ‘we’ is an expression of a community. So, when we declare our faith, we do so alongside 2.6 billion of our fellow Christians around the world. People have all sorts of beliefs, but Christians believe in -
‘In one God, the Father’. Some hold views that God is not one God but that God is everywhere in the universe. God is this world and all that is in it. Others see God as an outside force operating above and beyond the world. But we believe in one God. ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God’ Isaiah 45.5. Not just an immutable force or in everything around us, but a God who is personal. So, Christians know Him as ‘Our Heavenly Father’ following the words of Jesus as He gave us the Lord’s Prayer.
‘The Almighty’. God is Eternal. Our God is outside time and is therefore not limited to past, present and future. God is Immutable – absolutely unchangeable. He is Omniscient – knowing everything. Omnipresent – present everywhere. Omnipotent – God is all powerful. Other aspects of His character are His holiness, righteousness and justice as well as merciful and loving.
‘Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen’. The first words of the Bible are ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’. At God’s command everything we know in the world around us was formed with no pre-existing material. Creation was formed by God’s command and the stability of the universe is dependent on the unchanging stability of God upholding and sustaining His creation.
How wonderful it is that God the almighty creator of the world wants to have a relationship with us who are made in His very image.
Discussion Questions to reflect on:
1. What views or perceptions of God have you come across in those who are not Christian?
2. Why is it that in a crisis people will say ‘I’m not religious, but I prayed’?
3. Is hard for our finite minds to understand the almighty nature of God. Like pieces of a jigsaw, we can understand in part what it means, but if our view of God too small, what can we do to expand it?
4. Creation points to God and the bible is clear that there is one God who is almighty. Why do you think people have other views about the nature of God?
5. Jesus taught His followers to speak with God in prayer using the words ‘Our Father’. Meditate for a while on the amazing fact that God Almighty wants to have a relationship with Him.
Closing Prayer:
Almighty God, you are the eternal creator of this world, both in its physical form we can see around us and the unseen spiritual world. We stand amazed that although you are almighty and immortal, you want to have a relationship with us as our heavenly father. Come close to us now and in the days ahead, walk with us we journey with you to your promise of eternal life in heaven. We ask this through your son Jesus Christ, in the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen
