This is going to be a 4 week serries – Week 1 – We Believe
Anchor Verse: John 20:19-31
Over the next four weeks, I may say some things that are going to be uncomfortable and will challenge you to expand your understanding of what we believe. In these moments, I want you to reflect on Paul’s word’s in Romans 12 where he challenges us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. By doing so, we move our faith into a deeper spiritual maturity that reflects the questions and doubts that Thomas presents to us this week. In this first week of our next sermon series, I want to explore and then implement the Nicene Creed into our worship service.
The Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is a central statement of Christian faith, first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and revised at Constantinople in 381 CE. It affirms the doctrine of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and clearly states the divinity of Jesus Christ. The Apostle’s Creed, a shorter and possibly earlier text (c. 140 CE), also summarizes core Christian beliefs, but with simpler language and less theological detail.
The Nicene Creed is structured in three sections, each devoted to one person of the Trinity. This mirrors the formula for baptism found in Matthew 28:19 and helps shape our understanding of who God is. Reciting the creed together reinforces and forms our shared beliefs.
Comparing the two, the Apostle’s Creed outlines Christian basics: belief in one God, the life and resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the church, forgiveness, and eternal life. The Nicene Creed, in contrast, goes further—highlighting the Holy Spirit’s divine role and the dual nature of Christ as both human and divine. Later church councils expanded its language to clarify beliefs about Christ, Mary, and the role of icons in worship.
Saying “We believe” in the Nicene Creed is more than agreeing with doctrine; it is a commitment to trust God in uncertainty. The creed anchors us during times of doubt, reminding us that faith is not just intellectual—but lived out in community, shaping both what we affirm and how we practice trust in God.
What Is Belief?
Let us dig a bit deeper at the notion of believing. Belief is not merely a mental agreement—it is a relational attachment, a word of action, a journey of becoming. In the Gospel of John, belief is a verb, a dynamic force, translated from the Greek pisteuō, and appears nearly 100 times—almost always as an action. John never uses the noun “faith,” underscoring that belief must be lived, practiced, and experienced. I often teach that faith is a subjective experience of a transrational reality, where—through our own lived experiences—we learn to believe and have faith in God.
Belief is a word of becoming. One never possesses all belief, nor does anyone arrive at a final destination in their believing. There is no certainty, no person who has all the answers. Instead, we are called to embrace humility and entrust our belief to God, leaning into the words: “I entrust myself to the One who has me.” Thomas shows us that belief is not the opposite of doubt—the real opposite is the refusal to engage. Belief is leaning toward God, even with questions. It is not something you hold; it is an experience that holds you. It means showing up, being present, and remaining open to God’s presence, even when clarity escapes us.
Belief is not a trophy for having all the right answers, but the embrace of being held by the One who is greater than our questions and understanding. To refuse to engage is to close ourselves off, to say, “I will not open my heart, I will not risk being met by God in my searching.” Instead, belief leans in—it steps forward, saying, “God, I may not see or understand everything, but I am here. I am willing to be held by You.” Let us not worry about the moments of doubt. Let us refuse to disengage and lean toward God, trusting that He welcomes us as we are, with open arms, into a living faith that truly holds us even when we cannot hold it ourselves.
Does Belief Equal Faith?
The short answer is belief does not equal faith and that is good news. If belief is a process of becoming, faith is the journey that we take to that becoming. When we claim a belief, we open a doorway to God. None of us should have the beliefs we had as a child. Paul challenges us to “be transformed by the renewing of our mind” and to “put away childish things” Faith is the ongoing relationship that grows, stretches and matures.
Let me share a funny/not funny story that happened two Fridays ago. I got home from grocery shopping and was going to get ready for Good Friday service. As I do, I go to the back seat to get my stuff from the day and my kids come out and get the groceries. To my shock and horror, my computer bag and my sermon notes were not in the back seat; I left them at the office. Now, I love Jesus, but sometimes I cuss and in this instance, I let a few slip out. But realizing what I had to do, I emptied the car of my groceries, changed my clothes and headed back to Erie to retrieve my things. Then the negative thoughts started occurring, “hey stupid, what if you did not lock your car when you went to the store and someone stole your bag?”. This became a ruminating thought, and by the time I got to the office, the occurrence of certain cuss words and self deprecation had increased drastically and I fully had the belief that my bag was indeed stolen. Luckily, It was sitting on my office chair where I left it. And this shows us that beliefs can be temporary. Faith on the other had is a sustained practice that must be cultivated over the course of a lifetime. When the disciples “rejoiced when they saw the Lord”—that’s belief. When Jesus breathes the Spirit on them—this is the beginning of faith.
When we truly step into faith, we are not simply agreeing with an idea—we are choosing to place our full trust in God, to surrender our certainty, our need for control, and to let God shape and transform our hearts from the inside out. Faith is not just a quiet conviction in our minds; it’s saying with our lives, “God, I will walk as if Your promises are true, even when my understanding is incomplete.” So often we disqualify ourselves, thinking we lack faith because our belief feels shaky or our questions persist. But let me remind you: faith is not the absence of struggle. Faith is the courage to keep coming to God, to continue showing up—doubts and all—trusting that God meets us precisely where we are.
This brings us to the story of Thomas, the disciple who dared to voice his doubts, who needed to see for himself. Thomas teaches us something profound: that wrestling with uncertainty does not push us away from God but can actually draw us closer. As we look more closely at Thomas’s encounter with the risen Christ, we’ll see that doubt is not our enemy. Instead, honest questions and sincere searching become the very soil where mature faith can grow. Let’s turn now to Thomas’s example and discover the lessons he offers us about living an honest, resilient faith.
Lessons from Thomas: The Patron Saint of Honest Faith
Thomas is often remembered as the disciple who doubted, but his story gives us a powerful lesson. Instead of blindly accepting what others said, Thomas wanted his own encounter with Jesus. When Jesus appeared and invited Thomas to see and touch his wounds, Thomas responded with faith, declaring, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus affirmed him, saying, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Doubt isn’t the enemy of faith—it’s the companion that keeps us honest and humble. When we ask questions and wrestle with uncertainty, we’re not rejecting God; we’re seeking Him more deeply. Doubt pushes us to grow, to reflect, and to engage with God in a way that’s real—not just memorized or secondhand.
Embracing doubt leads to courage. It helps us move from borrowed beliefs to genuine faith, and encourages spiritual maturity. Like Thomas, we find that questioning isn’t a sign of weakness—it’s a step toward deeper trust and greater growth.
Today, let’s stop viewing Thomas as an unbeliever and start seeing him as a model of honest faith. He teaches us to ask better questions, to hold tension and mystery, and to seek God boldly. A mature faith welcomes doubts, knowing that God meets us right where we are.
Thomas shows us that real faith isn’t secondhand—it’s born from seeking, questioning, and encountering God personally. Jesus didn’t shame Thomas; He honored his honesty. Let us follow Thomas’s example, refusing to pretend, and trusting God with our questions. For Thomas, doubt didn’t weaken faith—it deepened it.
Closing Thoughts
To close, we are going to spend the next couple of weeks exploring the Nicene Creed and what it means to be a Christian. The opening of the creed makes a bold proclamation, “We believe”. When we first made this proclamation, sometimes in confirmation class, we opened the door to possibility, we began the road of cultivating our faith and we allowed ourselves to be transformed.
There are some lessons here today that I hope you walk away with. For years, some or maybe all of you have been told that it was bad to doubt, to question your faith. I personally have had a few dark nights of the soul moments. But Thomas today demonstrates that we should strive for honesty in our spiritual journeys, asking sincere questions and seeking personal encounters with God. Furthermore, God welcomes our doubts and questions—faith grows stronger when we engage with uncertainty rather than ignore it. Our faith matures when we embrace tension, mystery, and unanswered questions, rather than demanding certainty. Let us view doubt as a tool for self-awareness and spiritual maturity, not as a failure of belief. Amen
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