Lord’s Day 7: Gifts and Creeds: Q&A 20-23
If you’re reading this the week it’s posted, you’re probably thinking about Pentecost coming up, where we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell within us and we see from Acts 2 great examples of the Holy Spirit coming upon believers, speaking through Peter, and giving more obviously charismatic gifts for a time and purpose. Conveniently (providentially, you might even say), this week’s Lord’s Day contains some good doctrine regarding faith, the indwelling of the Spirit, and how our faith is given to us as a free gift “granted solely by Christ’s merit.” (Q&A 21)
In the spirit (pun not intended) of giving of gifts, one of the elements we have for this Lord’s Day is an Invitation to the Lord’s Supper, where in the sacrament we will hear “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19b)
This Lord’s Day also serves as an intro to the section of the Heidelberg Catechism where we break apart the Apostles’ Creed, bit by bit, learning along the way what we really mean when we profess our faith.
LORD’S DAY 7
Q&A 21
PROFESSION OF THE CHURCH’S FAITH
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have (insert appropriate Liturgical Element here: Confessed our Sins, Heard God’s Word, etc). Let us now together confess our faith together: our sure knowledge that we hold as true, revealed to us in Scripture, our wholehearted trust that the Holy Spirit has created in us by the gospel, freely granted to us by God. Let us confess/profess together what we believe. . .
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Hear these words of Assurance: Only by the merit of Christ’s death and resurrection, God has freely granted unto us forgiveness of sins, eternal righteousness, and salvation. We are not deserving of such gifts, but God has granted them by sheer grace, and these gifts are ours because we have confessed our sins, trusting that God’s revelation to us in Scripture is true. In Christ, our sins are forgiven, we have eternal righteousness, and we have been granted salvation.
Thanks be to God!
LORD’S SUPPER: INVITATION
Friends, in Christ God has freely granted to us the forgiveness of our sins, eternal righteousness, and salvation. These are gifts of sheer grace, granted solely by Christ’s merit. As we come to the table, let us remember the sacrifice which we celebrate; the reason why we have the promise of eternal life.
