November 2013

One of the chief elements of worship is thanksgiving.  Being thankful lies right at the heart of the reason for our existence, because we are created to be in relationship with a gracious God and thankfulness recognizes that relationship. Thankfulness does not mean being happy that I have something good.  It means recognizing the good gift I have received and acknowledging the goodness and benevolence of the one who gave it.  Romans 1:21, in discussing the essential nature of sin closely links the refusal to acknowledge God with a lack of thankfulness. This means that the one who does not believe in God cannot beRead More →

In the late 3rd and early 4th century AD the Christian church experienced a fierce conflict over the exact nature of Jesus’ deity. The conflict was over a doctrine called Arianism, after Arius, a priest who was one of the doctrine’s chief advocates. The doctrine denied that Jesus was truly God, and became very popular. In 325 AD the Council of Nicea was called to settle the matter by the new Christian emperor, Constantine. They rejected Arius and affirmed the doctrine of the Trinity and the full deity of Christ. They wrote a creed, known as the Nicene Creed (along with some later additions fromRead More →