The sermon, centered on Psalms 11:3, explores the erosion of foundational Christian beliefs in contemporary society and emphasizes the importance of reaffirming these beliefs, particularly the authority of Jesus and the role of the church in discipling nations. It underscores the Apostles Creed as a concise expression of fundamental Christian doctrines and highlights its importance for personal faith. The speaker discusses the doctrine of the Trinity and the belief in God as the Creator, using biblical references to argue that these beliefs form the basis of a Christian worldview. This worldview influences ethics, philosophy, and societal interactions, contrasting with secular ideologies like Marxism or secular humanism which deny accountability to a divine Creator. The sermon calls believers to recognize God's authority and the preeminence of Christ in all aspects of life, emphasizing the transformative power of the Word of God and the necessity of aligning one's life with biblical truths. Moreover, it stresses the importance of viewing life through the lens of Genesis 1:1, affirming God as the Almighty Creator, which shapes a believer's understanding of the world and their role within it.

We are looking obviously from our Wednesday night focus verse from Psalms 11.3, If the foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do? And it's important I think for all of us as I prepare the studies, Jerry prepares the study, Josh, that as a collective group we continue reminding ourselves why it's important and what needs to be done and how do we go about it. Because it's fairly obvious that the foundations have been eroded, in some cases even destroyed in the lives of families, in the church, in our culture. And if you seriously read and understand what Matthew 28 is talking about, Jesus says that He's got all authority that has been given to Him, and then He tells His disciples, and you and I should be disciples. I mean that's should be understood.

To go ye therefore and disciple the nation or teach the nation. So in the context of that who is to be the influencer and who's to be influenced. And obviously the church is supposed to influence the nation. And yet when we recognize and when we see that the government, the nation, has defined marriage, defined or undefined how many sexes there are, has decided when it's right and when it's wrong or how often you can commit murder through abortion. We've got an issue and the issue isn't going to be solved by electing the right governor or the right president or the right Congress.

That will help. But the issue is God's people need to be God's people and we need to be about what God has called us to be about. And one of the intentional purposes of our Wednesday nights is to look at, as we begin this teaching, just what are the foundation of the biblical foundational truths that Christ Church is built on. And we've come upon that when we began and when we looked at the Apostles Creed. I know many people think it's a ritual, Many people think it's a Catholic thing.

Many people think it's just repetition. I had to memorize this unconverted. I could see it with my eyes closed. Didn't mean a thing to me. And yet, this is a condensed text of everything that, or not everything, but that the biblical Christian church is founded on.

And so as we started last week, we looked at those first two words I believe and as we looked at those we recognize that it needs to be a personal application you know it's not we believe although we believe collectively it starts with me starts with you individually And this is something that you and I need to put in our hearts and lives to begin to assimilate as we go forward. We're going to look tonight at just the first couple of phrases. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And so as we look at that, obviously it begins the study of a triune God, the God that we serve, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three in one, each fully God, each fully separate with different functions.

I'm not going to go into studying the Trinity tonight. If you have your book that we studied, Knowing the Living God by Paul Washer. Just review that, pages 13 through 18. It's not, you know, it's an extensive, in-depth look at what the Trinity looks like. I just picked one verse to give you an example.

There's many, many more. But in 2 Corinthians 13, it speaks to the Godhead, the triune God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, amen. There it is, You've got it. The three persons, one God. And as we look at that and as we looked at that we need to understand that's a bedrock of our Christian faith, this triune God.

And so as we look at this initial phrase, I believe in God the Father, Creator, the Maker of heaven and earth, we begin to, or I hope tonight can understand why this is so important for us to grasp. You know, first of all it's talking about I believe in God the Father Almighty, and it's speaking to His supreme being, its supreme existence over all, the Almighty. You know, there isn't a person on earth that gets that title. There's some people that would like to claim that title but you know I'm not going to mention any names but there isn't anybody that's worthy of that title apart from God the Almighty. And as we look at I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, this becomes such an important phrase, but also such an important doctrine in our lives, because our whole worldview is based on this, and we're gonna look upon that a little later.

Number of years ago, our oldest daughter, Melissa, was looking for a job in a Christian school, and she was applying for a job at a Christian school in Green Bay. And there was this interviewing process, obviously, and she's sitting beside or in front of three people and they asked her the question tell us how you feel about evolution and creation. And Melissa said, Genesis 1.1, I believe, or in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And they kind of looked at her and stopped and said, would you like to expand on that? She said, no.

I think that says it all. She didn't get the job by the way, but I don't think it was because of this answer. I think it was some extenuating circumstances that her heart was in Georgia and that was not going to work out. But this was the first question that was asked her. In a Christian school, interviewing for a teacher and their first interest was how do you feel about evolution and creation.

I mean that should point to something how important this is. God said in Genesis 1 1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He's confirmed that and we're going to look at some of the confirming scriptures, but it's such a simple phrase. And yet when you begin to look into it and begin to examine it and see how that's all been eroded to what culture is saying, How many years ago was that? Six billion?

No. You know, it's all the other businesses going on. But let's just look at some confirming verses. Exodus chapter 20 verse 11. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is therein, I'm sorry, and all that is in them.

He rested the seventh day, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hollowed it. In six days. How long is a day? Well yeah we know that it's 24 hours. We know that God ordained the sun to shine and the moon and he separated the two.

I mean, we can read through Genesis, you understand all of that. And yet you're gonna hear, you know, the psalmist says a day with the Lord is like a thousand years. So maybe it isn't 24 hours, maybe it's, people, it's 24 hours. This is what it says, six days. And on the seventh day he rested in Psalm 8 when I consider your heavens the work of your fingers the moon the stars which you have ordained what is man that you're mindful of him and the son of man that you visited him?" So it's not just the earth, it's talking about when I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, the stars, which you have ordained.

And then he asked that question that kind of baffles me, what is man that you're mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him? This is the God, the creator. This is the one who created all things. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, all things. And he's interested in you and I.

I should blow your mind. You should just You should stop and think about that some night, just going to bed thinking, okay, what? I'm looking out my bedroom window, and I'm looking at the stars, and I'm looking at the moon, and I'm thinking, and you cared about me to send your Son. I'm overwhelmed. Some more.

Psalm 33, by the word of the Lord the heavens were made and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the water of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

For He spoke, it was done. He commanded, it stood fast. The word of the Lord. By His very breath and words, he created it all. And then he's given us his word here.

And people take it for granted. Don't read it, Leave it on the living room table so everybody can see. I got a Bible in my house, pretty slick. I need a bigger one. We got a Bible from my uncle.

I don't know if we got it when he died or whatever. But it's got to be, it's got to be that tall, that wide, about that thick. I don't know, it weighs 25 pounds and I'm thinking and it's never been opened. You know, that's useless. But people leave it on the living room table, I got it.

And yet this is the very thing, the very word of God he created. By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made, the hosts of them, the breath of his mouth. By the very breath of his mouth, he breathed life into Eve. He gave Adam life by the very word. Do we understand how powerful it is and how we should not just be in awe of it and respect it but let it change my life and your life?

How many biblical principles are compromised by people who don't really understand Genesis 1-1 and the importance of building their life on that truth? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Where else do we get our help? I hope nowhere. I mean, I really do.

I hope that you can, as Lorenzo was quoting with me a little earlier, save Proverbs three with all of your heart, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, He'll direct your path. But this is what we're trusting in the Word of the Lord. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. See, if you don't ascribe to that reality of Genesis 1, 1, then our help must come from someplace else and that's a slippery slope folks that's why it's so critical critical that we spend a little time on this.

In Romans chapter one, oh, here we go. This is a brand new clicker, folks. And my fat fingers don't necessarily go well with the buttons. Romans 1, 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." How important is it to not just be able to intellectually say I believe in God the Father Almighty creator of heaven and earth but have that effect every area of our lives. That it may be known that God has manifested in them, for God has shown it to them. Since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen. They're without excuse. You can listen to the argument, well what about these people?

What about those people? What about, what if, those are all hypothetical things that you and I really don't have to concern ourselves with. What we have to concern ourselves with is the reality that God through His grace and mercy and desire has chosen to reveal Himself to man. What is man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of God that thou visiteth him? What a God we serve who has taken the time to reveal himself to us through everything he created.

In Hebrews chapter 11, the faith chapter of the Bible, by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. What is the piercing question that one often asks those people who ascribe to the Big Bang Theory. Well, where'd the stuff come from? Ha, ha, ha. Who created the stuff that the Big Bangs came together to form the Earth?

By faith we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God. So that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. There wasn't anything before God spoke it into existence. That's the truth of Genesis 1.1. There wasn't a thing until God spoke it into existence.

And we jump ahead into Revelations where it said, you're worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created Another translation of that verse says for your pleasure They are created You might ask why did God create the heavens and the earth for his pleasure? We're gonna look at the Colossians 1 where we looked at Sunday briefly, but we're gonna look at that again tonight It talks about it's for him All things were created for him and by him And that should influence and affect every area of our lives. In our study of John, the first five verses of John chapter 1, In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was nothing made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it." It's an interesting parallel verses to the reality of the Trinity because now it's telling us that with God the Father was the Son, Jesus the Word, the living Word. And as we see that he coexisted with God the Father and the Holy Spirit from the beginning, He was there when all things were created, but they were created by the Word. And this Word is Jesus.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, the world did not know him. But we looked at Romans chapter one. They're without excuse. They're without excuse. You don't have the excuse to say, well, the world didn't know him because nobody told them about him.

Romans chapter one says, he told them about himself in his creation. And they're without excuse. And as I referenced in Colossians 1, for by him all things were created that are in heaven and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence.

This should begin to tell us our response to God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, that He is to have the preeminent place, that all things were created for Him and through Him, that He was before and is before all things, that He is the head of the body. I mean, this is an overwhelming reality if Genesis 1, 1, in the creed, I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, is sown and embedded in our hearts and lives. So we ask the question why is this foundational? I mean why is this so important? Well it's so important because we know the basic principle of the biblical principle that we ascribe to and that we know is that the creation is subject to the Creator.

But this also forms the reality of our worldview, if you will. The reality of why it's so important that we ascribe to Genesis 1 1, that we ascribe to I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, because it's through that lens that we are to see everything. It tells us in Colossians 1 that they were made through him and for him. In Revelations 4-11 as we looked at before, he is to receive glory and honor for he created all things." Well, what is a worldview and why does this influence our worldview? Let me give you this definition.

A worldview is a way of viewing or interpreting all of reality. It's an interpretive framework through which we, through which or by which one makes sense of the data of life and the world. So a worldview is how we see things, how we attribute and how we relate to what we can see visibly. And any worldview by any teacher on the subject or any literature you read will contain a particular perspective and it will regard theology, philosophy, ethics, biology, psychology, sociology, law, politics, economics, history. And whether you look at a worldview from a Christian perspective, Genesis 1.1, I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Or if you look at it from a Marxist perspective or the communist perspective or secular humanism, or that they're all worldview. That through that lens, they see everything. And so through that lens you and I need to see and ascribe and have implanted in my heart and your heart this truth that I do believe. It has changed my life that God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Little Christian worldview emphasis talks about the existence of a personal, ethical, self-releasing, revealing God.

There's nobody in this room, and there's a lot of people in this room a whole lot smarter than me, but there's nobody in this room that's smart enough to figure out God, unless God reveals himself to us. You can't get there intellectually. You can only get there through the Spirit of God and His Word working innocent through us. And a Christian worldview emphasizes that existence of a personal, ethical, self-revealing God. It talks about the creation of the world by God, involving his holy and wise government of it for moral ends.

All of ethics, if you will, All of how man interacts with man is given to us here. And it's based on the reality that our self-revealing God created us. The spiritual nature and dignity of man is created in the image of God. We know that from Genesis. He created man in his image, that's including women.

That this created God, given to us a mind, he's given to us flesh in our soul, but he's also given to us a spirit And that differentiates between every other animal. We're not just another species. We're created in the image of God. And we're given inherent attributes that God has given to us. And it speaks to the reality of our fall, fall in nature through Adam's sin.

Talks about the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God, as God manifested in the flesh. John chapter one verse 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God, John one one, John one 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And that the redemption of the world through the atoning death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that's a worldview. And all ten of these these items found in a worldview are found in Genesis chapter 1 through Genesis chapter 3.

You can read it, you can look. It talks about philosophy, it talks about theology, it talks about history, it talks, It lays it all out for us. And Psalm 139, that God has created me, He was with me in my mother's womb, He's with you, He ordained and ordered every day of your life before there were any, only becomes reality in the framework of I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, that he created each and every one of us for him. I remember a number of years ago, Jerry probably doesn't even remember this, but he was talking about this creative God that we serve and he said you know for $25 you can have a star named after you. God's already named them.

Save your money. It's true. Read Psalm 147 verse 1. He's numbered all of them. Oh the science today in a new telescope in a new world has just found a zillion brand new stars.

God ordained them, He created them, He knows them, He named them. That's the God we serve. Should blow your mind folks. You should just stop and think, okay, Rick, I'm beginning to hear what you're trying to say. And as I shared before, the creation is subject to the Creator, God the Father.

He is to have the preeminent place. You see, one of the things and one of the fallacies and one of the the erosions that happen in a culture when people ascribe to the Big Bang Theory or some other creative thought is that there's no accountability. Are we seeing that about accountability in our culture, in our society? Yeah. And it's because they've been influenced by a different worldview.

They've been influenced by not a biblical worldview that's founded and based in Genesis 1 1, but another idea that's false. But if we ascribe, and we do, to the reality, and I've put our hope and trust in this truth that God the Father Almighty created heaven and earth then we're subject to Him. He should have rule over my heart and your heart. He should have dominion over every action and reaction that you and I have. He's the one that has ordained and scheduled the days.

And he's given us all that we need to know and have for the instructions in how to live a God-honoring life. This should be a familiar quote. Again, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Not some things, all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." What is a precious promise? Second Corinthians 5.17 is a precious promise.

If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. That's a promise. You and I go through the process of sanctification to get us there, But God has given us these promises. He's given us everything we need to know and live by according to His Word. The same Word that He created all things.

Total control. The psalmist just tells us, the earth is the Lord's in all its fullness. The world and those who dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. There's conversation about this fault in California that one day it's going to break off and fall into the ocean.

Folks, it's not going to happen. Bible tells us that He ordered all the land and ordered all the sea and He established and ordained where they would be. The Lord established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all. We're faced in our culture with enemies of this worldview, enemies of the basis of the truth of Genesis 1 1, enemies of the phrase that we're looking at tonight, I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And they're labeled well for us, They're Marxism, they're socialism, they're communism, they're secular humanism, there's New Age philosophy.

In a book I was reading it says here's the significant difference Christianity says in the beginning God Marxist says in the beginning no God and no accountability to God who created all things. And so tonight as we ponder this truth, I want you to look at a response, our response. You Lord in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in so much as has he who built the house has more honor than the house.

For every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God." Jerry's a house builder, and I haven't asked him if I can use this analogy, but I'm going to and he can rebuke me after church. Alone. He builds houses. He builds spectacular, glorious houses. But scripture tells us that Jerry, the house builder, has more honor than what he built.

I'm not comparing Jerry to God. He knows better and so do I. But the principle is there. So if the buildings are magnificent and the builder gets more honor, what about the one who has created all things? Shouldn't he get all the honor?

Our response. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utter speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. The glory of the Lord created by him for him.

Our response is to acknowledge that truth. In the beginning God created. I believe in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth. People, it's critical.