The church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. In fact I just want to think through these four marks of the church with you. There are others, of course – evangelical and charismatic are two I want to talk about too some time. But meanwhile, these four, because they are from the creed (see, nothing is too obvious to be said) and because we say the creed. That is once a week, the congregation of which I am a member (I’ll tell you about it later) say these words – out loud. If we say them we own them, so we cannot just shrug when asked what we mean by them.
I hope to talk about these four marks of the Church – one, holy, catholic, apostolic. Really I am amazed to find myself saying this sort of thing, me, the evangelical Christian. To use this proud title, evangelical, demands that you confess, that is say out loud, this creed, with these four words, one, holy, catholic, apostolic, every week. Shall I make this plainer? You cannot be evangelical without saying this creed, and saying these four words, which are four vital promises and instructions to us. A service that does not include three lessons from Scripture, one of which is from the Old Testament, and this creed (and much else that we shall come to), is not an evangelical service. The Christians in that service, that is not shaped and governed by these four marks of the church, are not receiving the sustenance by which they can grow: they are being sold short.
But in St Mary’s I don’t remember ever hearing these four words – one, holy, catholic, apostolic) expounded. Really, I wonder why we have a sermon.
